Conference napalm::guitar

    I've been thinking a lot about this and have talked about some
    possibilities in other notes of late.  My idea is that the main thing
    you are missing on most guitar amps is the sparkling high end.  I have
    been designing the cab to go with my amp head and thought of simply
    adding a piezo tweeter in parallel with the other speakers.  My idea
    was to have it on a switch so that it could be turned on or off,
    depending upon whther I was playing acoustic or electric.  Piezos need
    no crossover and don't mess up the impedance rating of the existing
    cab, either.
    
    I got the idea from looking at the only acoustic guitar amp I know of -
    the Peavey one (its called Reno or Reknown or something like that). 
    All they do is put one of their CDH horns in the cab.  The CDH horn is
    a double piezo tweeter.
    
    	I haven't actually tried it yet, but I did pick up a decent tweeter
    from Parts Express (its an EV T35 copy).  I will probably wire it up
    temporarily to try it out before I attempt cutting into a speaker
    baffle or building a new cab.
    
    	The cab I have built is a 2x10 cab.  For what its worth, 2 10"
    woofers is probably good enough to get whatever sparkle is necessary
    (i.e., I probably don't need the tweeters at all).
    
    	The only other thing you may want to do is have an EQ somewhere in
    line with the acoustic to slightly boost frequencies above oh, 6K or so.  
    That might add all the sparkle that is needed.
    
    	Dan
    

        Re:                       <<< Note 2073.1 by MAIL::EATOND >>>

        I don't know about the T35 copy, but the original T35 can only
        handle around 15 watts of power, so be a bit careful with it or
        it will burn out the voice coil rather quickly, especially if you
        run the amp into clipping a lot.  (I assume this is not a problem
        if you are running an acoustic into it.
        
        Bob

    So does this type of amp automatically imply a Mesa/Boogie or one of
    its clones (i.e., Kitty Hawk)?  
    
    Mike_who's_wondering_if_he_should_stick_with_what_he_has

    	Actually, it doesn't imply any amp.  It can be done to any speaker
    cab, or if you don't want to modify a cab, just make a little add-on
    box with the piezo tweeter mounted in it and a set of parallel jacks. 
    Plug the speaker out of the amp into this and run the second jack into
    the speaker in on the amp/cab.  As I said, try it out by just
    jury-rigging the wiring and see if its the sound you want.  If not, you 
    haven't wasted a lot of money/time.  Piezos only cost a few bucks.
    
    	Regarding the T35 copy... The book says its rated 50 Watts RMS, 70
    peak.  'Course, these catalogs sometimes take liberties with their
    specs...
    
    	Dan
    

    I'd avoid piezos in anything, as they sound harsh and blow up easy.  I
    find 10" speakers best with acoustic.  My fave-rave all time neat
    acoustic amp is a Fender Concert (I got a brown one that is SOOOOO
    quiet, it's unreal).
    
    Jayu
    

    Well, I've yet to see a piezo blow.  They seem to me to be quite
    sturdy.  And if they were to blow, its a heck of a lot cheaper to
    replace (and easier to find a place that sells 'em).
    
    	Dan
    

    True, they are cheap.  & they don't need massive xovers.  I'm not
    bad mouthing them, but they do blow up.  Also, they sound harsh to
    me.  I never liked them in PA.  It does depend,I suppose, on
    the amp they are in.
    
    Jay 
    

    Mike,
    
    I used to have a Peavey "Austin 400" which was like a reno but
    with an electric channel too. I had it for sale here for a while.
    
    This amp was designed for acoustic and electric, had 2 channels
    and a horn built in. I thought the acoustic channel was excellent,
    very clear even when turned way up. I used it in a bluegrass
    band and could be heard over drums with it.
    
    The electric channel wasn't as good (IMO), but could certainly
    be loud too. (2 12's) The overdrive was kind of cheesy. But you
    could switch easily between electric and acoustic. There was
    a footswitch which turned the acoustic channel off.
    
    Anyway, none of this is really much help since they don't make
    them anymore and mine's sold. But, if you see a used one I would
    try it.
    
    Bob

    If you have $$, Trace Elliot, the bass amp company, now makes "Trace
    Acoustic" amps, with features like stereo amplification, built-in
    digtial reverb, etc.  Reviews have been quite favorable...
    
    						Brian