Help! Need to amplify but HATE the sound!

Yeah, I get what you mean Joe. I think I didn't phrase it very well...what I'm after is the sweet sound that people like Jake and Brittni Paiva get....any ideas anyone ..please!!����

Have you seen/tried the Yamaha THR5A? It is a 10W practice amp, but the headphone socket can be used as a line out?
Designed to replicate different mics for steel strung guitars, it also has a setting for nylon strings. Works well on a Kala electro-acoustic TEME.
Doubles up as external speakers for my Chromebook (stereo, 2 x 5W).

swinkie said:

I'm getting a quacky, thin sound at the moment...venue settings at 12 o'clock...��

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Ditch all your effects and pedals for troubleshooting. There could be any number of things working against you with a big chain like that.

The Venue by itself should net you a decent sound. Honestly, even a cable straight to the AC60 should be pretty great with a Five-0. If not, you've probably got a problem with the install.

If it continues to be quacky, crank the volume on your mid EQ on the Venue and sweep through the frequencies until you find the most offensive one. Then cut the EQ volume to taste. That should be enough to get you in the ballpark. If it's not, something else is at play or your standards are too high.

Plugging in your uke is the pits. It usually fights you every step of the way.

More insight into your setup and what you're experiencing would help improve the answers you receive here.

I have a Pono with standard (quacky) underbridge piezo and find that the Fishman Aura Spectrum has such a wide variety of settings that I found 1 that cures the quack of my piezo.

I think they have a custom service where you send them your instrument, they mike it, then they produce a custom profile for the Aura Spectrum that matches the miked sound as much as possible. I was able to get a satisfactory sound without going to that extreme, but it's available.

YMMV

swinkie said:

Hiya
I'm an advanced player, but not used to amping up.
I need help getting a Classical guitar sound from my Tenor Ukes.
I've got a Spruce/rosewood and a Koa, both with Five.0 pick ups installed.
I'm using good quality leads, strings, and a Roland ac60 acoustic amp.
I have a Venue Di, Hall of fame reverb, studio pre amp, Boss eq, Pog octaver, a good delay pedal , Nocturna shimmer pedal, multi effects pedal, boss looper and 2 Korg Pandoras plus 2 good condenser mics.
Any advice on settings, mic placement, do I need mics? Strings...anything please..I'm getting a quacky, thin sound at the moment...venue settings at 12 o'clock...��

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Well, I'm no expert, but if the unamplifed sound is good, why not just use one good condenser mike, straight into an amp (pre-amp if needed) that has a reverb capability, and use just a teeny bit of that to cut the dryness of the sound?

Most of the time when I see a bunch of complicated stuff like your list, it makes matters worse. If you're going to get into all that stuff, then you need to spend many hours practicing its use. Seems unnecessary.

Of course, if the unamplified sound isn't good, then you're not going to be able to improve it with electronics.

I find that the industry standard SM56, an inexpensive, but very useful mic, works just fine. I've never had trouble with ukulele feedback and seldom with guitar. Some good advice about the placement of speakers - Feedback is caused by the mic picking up the sound from the speakers, amplifying it and sending it back to the mic which sends it back to the amp. . .∞
I've never tried this on a uke, but have used it on a guitar and Autoharp with good success. I've used a cheap Radio Shack lavalier mic under the treble edge of the soundhole. Move it around till you find the best result. Martin Carthy gets a great sound doing this.

You might check out the iRig Acoustic Stage. I've found it to be the best among several clip-on mic options that are out there, and I've tried a few.

If you do so, please be sure to skip the iRig's "custom calibration," which seems just to work for guitars and to create bad results for ukes. Also, I initially found this option was prone to feedback but resolved that problem by keeping volume on the preamp unit at or below 2/3rds of its max setting.

Online reviewers complain that the cable between the mic and preamp is too thin or flimsy, to the point where the cable might break. But the cable on mine has held up fine. And I've come to appreciate the tiny amount of weight the iRig adds to the instrument.

I second the recommendation for the iRig Acoustic Stage. For my ukes that don't have pickups installed, this is my go to method.