The Steel Guitar Forum

The fiddle player in our band is looking to buy a new amp and would like to do some research. Is there a good fiddle forum where he could go to get some advice? Can anyone suggest an amp that he should consider?

Thanks,
Jim

I've seen some using a Nashville 400.

Richard Sinkler wrote:I've seen some using a Nashville 400.

So have I, and would never recommend it. Some of the worst sounding fiddle tones I've ever heard came out of a Nashville 400. I will admit that his pickup wasn't very good and even sounded bad plugged direct into the PA, but with a little work on the mixer channel it would almost sound like a fiddle. When he used the Peavey it sounded like a cat screaming in heat to a Kenny G record.

The most important thing with trying to amplify a fiddle, or any acoustic instrument, is to have the best pickup you can get and have very flat, clean, non-colored amplification. I would suggest looking at self powered PA speakers, and some sort of pre-amp EQ to go with it.

I'm sure there are many better alternatives these days, but back in the day, more often than not I had several guest fiddle players ask specifically if they could use one of my NV400's during their part of the show and they all sounded fine to me IMO. Go figure...

I'm a fan and long time user of the Fishman "Loudbox" family of acoustic instrument amplifiers.

It just plain annoys me the way a dobro sounds through a steel or guitar amp

ymmv

h

friend of mine used nashville 400's with dwight yoakam and merle. (just to address alvin blaine's adamant assessment)

Howard Parker wrote:I'm a fan and long time user of the Fishman "Loudbox" family of acoustic instrument amplifiers.

It just plain annoys me the way a dobro sounds through a steel or guitar amp

ymmv

h

I agree. I have a Loudbox, but unfortunately no Dobro anymore to play through it.

chris ivey wrote:friend of mine used nashville 400's with dwight yoakam and merle. (just to address alvin blaine's adamant assessment)

I've played gig with Scott Joss, and he can get a killer tone out of anything, and knows what his fiddle sounds like with a Nashville 400. There is always an exception, and he is one of the exceptions.

Sometimes I check out

http://www.fiddlehangout.com/

Not nearly as interesting as the Steel Guitar Forum, but some useful discussions.

Mark O'Connor also has good info on his site.

I use a Fender Twin '65 reissue with stock speakers. Sounds very rich if you stay in the sweet spot. It's heavy though, so, when I don't need the firepower I use a Polytone Mini-Brute. Compared to the Fender, it has that nasal solid state sound, but it gets you by. I sometimes run an extension speaker, which increases the wattage.

Pre-amps are important for most fiddle pick-ups. I recently bought a RedEye preamp, which is made locally in Austin and designed by a retired electrical engineer who really knows his stuff. I've been seeing them all over town. Works with my amps or direct to a PA.

so then what really matters is if you can play or not. the better you get, the less important your rig is. if you're not very good yet, your gear isn't necessarily going to make you better. ??

I'm assuming a decent player who can get an adequate sound from an acoustic fiddle. They are tough to amplify because, for the most part, they are all unique, so what works for one may not sound so good for another. The added variable of pickup compounds the problem.

Feedback is also an issue. I have that problem with the Twin but not the Polytone. I have a sophisticated feedback reduction device - a piece of foam I stick in the e-string side f hole.

Over the last few years I've been using a Fishman V-200 plugged directly into a 1972 Fender Vibrolux Reverb Amp...the tone is fantastic!

Dale Morris has some great suggestions on his website about how to amplify a fiddle correctly:

http://www.texasfiddlemusic.com/instruments.html

Cheers! e

Jim,

If your fiddler is not happy with his tone, I would suggest he look at the pickup as well as the amp. Can you tell us what equipment he's currently using? If he wants to talk "fiddler to fiddler" have him contact me. I use a Baggs bridge and Nashville 112. I used the Nashville 400 for years before the 112 was introduced. I like both equally, but the 112 is a lot easier on the back. I've never found the amp to be as critical as the pickup. Of course, tone starts with the player. If you can't get a good acoustic tone, no electronics will do it for you. Whoever made the comment against the Nashville 400 was speaking from their experience, but I have been very happy with it and it's been a popular amp among Nashville fiddlers for a long time. There's always a lot of talk about the "natural" sound. I'm not so sure that we are looking for a natural sound when we're working with a stage full of electric instruments. Even using a mic colors the sound of the fiddle. Tele players want the tele sound..... if they wanted a more "natural" guitar sound, they could play a Martin acoustic. I keep the low and midrange frequencies turned down. If you don't do this, you will likely get the dreaded horn sound. Also, be careful with the reverb......a little goes a long way. Here's a video of me with Leona Williams. It was a year or so ago and it was Nashville 112.

http://youtu.be/j7V3esW0rFU

I have been playing mandolin for more than 30 years.

There are various pickups for either a fiddle or mandolin, as the aim is to get the correct acoustic sound.

I have been using the Roland Cube 80xl, as it also has an acoustic setting.
The Ibanez group also makes a good acoustic amp.
A transistor amp plays better acoustic music than a tube amp anyway.

One of my mandolins have a Fishman, that will work just as good on a violin.
You can get a clip on mic designed for violin as well.


Check these webs and test each component to satisfaction before making payment.

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=pi ... sp00000000

http://www.viewgoods.com/musical-instru ... ifier.html

Good luck.

Thanks for all of the replies and I will pass all of this information along. Rick, I am sure he will want to contact you at some point.

Currently he is using 'The Band' pickup http://www.musiciansfriend.com/orchestr ... kup-system which he plays through a Fender Acoustisonic amp. John was classically trained and has the best tone of any fiddle player I have ever met. We are just trying to duplicate the sound of his acoustic fiddle and have it come out the same in a loud amplified setting.

I'm have not tried this pickup, but I'm not sure the body of the fiddle is the place to put a pickup. I remember when there was a microphone or transducer device that just stuck to the body of the fiddle and it sounded similar to holding the telephone mouthpiece up and having someone play over the phone.

As you can see, there's many different combinations mentioned here and they are all happy with their different setup. I would take the advice of the fiddlers. There's so many variables with fiddle that the non player doesn't understand.

I often use a Baggs preamp too, mainly for remote control without going back to the amp each time I need to change volume. It also has an XLR out for the sound man if you're working a large gig. In the studio I use a Great River pre. I learned about if from Bobby Flores and Tommy Detamore..... Expensive but a good studio investment.