Selmac and Archtop Amp

ramsezaz

Hi all,
I currently own an Ibanez AF105F which I've been using unplugged for my late hour pratice sessions.
I think it's time she sings with her true voice, and I'd like to buy her an AMP.
The point is that I also own an Anastasio petite bouche, and of course i'd like to have an amp that will work for both.
The anastasio doesn't (yet) have any pickup or mic.

Anyone have any suggestions ? I've heard a lot of good things about the Schertlers amps and pickups but does the amp work ok with an archtop ?

thanks in advance,

Raphaël

nwilkins

I'm generalizing, but there are two main types of amplified sound:

1. A louder version of an instrument's acoustic sound.

2. An electric sound as provided by a magnetic pickup.

If using a magnetic pickup (like on most electric archtops) then you will probably want a regular guitar amp. So look for something like a Fender Twin. This amp will work well if you decide to amplify your gypsy guitar with a Stimer.

If you want to amplify the acoustic sound of your gypsy guitar then you will need some kind of acoustic pickup, and an acoustic amp (which has, among other things, different kinds of speakers to reproduce the nuances of acoustic guitar noise). If you get an acoustic amp/pickup combination, you could use it on your archtop, but you probably won't want to unless your guitar has a nice acoustic sound without amplification.

The cheapest route will be to buy a normal guitar amp and use it with a Stimer on your gypsy guitar and with the pickup(s) on your archtop. But this means that your Anastasio will sound electric (think Django in the 50s).

Josh Hegg

The Fender Blues Jr. is a great amp if you are going to go the Stimer rout. I love mine and it has that vintage sound. The small tubes warm up fast and you get that "old" tone. It also has a very nice tone for archtop.

Cheers,
Josh

Colin Perry

For what it's worth, I think a Fender Twin is more amp than any jazz player really needs. I agree that the Blues Jr. and Pro Jr. are good sounding amps, but they are built to fail, and rarely last more than a few years of serious gigging. My advice is to look for lesser known brands of tube amps from the 1940's or 50's. Some Gibson amps are still affordable. Even the Charlie Christian models like the EH-150 and 185 can be found for around $1200. I would look for names like valco, supro, national, masco, danelectro, or premier. Another option is to get a tube PA head from the 40's and a speaker cabinet. A lot of these old PA's have the same circuit as the early 50's tweed fenders, but they can be found on e-bay for $50-$150. Look for brands like Stromberg-Carlson, Masco, Newcomb or Soundmaster. My current main amp is a 40's Soundmaster PA through a premier cabinet had the amp removed but still has the original Jensen speaker. The entire set up cost me $200, and it sounds amazing, and is completely reliable. You can hear it by going to:
http://www.myspace.com/colinperryandblind

and listening to the song I Can't Dance

Hope this helps.

nwilkins

I completely agree - I simply cited a Twin as an example because it is a well known amp of the type I was referring to.

Josh Hegg

I agree about the amp being set up to fail. However I played about 12 Blues Jr amps before choosing the one I have. It is by far the better of all of the once I played. That being said if you order on without tying a few you might get a dog.

Cheers,
Josh

wolftone

The great arch topis, Russell Malone, endorses his AER compact 60 for use with his L5. I agree - if you like your jazz sound clean and still warm, go for this little guy.

Colin Perry

I think this is the dividing line between all jazz guitarists. I personally hate amps like the AER for an electric sound, and only like them as a portable way to try and reproduce the acoustic sound of a guitar. That means using a mic or acoustic pickup, not a stimer, dearmond, PAF, etc.. But I like and want an old sound. For my tastes, their are only a handful of jazz players who had decent electric tone after the early 50's.

nwilkins

I agree 100% with Colin