The Steel Guitar Forum

Is anyone using an acoustic amp for lap steel? I thought about buying an acoustic amp for double use with acoustic guitar and the lap steel. Most acoustic amps have a tweeter along with the larger speaker. I don't want to sacrifice tone for convenience. Is this a bad idea?

I use one on gigs where I also play acoustic guitar....seems fine, an acoustic amp is just a PA with some other knobs (notch filter, chorus, etc.), I'd say.....more full range than a typical guitar amp, and without the tube warmth....

Actually, sometimes I'll even play straight through the PA (I have a reverb pedal and compressor at my feet)......only problem is hearing yourself if there aren't good monitors...

I prefer tube guitar amps, but some gigs just aren't worth hauling the iron to...

Steve Lipsey wrote:I use one on gigs where I also play acoustic guitar....seems fine, an acoustic amp is just a PA with some other knobs (notch filter, chorus, etc.), I'd say.....more full range than a typical guitar amp, and without the tube warmth....

Actually, sometimes I'll even play straight through the PA (I have a reverb pedal and compressor at my feet)......only problem is hearing yourself if there aren't good monitors...

I prefer tube guitar amps, but some gigs just aren't worth hauling the iron to...

I always have trouble adjusting the mid's. I haven't been much helping Doug with the amp.

I have a Marshall acoustic amp that I play my Superior Weissenborn through.
There is a Sunrise pickup on the Weiss and I get a great sound.

I have a Carvin acoustic amp that I will use sometimes for lap steel or electric guitar. it sounds pretty good, but no - it doesn't really have the warmth of a tube amp.

It has a 12-inch speaker and a tweeter. You can adjust the tweeter for use with electric guitars. I don't use it that often for electric or lap, but I have shut off the tweeter completely at times and it can sound decent.

I used to use a Roland ac-100. It's a larger 2 channel acoustic amp with 1 single 12" and 2 5" speakers (where the stereo effect comes in). It has a great chorus and digital reverb. Each are limited to 3 variations and then you can mix in how much you want. I would call its sound acceptable or okay for steel, but not quite the lows and mid cut I prefer in my NV112. I used one channel for steel, the other for guitar with good results. But, everyone is different.

Scroll down the front page of the "Electronics" section to the topic "Roland Cube amps". In that thread you'll find a link to a much longer previous thread dealing with the Roland 80XL amp-- apparently many users of this amp are running both steel guitar and acoustic instruments through it, with good results. The smaller and less expensive 40XL model has many of the same features and might do the trick as well.
Let your ears be the judge, of course. I've personally never gotten "acceptable tone" putting a solid-body electric instrument through amps intended for acoustic guitar.