Acoustic and the Katana amp

I’ve been playing my acoustic through my amp for quite a few weeks now and however much I have fiddled with the sound settings I just cannot find a sound that is very pleasing to me ears.

Are there certain rules for the settings for an acoustic through an amp or is it just that I maybe prefer the sound of it unplugged?

Advice very much welcome.

Thanks. :slight_smile:

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I think I may be in the same boat as you Stefan. I have an acoustic amp that I like to mess around with and enjoy it (especially when messing around with a looper pedal) but I still prefer the sound of the guitar unplugged.

I actually did a gig on acoustic recently with the Katana. Sounded good to me.
One thing I found out was that using compression was much needed. Without it the sound was too “muddled” for me. So my advice is to play around with the compression and the EQ.

Didn’t see it, but maybe this will help?

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This one starts with good news :grin:

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Interesting thread as I’m considering buying an electro-acoustic guitar and already have a Katana.

I suppose the problem with YouTube videos is that you’re several steps away from how the amp sounds by the time you hear it. It’s dependent on the guitar, the player, how they’ve mic’ed up the amp and the speakers that you listen to the video through (among other things probably).
I thought the guitar on the second of the two videos sounded the best (subject to all that I said above). It at least gives me some hope that if I do buy another guitar that my Katana will at least get me started.

Will be watching this thread closely for any tips

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Hi Matthew,
First …a little correction

I encountered the same “problem” when I bought my acoustasonic and a video by Paul David almost convinced me that my Vox ac15c1 was not good enough and fortunately DavidP convinced me that it was more than good (certainly for a long time) … maybe @DavidP has anything else to add ?
And of course you are right about your reluctance in YouTube videos…and we should not rule out commercial interests either…
Greetings

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It could be that you simply don’t like the sound of an acoustic piezo pickup. I am in that camp. I can’t stand the plasticy quack that comes from those pickups, and it’s unfortunately ubiquitous.

You could try an “acoustic pedal” like the TC Electronic “BodyRez” (and so on). Those can help.

However, the only thing that I found that satisfied me is one of the acoustic pedals that mixes in impulse response with the pickups “natural” sound. My Martin OM-35 came with Fishman’s “Aura VT Enhance” system that does this, and it’s the only acoustic pickup where I thought “that actually sounds decent.” Subsequently I went out and got a Fishman Aura Spectrum pedal so I could do the same thing with my other acoustics. (I think LR Baggs makes an impulse response based pedal, too. EDIT: I haven’t tried it, but here it is.)

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The correction is fair… it’s just a matter of time :joy:

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Hi Stefan

This might be a bit obvious but have tried different settings within the Boss Tone Studio or only on the amp itself? There’s a heap that can be done in Tone Studio. I also hunted through the presets that are available and tried them all out then loaded up the 4 I liked best so I could switch between them on the amp.

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A serious question: what is the point of amplifying an acoustic guitar? (unless you are playing in public and need the volume). The unplugged acoustic just sounds better than when it’s amplified. Doesn’t it?

Reverb,Delay, etc --just been playing with mine–fun sounds. dont usually use an amp but reading this thread ive been noodling around. I have an LR Baggs thingy on mine

Took some tweaking but I found some good amps and set ups on the PODGo for my 3 pupped acoustics but when I did this via the Mustang III I normally chose a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb or '65 Twin Reverb. EQ drop the lows, boost the mids and nudge the hi a little, then a little fine tuning to get a sound I liked. Never quite the same as a raw acoustic but some decent recording tones. Not sure of the amp models available on the Katana but pick a clean sounding amp and experiment.

Just think of the hours you can spend finding that right tone.

:rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2: :rabbit2:

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Not really

I play my acoustic through a TC Helikon PlayAcoustic pedal. That is a multi-fx pedal for acoustic guitar and vocals. One of the devices in the chain is a BodyRez. That plus a little reverb, delay, and chorus and the acoustic played plugged in sounds far more natural than the dry sound picked up with the piezo pickups.

I think I am missing something. @TheMadman_tobyjenner you sound like you’re striving to achieve the same tone “as a raw acoustic”. Why not just play the raw acoustic unplugged?

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Toby :scream:…just placing so many rabbits without a few :hole: :hole: :hole: means something completely different here…that’s just not a "clean thing to post :rofl:
Greetings

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I’m kinda with John on this one :laughing:
The amp is for your tele! unless you’re recording, and even then you can just use mic/phone, no?
You lose all the benefit of the acoustic once you eliminate the soundwaves and just pick up the magnetic field changes through a pickup.
Interesting thought though: would it sound largely the same if you put an acoustic pickup (eg Fishman) on a solid body electric guitar?

I think the real reason, which has been well-demonstrated here, is to get a bunch of guitar-heads to start discussing tone. I just spent an hour comparing the Tone Katana studio with my PodGo :roll_eyes:

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No I am not actually. If I am recording like that (via the POD) I will look for a tone and FX set up that suits the song/project. If I want that “raw” acoustic sound, like @DavidP I’ll use my PlayAcoustic as the BodyRez setting negate the carp you normally get using standard acoustic type pups.
Horses for courses,
:sunglasses:

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Thanks to Google I see it comes from Star Trek, but it goes too far for me to look it up further :grimacing: :joy:
But it must have something to do with multiplication :smile:… that wasn’t actually what I meant, but it’s pretty close enough :see_no_evil:

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