Does anyone amplify an electric or acoustic guitar through their B&W's

[Jeff]

I have an acoustical guitar. The body and texture of notes it produces is just beautiful. Frankly, I wish my N802's sounded this good on redbook or SACD's. My acoustic guitar doesn't have a pick up. However, I'm considering purchasing one that does or perhaps an electric guitar. I've been in the mood for some heavy riffs.

Has anyone heard of any problems with this application? I'm sure Radio Shack has a 1/4 inch to balance or rca converter which could accomplish this. I don't have a professional sound board. It would be through an HT receiver or connected directly to the amp. I'm not sure of the output voltage of a guitar pickup. Connecting directly to the amp would be somewhat dangerous.

Naturally my concern is with the 802's. I don't want to hurt my babies!

Jeff

[dyazdani]

I've done this before with my Taylor acoustic - I had a 514ce so it already had a pickup, but same difference here.

I built a cable that was RCA on one end and 1/4" on the other, it worked just great. The only issue I had was that the gain on the pickup wasn't very high (my particular Taylor had a custom pickup that was a bit different, no volume control). I had to turn the pre/pro up a bit, but no big deal.

The sound was better than any amp I've heard (for acoustic). I also tried it with an electric and wasn't real impressed, a good guitar amp has a bit more to offer there IMHO.

[Jeff]

dyazdani, that's interesting that it seems to work better with an acoustic guitar than electric. Would you feel the electric guitar provides better results on a non distorted setting?

I will admit I know very little about the strangths and weaknesses of professional guitar amps. In my case I would be just getting my feet wet, so if I did go with a separate guitar amp I wouldn't want to put lots of $ into it. Which is why I was think about my current equipment filling the void.

My love is still HT and two channel.

Jeff

[dyazdani]

Yes, on a non-distorted setting, things would probably be fine. I only tried in once for a few minutes (I don't have an electric, had a friend over). I don't know that it would be better suited though vs. an acoustic. The acoustic sounded very good on the system, MUCH better than on the amp that I have.

Go spend about $10-15 at RS and throw a cable together. It will be a bunch of fun even if you decide to do something else in the end.

What kind of acoustic do you have? The pickup that was on mine can easily be installed on any guitar. I'm not sure that they still make it, I'll have to check around. I'll let you know.

[dyazdani]

I remembered that the pickup actually had a name - soundhole pickup...

I believe it was a Fishman Rare Earth, it's a little high, but they have other similar types that are reasonably priced. I happened to look at Musician's Friend...

[Jeff]

My guitar is a Washburn D8. My sons have Ibenez on an entry level side. No pickups on those either. The acoustical guitars that had nicer pickups ( gain, bass and treble adjustments) which were less than $600 sounded dead. I did try a Yamaha which sounded great through an acoustical amp but it really needed the amp to show it's stuff. Come to think about it, the amp I was using was very nice.

[dyazdani]

Those soundhole pickups are a good way to add amplification to a guitar you already like. I don't know that you'll like the sound from the pickup as well though depending on what model you get. Might be wise to try some that are already acoustic-electric, both in an amplified and non-amplified tests. That way, you know what you're getting.

[Stoney]

A lot of electric guitar amps add distortion and other effects to get their signature sounds. People pay big bucks to get custom amps with "signature" sounds. Audiophile music systems, on the other hand, pride themselves on passing the signal through with nothing added, taken away, or distorted. Perhaps this would explain why the acoustic guitar sounds "good" and the electric "not so good".

[dyazdani]

A lot of electric guitar amps add distortion and other effects to get their signature sounds. People pay big bucks to get custom amps with "signature" sounds. Audiophile music systems, on the other hand, pride themselves on passing the signal through with nothing added, taken away, or distorted. Perhaps this would explain why the acoustic guitar sounds "good" and the electric "not so good".

Yep, that's basically my take on it. It takes some functionality away from an electric by not being able to tinker with the sound.

[johan]

Try plug your cd-player into a guitar amp and listen...

[ac81017]

Try plug your cd-player into a guitar amp and listen...

How does it sound?? where in Sweden are you from??

[ac81017]

Guild

I have played my Guild starfire V from 67 through my 602s3´s, very nice!!

[Jeff]

Thanks for the replies. Stoney, you made a good point on the signature sound of custom amps.

Johan, ok, it sounds like you've tried a cd player in a guitar amp.
Don't keep us all in suspence. Please share...

Well, it sounds like going with an acoustical guitar through my home system will be a good thing. However, it does put me in a place to reconsider my desire to play heavy riffs through the home system. We'll see.

Well Johan, how bad did it sound?

Jeff

[marcelhold]

Guys, I'm not one to spoil your fun (and sorry if someone earlier on in the thread has already said this...) but is it a good idea to amplify a guitar over a hifi? I've tried it and couldn't help but notice that the dynamics of the instrument are so high that when you play it quietly, you can barely hear it, but if you play it a bit louder, you'll end up overdriving your amp (and frying said amp or your speakers) My choice would be to play your guitar over a guitar amp, which is built to take the big difference in signal strength (plus it adds a lot of character to the sound, which through a hifi amp and speakers you won't get?

Marcel

[Jeff]

This is exactly the issues I would like to hear about. The proper setting of a trim/gain level should take that into consideration. Some guitars should have this.

I have two receivers with mic mixing levels (1/4 inch inputs). As long as they are properly set, I wouldn't expect a problem. My N802's can take a generous amount of current and dynamic range. However, I certainly admit that some heavy plucks of the strings do concern me. Again, with not doing this in the past, I'm in unchartered waters.

Jeff

[dyazdani]

I'm not sure, your speakers are designed to reproduce music as accurately as possible and periods of varying dynamic range are going to be present whether you're playing it or Slash is on a recorded CD.

It's always wise to be careful though and like the OP said, you can manage the situation with volume control on the guitar.

[bigburner]

Guys, I'm not one to spoil your fun (and sorry if someone earlier on in the thread has already said this...) but is it a good idea to amplify a guitar over a hifi? I've tried it and couldn't help but notice that the dynamics of the instrument are so high that when you play it quietly, you can barely hear it, but if you play it a bit louder, you'll end up overdriving your amp (and frying said amp or your speakers) My choice would be to play your guitar over a guitar amp, which is built to take the big difference in signal strength (plus it adds a lot of character to the sound, which through a hifi amp and speakers you won't get?

Marcel

I agree 100%.