acoustic amp for a violin?

SATCHMO · 06-28-2010, 06:01 PM

The smaller Trace Elliots with the double 10"s and horn loaded tweeters work really well with violins. I'm not entirely sure that they still make them though.

~~imrighterthanyouis~~ · 06-28-2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

are you using an actual electric violin or an acoustic with a pickup?

right off the bat you're going to blow the tweeter in that guitar amp if you haven't already (which is EXACTLY the sound you describe with the nasty scratching sound - the center of your speaker is probably shredded).

i don't know of any specific violin amplifiers out there either. most acoustic amps are still made for guitars (and the range of frequencies they produce) a violin wouldn't do much besides destroy the high end.

what most people seem to do is run the violin through an acoustic preamp (like Fishman or LR Baggs) then into a PA system. by having that middleman device in the chain you can then start tweaking your frequencies before they get to the actual device that amplifies them, you'd also want to run your effect between the pre-amp and the PA.

what kind of distortion are you planning on running it through? a typical electric guitar distortion pedal will fuzz out your sound but it won't sound that good as they're still only made to handle certain frequencies. a proper rack mount effect unit rather than a stomp box should be able to handle the wider range of frequencies, it'll cost more but sound better.

ive got an acoustic with a pickup...
i found a couple of amps online that said they could be used for violins, but then the guy at the music store showed me another one that he thought would be sufficient for a lot cheaper... its a kustom sienna 30 watt
feel free to look at it and tell me what you think.
i dont know much about this sort of thing, but would the acoustic preamp make it unnecessary to use an acoustic amplifier? could i just use a regular electric one in that case? a pa system sounds pretty expensive along with all the other things you just mentioned so the less i need to buy the better.
im looking to have some really intense pissed off sounding distortion since i plan to play in a metal band which is why i was thinking about getting a boss mt-2 metal zone distort pedal
if i got the preamp would the pedal be applicable?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

The smaller Trace Elliots with the double 10"s and horn loaded tweeters work really well with violins. I'm not entirely sure that they still make them though.

thanks dude, ill check em out.

06-28-2010, 06:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,847	The smaller Trace Elliots with the double 10"s and horn loaded tweeters work really well with violins. I'm not entirely sure that they still make them though.