Acoustic sounds from electric guitar?

m1ck1970 · October 2016

Dear All,

Can anybody let me know their thoughts / experiences of getting acoustic sounds from an electric guitar?

I'm looking for an effect pedal that will give me a decent acoustic sound from my electric.

All opinions will be greatly appreciated

Roland · October 2016

Multi band compressor and some form of Impulse Response converter will get you there. The IR does the static EQ change. Think of it as a multi-band EQ. One of those 32 band Behringer EQs would get you somewhere near, if you could work out how to set it. The Multi band compressor allows you to dial in/out "body" and "zing".

AxeFX is particularly good at all this, and IMO sounds better than my singer's DI'd acoustic guitar. In Crazy Little Thing Called Love I can go from acoustic to warm electric at the touch of a button.

Richardj · October 2016

Boss AC-3 is very good indeed, light years better than the previous AC-2 and is a one box solution. No-one is going to think it is a vintage Martin but it is just right if you don't want/need to carry an acoustic as well as your electric(s).

I was very happy with mine and only stopped using it when I got another Parker and a piezo loaded Tom Anderson.

It's for sale.......

ToneControl · October 2016

a gk2 pickup and a Roland vg88ex or vg99 will do a very good job
Or buy a VG strat
or fit a piezo

Jonathanthomas83 · October 2016

Roland said:

Multi band compressor and some form of Impulse Response converter will get you there. The IR does the static EQ change. Think of it as a multi-band EQ. One of those 32 band Behringer EQs would get you somewhere near, if you could work out how to set it. The Multi band compressor allows you to dial in/out "body" and "zing".

AxeFX is particularly good at all this, and IMO sounds better than my singer's DI'd acoustic guitar. In Crazy Little Thing Called Love I can go from acoustic to warm electric at the touch of a button.

I agree with the AxeFX thing, saw a band yesterday andnthe guitarist did exactly that and it sounded great.

Im using IRs for my Torpedo CAB, can you point me in the right direction for info on acoustic IRs, didn't know such a thing existed.

merlin · October 2016

Get a vintage (or reissue or clone) Les Paul Junior and turn the volume and tone to between 3-4. Sounds close enough in a mix.

Sassafras · October 2016

If it's an effect pedal you want, the Boss AC-3 is quite convincing. I tried one on ICBM's recommendation and was quite surprised at how much better it was than the AC-2 which I didn't rate at all.

pintspiller · October 2016

If you are on a budget, the Behringer Acoustic Simulator is pretty good. No good with humbuckers though.

I have found that reducing volume and tone on a neck humbucker can also get in the ballpark.

ToneControl · October 2016

I'm assuming this is for stagework?

Ideally a piezo into some fx then the FOH or PA would be best of all

Axefx would be ok, but of course not cheap
you'd add an acoustic guitar body resonance IR, EQ, multi-band compression, etc, and some shimmery time FX

let's start at the other end though:
are you wanting to get an acoustic guitar sound to come out of an electric guitar amp+cab?
If so, you need a clean amp - the cleaner the better. I'd guess that a lot of amps set up for stagework will have quite a bit of distortion, and a mid-range boost. Is it feasible for you to have an amp set for cleans? Or would you need a separate amp or PA?
The VG strat acoustic settings (and the pedal-based simulators) include the reverse EQ - a big mid range scoop, so they can do usable acoustic sounds with no tweaking into a clean guitar amp

ecc83 · October 2016

Korg AX3G about a nifty. Bought son one for that very purpose, make a Strat sound like an acoustic.

He is a fussy sod but thought it pretty good. Loads of other FX. Some horrible but many ok. Takes AAs or neg centre 9V PSU.

Dave.

steer · October 2016

Zoom MS100Bt includes a reasonable acoustic sim effect. Works well with single coil pickups. The Zoom G3 and other recent zoom pedals probably have the same effect, although I haven't checked. I dont have another acoustic sim pedal to compare it against though.

I has hankering after an Epi Les Paul Ultra for a while, which as well as standard humbucker pups, also has an acoustic pickup and separate output. The demos sound good.

RocknRollDave · October 2016

What context is it for?

Megii · October 2016

steer said:

Zoom MS100Bt includes a reasonable acoustic sim effect. Works well with single coil pickups. The Zoom G3 and other recent zoom pedals probably have the same effect, although I haven't checked. I dont have another acoustic sim pedal to compare it against though.

I has hankering after an Epi Les Paul Ultra for a while, which as well as standard humbucker pups, also has an acoustic pickup and separate output. The demos sound good.

I tried the one on my Zoom G3 recently, and was pleasantly surprised - not bad at all IMHO. I suspect it is indeed the same model as on the MS100BT.

m1ck1970 · October 2016

RocknRollDave said:

What context is it for?

Hi Dave,
I'm just a bedroom player really, and just wanted to know if there was a way of making my electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar without actually buying one?

Sassafras · October 2016

m1ck1970 said:

RocknRollDave said:

What context is it for?

Hi Dave,
I'm just a bedroom player really, and just wanted to know if there was a way of making my electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar without actually buying one?

In that case, I'd advise getting a cheapish 2nd hand acoustic. Far more versatile than any pedal and you'd learn a slightly different skill.

Roland · October 2016

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Im using IRs for my Torpedo CAB, can you point me in the right direction for info on acoustic IRs, didn't know such a thing existed.

There are a number on the Fractal forum.

Sassafras said:

m1ck1970 said:

RocknRollDave said:

What context is it for?

Hi Dave,
I'm just a bedroom player really, and just wanted to know if there was a way of making my electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar without actually buying one?

In that case, I'd advise getting a cheapish 2nd hand acoustic. Far more versatile than any pedal and you'd learn a slightly different skill.

Having an acoustic alongside your electric will help improve your playing. There are usually a couple of cheapest ones for sale on this forum.

Jonathanthomas83 · October 2016

Roland said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Im using IRs for my Torpedo CAB, can you point me in the right direction for info on acoustic IRs, didn't know such a thing existed.

There are a number on the Fractal forum.

Thank you. Been checking out the Sigma IRs today and they sound lovely in the demos, make your cheapo acoustic sound like a couple of k's worth of Martin/Taylor/Gibson goodness. Looks like a serious option for me as my entire setup runs through an IR sim. Thanks for the advice! :-)

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Acoustic sounds from electric guitar?

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