Fender Acoustasonic 40 40W 2x6.5 Acoustic Guitar Amplifier

[Tom]

Has anyone tried this [font=montserratlight, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fender[/font][font=montserratlight, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Acoustasonic 40 40W 2x6.5 Acoustic Guitar Amplifier for vocals and (acoustic) accordion or vocals and guitar in a small venue situation?  I don't have a mic on my accordion so I would try micing both vocals and accordion with a condenser mic, micing them separately, or just micing the vocals, depending on volume needed.   I don't know much about it, but this amp has 2 separate channels with eq and reverb, each channel of which takes mic or 1/4 inch inputs, and purports to work with electric or acoustic guitar.  With 40 amps it seems like it would work for a small venue, such as coffee house, church or community center.  It's about $200 new so is a good price range for me.  What do you think?  Is there a better one out there that you like?  Thanks![/font]

 

[JerryPH]

Hey Tom, just generally speaking, I think you would be pleased with this amp. It being a twin 6.5" speaker system, it will be a touch low on bass punch, but accordions in general don't need to go much lower than around 300Hz and this amp can touch that range.

For small venues like the ones you are talking, it would be ok... I think the church environment would be a bit more challenging for it, though... but quite doable.

The part that is going to be challenging is controlling feedback. Amp placement is going to be a bit more important for you. Try to avoid having it near/behind you, and don't point it anywhere towards you from the front or the rear. A condenser mic would pic it up and feedback is the result. Placing it to the side of you a few feet and aiming forward (away) from you will offer better results.

The Roland line of amps is also pretty good. Again, speaking generally, amps designed for keyboards will sound a little better than amps designed for guitars as they tend to have a better controlled lower end for the bass. Something like the 50 watt KC-80 new are a bit more, or used are also in the $200-$250 range.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for your quick response Jerry! I'll look into the Rolands too. I started with this one because I also sing and play with guitar. Are the keyboard amps also suitable for acoustic and/or electric guitars?

 

[JerryPH]

Yes, no problem going that way. The reason for that is that most guitars don't go down as low on the bass frequencies as a keyboard/accordion.

 

[Tom]

Thanks!

 

[jozz]

good amp

since it has direct out you could always extend your volume with an additional powered speaker should those 40watts fall short

 

[Tom]

Thanks Jozz!

 

[Tom]

What do you guys think about playing outside? Seems the 40 watt might be too small. How about the 90 watt? I took a look at these and it's amazing how small and light they are. Not like the old days!

 

[jozz]

taking amps outside is a roulette in my opinion

it all depends on how far you want to project, a small gathering of people or the townsquare

regardless from a distance the sound will always thin out especially the bottom end if you are running just one small amp

for small gatherings either the 40w or the 90w will suffice anyway, take a look at the ROland cube street, same price range but really made for outside and tested the world over by buskers

 

[debra]

I have to agree with others regarding expectations. If you are trying to fill the town square with nice accordion sound using any $200 amp you will be disappointed. For a small gathering it may work but you really have to try before you buy to check whether an accordion really sounds like an accordion through the amplifier. Accordion has a sound that is difficult to amplify with "high fidelity" and a guitar amp is not an accordion amp.

 

[Eddy Yates]

I have to agree with others regarding expectations. If you are trying to fill the town square with nice accordion sound using any $200 amp you will be disappointed. For a small gathering it may work but you really have to try before you buy to check whether an accordion really sounds like an accordion through the amplifier. Accordion has a sound that is difficult to amplify with "high fidelity" and a guitar amp is not an accordion amp.

All great answers, and they are given by people who know that as much thought and effort has to go into getting a stage sound as you can muster. If you really analyze what you like about your sound when you’re playing unamplified, and then try your hardest to get that, you’re on the right track. Is the audience feeling the warmth, the breathing, the power and the delicacy that you hear and feel when you play?
It’s tough to get that, and not always possible, even when you have great sound people, but it’s worth going for it. It’s not about how much money you spend for gear. Also, you’re really lucky if a store will let you try out amps at a venue, but that kind of relationship is worth cultivating.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for your advice as usual! This is all very new for me so I'm still in the "just try something, make mistakes, learn and try else phase." It occurs to me that I'm at a point where mostly I'm looking to get some more volume in the vocals, but wanting to get a system to amp other instruments when needed. The Roland Street looks pretty good, but is quite a bit pricier. Now I'm using a vocal mic through my mini Eurorack mixer to a small guitar amp. I have some control with the eqs and enough volume to get over the accordion sound without feedback. The vocal quality is probably not that good. The acoustic amp seems like a better solution until/if I need more.

 

[jozz]

sensible choice, i use an acoustic guitar amp as well

the trick is to sound louder, not to sound amplified

 

[Tom]

Thanks Jozz!

 

[debra]

...
the trick is to sound louder, not to sound amplified

Exactly! But that is also the great difficulty, especially when on a budget. I know how to sound louder and not sound amplified, but it took me the step up to the Bose L1 (model 2) with tonematch engine and that is more than 10 times the suggested budget. There is a smaller version which is still 5 times the suggested budget... Natural sound comes at a price!

 

[Tom]

Yup! Spent all my money on the accordions! When I played in bands, my friends had the PAs. Now trying to do a solo or duo act, it's up to me to figure it out and not to get too crazy until/if I start doing larger venues.

 

[Eddy Yates]

I second the suggestion of the Bose system. I also use mine for everything. Easy for one to carry and you can mix voice and accordion well. I haven’t looked for a usd one but there should be some out there.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Eddy!

 

[jozz]

Beware that the 40 and 90 have slightly different usability properties:

40 has only reverb, 90 has several (guitar) fx
40 has aux in / phones at the front, 90 has only aux in at the back
90 has footswitch in and GND lift, 40 has neither

regarding sound, this is where the design differs:

I've heard the 90 played once by a siso-er, where it was spot on. Lots of crisp sounding vocals in a bubble of sustained clean guitar. This is because of its woofer + tweeter design. Caveat is this is indoors and everybody is listening and hears these subtler tones.

The 40 has two identical full range single drivers (similar to single driver dynamic earbuds). This might even sound louder in situations outside and or with lots of people chatting around you compared the 90, but it will not sound prettier. It's mostly for electric guitar.

So for accordion I would pick the 90, I guess you will play mostly indoors, unless you want to blast loud peaks from one source like rock gitarists do. Still either will be a sensible choice, if the crowd is small.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Jozz! I also note that the 90 has feedback circuits. Jerry mentioned this aspect, and I do get some when using my current amp so this could be a good thing.