Anyone used the new Acoustic amp in the vintage pack?

[lwolford]

Hey everyone. I use my pod hd500 for both my electric guitar and my acoustic. With my acoustic I don't use an amp model but an eq and a few effects, essentially as a di box. Has anyone here tried the new acoustic amp? I'm thinking of getting the pack and wondered if anyone had a/b'ed no amp verses the acoustic amp.

 

Thanks

[zaphodboy]

I use a James Tyler Variax for my acoustic tones with a Stagesource speaker. The vintage pack itself is well worth the money but I am a bit disappointed with the acoustic amp model. Compared to my regular patch which has no amp model and a little compression it sounded muddy to my ears. To be fair I haven't spent much time tweaking it though.

[Dutchguitarist]

Yes I did, until now I used either the vintage pre or no amp at all for acoustic guitar. I also tried the new acoustic amp and made a short demo where I use all three options, staring with no-amp, then the vintage pre (at 0:20) and finally the acoustic amp at 0:39. As you will hear the diffences are subtile (at least to my ears) and of course it depends on the various settings. Hope this helps a little.

WJ3-acoustic-test.zip

[pfsmith0]

From what I can tell the acoustic amp doesn't change the signal much other than to give you access to tone controls.

[Charlie_Watt]

An acoustic amp should have a fairly flat response.  The main difference is in the speaker system.  An acoustic amp has at least a 2 way speaker system with a high frequency driver and a crossover like a hifi speaker.  The amp itself isn't much different than a guitar amp.

[leesteel]

I am using the Acoustic amp in my current setlist. Sounds fantastic through the PA..

[arislaf]

the amp frees  around 3-4 equalizers block.. Thats all. You can use to add effects or change the tone with even more EQ by using it.

[lwolford]

Thanks for the replies everyone and thanks for the demo Dutchguitarist. I'll definitely give it a try. I'm also interested in the JC120. I've heard demos on it and it sounds really good.

[amsdenj]

I personally am very disappointed with the Line 6 Acoustic model. It is not at all flat, and the tone controls are not well voiced for any acoustic instrument, including acoustic guitar. Here's some simple analysis of the amp model:

 

All controls at 50% has a wide Q 10dB cut at 1k Hz

BASS - boost/cut at 125Hz

MID - boost/cut at 800Hz with narrow Q

TREBLE boost at 9k Hz, Cut closer to 2k Hz

 

PRES - boost only at 6k Hz, no effect at 0

 

As you can see:

1. the bass control is too low, focusing on the very area that you want to avoid in an acoustic guitar

2. the 10dB cut at 1K Hz requires a separate EQ block to counteract

3. the MID control Q is too narrow, making an odd resonance for acoustic instruments that isn't very useful, and can't be used to eliminate the 10 dB cut because its the wrong frequency and the Q is much narrower

4. The treble and presence controls overlap too much and the frequencies are not voiced for acoustic guitar.

 

To me this amp isn't any where near as useful as the acoustic models in the POD X3 Live and is pretty unusable for a Variax 700 Acoustic. I'm assuming Line 6 designed it for a very specific purpose, not general purpose acoustic instruments, and my application doesn't fit that purpose.

 

I've given up on the HD500X for acoustic instruments and use it mostly as an audio interface into Logic Pro X (or MainStage) for live use so I can get more appropriate plugins. I'm mostly using S-Gear for electric guitar amp models and the same plugins I use for mixing for acoustic guitar, mandolin and bass. Logic Pro X is actually a pretty nice digital mixer. We use it for the whole band. And you can just press the R key to record what's coming out of the PA.

 

The HD500X does make a pretty good, and flexible audio interface and MIDI controller, so I'm still happy enough with the unit.

[JTSC777]

Works fine for me live when I play my Variax 500 and need some acoustic parts in a few songs. I am not comparing it to a high end acoustic amp though with a high end Martin/Taylor etc...when I play an all acoustic gig I use my Breedlove/ Boss ME70-25 and one Alto 10 FRFR speaker. Works well with my little Ovation Mandolin too.

[amsdenj]

Compare with the acoustic instrument direct into a channel strip in the PA - I found the HD500X was missing some of the high end that really characterizes the instruments, especially with that big mid cut in the Vintage pack acoustic amp. It removes the articulation and ability to cut through the mix, especially on acoustic solos. It sounds too scooped to me.

[napynap]

Dutchguitarist,

   Thanks for the audio file. In the recording, the acoustic patch seems thin. Maybe that's what amsdenj is detailing here. I like your vintage eq sound the best.