How to get better sound through multi-effects processors

Question

I wondering if sound quality is meant to reduce through multiple multieffects processors.

I have a Boss GT10 as well as a Boss RC300 loop pedal running through some decent little 25 to 30 W bedroom amps. My electrics and acoustics all sound worse through it all, I'm not very experienced with the set up because I hate setting up and unpacking especially when I can get much better clean sounds by themselves.

My Cole Clark FL1A acoustic sounds big and beautiful itself, when I plug it in to my amp, it looses some bassy-ness and depth (but it has sounded much better through big keyboard amps), when I plug in my GT10, it sounds a bit worse, like it's going through a filter or something, adding the loop pedal to the mix adds the same dampening effects.

Do you think the root cause could be poor amps, or poor adjustments of sound and tone through the pedals themselves, or combinations? I was just thinking of trying a bigger better amp but I'm hesitant with my money these days and it would suck if it didn't help

Answer 1

You are probably using the wrong equipment to get a good amplified sound from your acoustic guitar.

1) You can't get a good sound by running an acoustic guitar through an amp designed for an electric guitar. Amps designed for electric guitar are designed to color the sound and add distortion (by very subtle amounts or in the extreme) and they do not reproduce the full frequency response of the acoustic sound of the instrument.

On the other hand, there are special amps designed for amplifying acoustic guitar; for example, the Fishman Loudbox series. They are designed to "purely" amplify the sound without imparting any artificial coloring, distortion, compression, etc. If you are serious about getting a good sound from your acoustic guitar, you should invest in a dedicated acoustic guitar amplifier. They can be quite expensive, because they produce much higher audio fidelity than your average electric guitar amplifier.

2) Performers who want to amplify an acoustic guitar for stage use, if they do not purchase a dedicated acoustic guitar amplifier, always use a dedicated external acoustic guitar preamplifier which is used in conjunction with a direct box, so that the guitar's signal can be sent not to a stage amplifier but directly to the hall's mixing console, thence to go straight to the hall's stereo speakers/PA system.

3) Most, but not all, guitar multi-effects units have effects and reverbs and compressors, etc. which are designed to bring out the best sound in an electric guitar, not an acoustic guitar. Your Boss GT10 is not advertised as being useful for acoustic guitar. You can create some interesting experimental sound effects by running an acoustic guitar signal into such a multi-effect unit, but you won't get a good, natural-sounding acoustic guitar sound from one of these. They are simply not designed for that.

Go to a music store and take your acoustic guitar with you. Ask to play your guitar through various acoustic guitar preamplifiers or multi-effects units specifically designed for acoustic guitar (there are a few on the market). Let your ears guide you.

Answer 2

I'd advocate reading the instructions !! Yes, it's tedious, but you'll find out how to tell the effects what sort of amps you're putting them through, which way you want to route the signals, which order you would like the effects to be affected by the pedals, and other important stuff.

As they're sophisticated these days, in comparison to a little single pedal of 30 yrs ago, they have so many parameters that just plugging in and hoping doesn't work.

Tedious, boring, maybe, but if all else fails, read the instructions !! There must be thousands of people who have machines, etc., in cupboards and drawers, almost brand new, put away 'cos I can't make it work properly'. I was that man, till I saw the light, and used it to illuminate the instructions.

I use a Boss looper, and experience no quality loss, but was careful how I configured the signal route.

Answer 3

First of all, an acoustic guitar can sound odd through an amplifier that is designed for electric guitars. So that might be your first problem.

For your electric guitars, make sure that your effect chain is set up correctly. There are plenty of tutorials on Google and on Youtube on how to do that. However, if all effects are turned off and your electric guitars sound terrible, then there is something wrong. Perhaps your cables are of low quality (between the 2 effects). It might also be the case that your pedals are not true bypass.