Amp for Mi Si Acoustic Trio Pickup

ukemunga

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If I understand this correctly the Mi Si is not a passive pickup. Should it still be used with an "acoustic" amp? Or is any amp suitable?

I've got a line on a good non-acoustic amp I'd like to buy and am not sure.
 
Any amp works fine.
Acoustic is best if you want a clean acoustic sound.

Non-acoustic amps (electric guitar amps?) really depends on the amp, as they're not specifically designed for acoustic instruments.
They will often colour the sound of the instrument, so it sounds more like an electric guitar.

This can range from sounding like a cruddy broken old radio, to a good quality electro-sound with effects, depending on the quality of the amp.

Some electric guitar amps that have good rep for acoustic ukes are Rolands and Vox.


I use my Bass guitar amp (a VOX Pathfinder 10W Bass) for my acoustic instruments, because bass instruments are "similar" to acoustic amps.
This is convenient for me, since I also play bass guitar. Two birds, one stone.

I also have a Vox AC4TV, which is a tube amp for electric guitars. Plugging acoustic instruments into it does tend to give it a bluesy, crunchy tone that works in some genres.



I also have a Roland Microcube, which is sorta my beater "travel" amp. Plenty of options for uke there, ranging from a reasonably clean acoustic-tone to more electric sounds + effects, depending on how I have it set.
 
any Fishman Loudbox will be great.
 
Thanks, kissing...

I'm trying to choose between these 2:

Behringer V-Tone GM108
Behringer AT108 15-Watt Acoustic Amplifier

I think they're pretty much the same amp but the V-Tone GM 108 seems to have more bells and whistles. Anyone have an opinion?
 
I was going to recommend the acoustic model anyway! You won't get a natural acoustic tone with the electric V-Tone.
I know, because I use the Behringer V-Tone active DI pedals. Their electric model does not sound as clean as the acoustic model.

Good buy!

Behringers are great value for money.
 
I know you've already chosen your amp but thought I'd toss in something that might benefit others -

In general, I've found that with both ukulele and mandolin, an amp with a 10" or smaller speaker seems to work better with small instruments and under-saddle pickups. Larger speakers seem to emphasize the "thud" of the picking sound more. Naturally, you can EQ it out but using the larger speaker just makes it that much harder to EQ away the "thud."

Interstingly, even my Fender 2X10 sounds better with my ukes and mando than does any 12" cab I have.

One other note, for acoustic instruments you often get a better deal buying a "keyboard amp" than an "acoustic guitar amp." I think there are two reasons - one, the mfrs seem to like to sock it to guitarists and two, the acoustic guitar amp will often have a lot of bells and whistles you probably aren't going to use anyway.

John
 
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