Devan wrote:Watersilk wrote:My choice of amp is a little odd. It's an acoustic amp, an AER Alpha, which is solid state.
I have an electro acoustic, which would be a normal match, but I play my electrics through this amp too, and I get really good tone!
Of course there is a catch, I'm not completely mad, anyone reading this is saying nonsense! I only use the power stage of this amp, plugging in a Line6 Floorpod which then becomes the pre amp.
When I find a nice tone with one of the many valve amp models the Pod offers.... I'm just dreaming of the day when I can play through a real valve/tube amp!
Not crazy at all. I think that is a creative setup. If you are getting great tone, then that is all that counts.
I've heard lots of good things about the AER amps. Thinking of getting one for my acoustic, and for my son's acoustic busking performances, though I am thinking that I will need a battery powered amp for that...
I'm not sure if AER make a battery powered amp, but people do use them for busking... they are not cheap, I had paid quite a lot for mine, so I was just thinking of a way of utilising the quality of amp and speaker, without having to buy a second amp... I just needed a small home setup that didn't give grounds for divorce....
Trying not to deviate too far from this thread, I do believe that many opinions regarding amps are quite fixed. When looking for an electric guitar setup, I went to what was then the largest guitar shop in London, the salesman said, "no, you can't use an AER for an electric guitar, you have to buy an electric guitar amp, you have no choice! AER amps are brilliant, but only for acoustic guitars!" I then asked him to consider my idea of buying a Pod and plugging it in directly to the power stage, bypassing the amp's pre amp stage, I could practically see the cogs turning as he said... "I have never thought of doing that!" He tried it, he smiled, he played some more, smiling more... he said "I don't believe this, it sounds amazing!" He then told me that he was an AER rep for 5 years.. adding "I never knew they could do this!" I sent an email to AER telling them how I use their little acoustic amp, they posted it on their website, it was there for years!
The bottom line here, is that I think there is a big difference in creating sound and recreating it. In my opinion, an electric guitar signal needs colouring, it's not a finished sound like an acoustic guitar has, because the sound in an acoustic guitar is finished in the sound box, the internal cavity, that's where the sound is coloured by that internal space. In my opinion, valves do something similar to the internal cavity on an acoustic, they add colouration, without it, the notes of an electric guitar would sound sterile and uninteresting.
As good as my system is, I would not suggest that it could be a serious substitute for a real valve amp. I haven't heard a solid state amp that can compete with a valve amp; perhaps this is just a gap in my experience?
