Acoustic amplification advice

bobblehatbobblehat Frets: 531
My son has been asked to play an instrumental acoustic piece at his friends wedding.
I am looking for some advice on whats best for amplification. I was thinking a small acoustic amp may do the trick or a small powered monitor/speaker. He doesn't mind spending a a couple of quid but not too much as this will be a one off and wont have any use for the equipment after.
The space is a fairly small church.

Any advice much appreciated.
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    edited February 2018
    Rent? Borrow? Ask the guests to STFU and play unamplified? Churches (if a traditional, old building) tend to help the instrument if the audience don't chatter. I've attended a few classical guitar recitals (unamplified) in small old churches and they sounded great. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    A small acoustic amp will be better, it will have better EQ, anti-feedback and reverb - although depending on the type of church you may not need reverb! A powered monitor will need a guitar with an onboard preamp. (Although most do have.)

    A powered monitor probably has more uses afterwards if he doesn't normally play acoustic guitar, so it may not be totally wasted.

    If it's just for a one-off and he doesn't want to spend a lot, an electric guitar amp will work well enough if he has one, especially if the guitar has an onboard preamp. Use a clean sound, cut mids, boost bass and especially treble and you'll get a passable sound, though not ideal.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • maltingsaudiomaltingsaudio Frets: 3098
    edited February 2018
    Hire a pro quality acoustic amp such as AER or FishMan or Shertler, anything else would be a compromise if you have no further use for it and he would always feel he could have done it better
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bobblehatbobblehat Frets: 531
    Thank for the replies .
    Have been looking at the 15W Fender acoustasonic . Would 15w be enough?

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    bobblehat said:

    Have been looking at the 15W Fender acoustasonic . Would 15w be enough?
    In outright volume terms, probably - for a quiet church where people are listening properly. But it doesn’t look like a very good choice from a sound quality point of view - it looks exactly like an old 15W solid state electric guitar practice amp with a mic input and chorus added.

    I suspect you would get a better sound from a larger electric guitar amp set clean, even.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bobblehatbobblehat Frets: 531
    Thanks , thats what I had suspected .
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    I've been impressed with the sound out of my cheap SubZero one (Gear4music own brand) in a variety of situations: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-25W-Acoustic-Guitar-Amp-with-Chorus/NE6
    Down sides are the chorus is horrible and doesn't have anything like a notch filter for anti-feedback. It'll go to a decent volume if just guitar, but struggles at volume if you're also trying to put vocals through it on the other channel.
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bobblehatbobblehat Frets: 531
    BigMonka said:
    I've been impressed with the sound out of my cheap SubZero one (Gear4music own brand) in a variety of situations: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-25W-Acoustic-Guitar-Amp-with-Chorus/NE6
    Down sides are the chorus is horrible and doesn't have anything like a notch filter for anti-feedback. It'll go to a decent volume if just guitar, but struggles at volume if you're also trying to put vocals through it on the other channel.
    thanks , its just for guitar so may do the job. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.