FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Best Acoustic Guitar Amp

Question:
I play classical and fingerstyle guitar and would like an amp that could handle the tone of each accurately. What would be the best amp?

Answer:
I had been using a Fender keyboard amp for acoustic which sounded very good, and a Mesa Boogie MK IIB for electric. But I wanted a single amp that would be outstanding for both acoustic and electric guitar. Rivera is a company known for it's hand-built vintage to shred sounding electric guitar all-tube amps. I had heard about the Rivera Sedona; Doyle Dykes' signature amp and tried one out. You didn't say what your budget was but the Sedona is simply amazing. It's a 55 watt 2-channel mono all-tube amp with a JBL M121 12 and an EV 5 dome tweeter. Channel 1 is optimized for electric... sounds like a Marshall, but the JBL gives it a brighter sound than a Celestion, more like a Hiwatt. Goes very clean, to a singing distortion full of harmonics, and all points in between. Channel 2 is the acoustic channel. Can go from squeaky clean to bluesy. Ch 2 sounds like a tweed Fender (my favorite), with a pull switch to change the mid-notch for a blackface Twin vibe. It also has a parametric EQ that is excellent for eliminating feedback from my acoustic. The tweeter can be switched on when channel 2 is in use. I use channel 2 for acoustic and clean electric rhythm. I use the same EQ settings for both; switching on the tweeter and parametric for acoustic to get a deep, rich, full sound with lots of 'air'. Switching them off and pulling the bright switch gives me a great clean rhythm sound for my Fenders. I switch on the tweeter and get a lovely sound with my L5CES for big-band music. Mine had a bad EL34 power amp tube from the factory which shouldn't happen on an amp this expensive, and I read on Harmony Central that I'm not the only one. After the tubes were replaced, the power is more than ample for most mid-size rooms. It's got a tube-buffered balanced direct-out, but it's pre-EQ/distortion/effects/ so I can't use it live. I split out a direct from the effects loop to the house. Aside from a beautiful Accutronics reverb tank, there are no on-board effects. I go outboard to a small rack (I only use some delay for acoustic). Downsides are: weight... 70lbs. Though lighter than my 100 watt Boogie, it's bigger and harder to carry. And price; $1700 plus any sales tax. Again, the sound is amazing. I know you mentioned you play classical and fingerstyle. Doyle Dykes plays a Kirk Sand classical and his signature Taylor. He wanted this amp to sound great with both, as well as electric, and it performs as 2 outstanding amps. As an acoustic only amp, this is way overkill, however Rivera now has the 'lite' acoustic-only version with instrument and mic inputs which is about 30 lbs lighter & $400 cheaper. It substitutes a Celestion 12 for the JBL and has a 4 tweeter. Haven't heard it so cannot comment. If you're looking for a great amp, give one a tryout.