Thinking about a new “living room” type rig. Input hereby solicited

[2manband]

I came across a Michael Kelly Hybrid Special guitar on the Local Craigslist. I’ve toyed with the idea of a “more electric than acoustic” type guitar for a while and this seems like a good fit. It’s a singlecut shape semi-hollow with 2 coil splittable humbuckers and a piezo under the bridge. It’s one of the older Korean made models (new ones are made in Indonesia) and I’ve owned several MIK guitars that were all a very good bang for the buck

I’ve also been thinking about one of the newer generation of “not a total joke” battery powered amps, so the idea is I would pick up the Michael Kelly and pair it with a new Yamaha THR 30II wireless. That way I could play a lot of different styles and sound decent at a low volume. I could also take the setup to parties, jams, meetups etc and play wirelessly at acoustic type volume, which has a lot of appeal to me.
My current living room setup is an acoustic guitar, and that’s what I play about 80% of the time since I usually just manage to steal a few minutes of playing time here and there. Looking for something that’s more fun, has more diverse sounds, and is easier to play, but is just as easy to pick up and play with essentially zero setup

Am I on the right track with these 2 pieces? Anything else I should consider?

 

[tiger roach]

Sounds like it would be a fun combo to me.

Of course there are dozens of options for both guitar and amp for this situation, but I wouldn't over-think it. Well, actually I probably would, but my advice is not to.

 

[GomezAddams]

Add a Pod Go or the Boss GX100 for some tasty reverb and delay, and you should be a happy camper.

 

[2manband]

Add a Pod Go or the Boss GX100 for some tasty reverb and delay, and you should be a happy camper.

The amp has (stereo!) reverb and delay built in. Probably not the best ever, but pretty darn good according to the YouTube reviews. And much of the goal with this setup is simplicity. I’m OK with a good tone instead of a great tone if it cuts out an additional device

 

[sleewell]

 

[Chicken Man]

I hate battery power, going back to feeding my book box D cells in the 80s. If it's going to be in your living room, why not plug in.

 

[2manband]

I hate battery power, going back to feeding my book box D cells in the 80s. If it's going to be in your living room, why not plug in.

The amp has a built in rechargeable battery. It would stay plugged in while in the living room (and stay charged). And then it’s ready to go when I wanna take it somewhere. The amp also charges the wireless transmitter that plugs into the guitar, so that would also stay plugged in and stay charged.

Another thing I forgot to mention - it can be used for bass guitar also as long as we’re talking low-volume stuff. But I’m thinking it would keep up with some acoustic guitars around a campfire

 

[Chicken Man]

The amp has a built in rechargeable battery. It would stay plugged in while in the living room (and stay charged). And then it’s ready to go when I wanna take it somewhere. The amp also charges the wireless transmitter that plugs into the guitar, so that would also stay plugged in and stay charged.

Another thing I forgot to mention - it can be used for bass guitar also as long as we’re talking low-volume stuff. But I’m thinking it would keep up with some acoustic guitars around a campfire

I've got a buddy who plays bass through one of those--tho obviously I though he was stuffing it with Duracells. It was loud enough for the camp manager to come have a word with us.

 

[2manband]

I've got a buddy who plays bass through one of those--tho obviously I though he was stuffing it with Duracells. It was loud enough for the camp manager to come have a word with us.

Camp manager eh?

 

[WilmerTheWhite]

I play to CDs in my living room, using a small Blackstar 3w amp. Often on the clean channel with a Boss OD3, since the dist channel often is too dirty. Here’s a clip when my Steinberger was new in the house:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/FYqzntouNoU

 

[Mark Wein]

* subscribed *

I eventually need to find a battery powered amp for certain gigs. I was considering this: https://the-gadgeteer.com/2022/04/11/positive-grid-spark-mini-battery-powered-amplifier-review/

or this: https://www.musicstorelive.com/vox-...MIteybyNnk-QIVgMLCBB1mdQ8jEAQYBSABEgLT2fD_BwE

 

[2manband]

Here’s another entry in the same class of amps, but the AA power is a big negative for me. I’m with chicken man on not wanting to buy (and eventually toss) a lot of batteries. Might be a good option tho if you’ll only use battery power occasionally

https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/review-boss-katana-air-guitar-amp

 

[2manband]

Welp I’ve managed to secure the Michael Kelly guitar and the Yamaha amp. The guitar seems nice but it has a buzz when using the electric guitar pups. I watched some diagnostic YouTube videos and Im pretty sure the issue is because the strings aren’t grounded being that it has an acoustic bridge. However it’s a string-through and there are metal ferrules on the back for each string. I’m thinking about replacing those ferrules with a backer plate and grounding that. Or maybe grounding the ferrules but there’s no access to do that

so that’s annoying but hopefully fixable.
Guitar is great otherwise. Has a little wear from the previous owner but seems very well made and came with a nice setup. The humbucker, single coil, and acoustic sounds are all pretty useable.

I just got the amp today and got to play it for about an hour. Seems pretty cool. The line 6 transmitters are on back order everywhere so I’ve yet to experience full wirelessness. the battery was charged right outta the box so that was cool

 

[mongooz]

any pics ??

 

[Bob411]

HNG&AD

 

[2manband]

Maybe the amp is the noisy part. Tried an experiment to ground the strings with a strip of aluminum foil and some alligator clips on a wire. Made a barely discernible improvement. Unplugging the amp and running on batteries made a bigger improvement

it’s also more prevalent on higher gain settings which I don’t use much. Tested a few other known quiet guitars and had the same result. Tested the MK guitar in a known quiet amp and it was quiet.

So that’s the conclusion, amps kinda noisy

 

[Bob411]

Maybe the amp is the noisy part. Tried an experiment to ground the strings with a strip of aluminum foil and some alligator clips on a wire. Made a barely discernible improvement. Unplugging the amp and running on batteries made a bigger improvement

it’s also more prevalent on higher gain settings which I don’t use much. Tested a few other known quiet guitars and had the same result. Tested the MK guitar in a known quiet amp and it was quiet.

So that’s the conclusion, amps kinda noisy

Or, more specifically, amp's power supply is noisy.

Googled and found this, only mentions noise hooked up to a powered speaker.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/yamaha-thr-ii.2081407/page-151#post-33704201

This guy in Israel, had noise and was getting shocked. Is your power supply 3 prong?

 

[Chad]

Maybe the amp is the noisy part. Tried an experiment to ground the strings with a strip of aluminum foil and some alligator clips on a wire. Made a barely discernible improvement. Unplugging the amp and running on batteries made a bigger improvement

it’s also more prevalent on higher gain settings which I don’t use much. Tested a few other known quiet guitars and had the same result. Tested the MK guitar in a known quiet amp and it was quiet.

So that’s the conclusion, amps kinda noisy

If it’s a grounding issue where the bridge isn’t grounded, touching the strings should make it go away.

 

[bsman]

I have a blackstar Fly (3W) and a Super Fly (12W - 24W w/accessory speaker) for exactly the same reason. However, I also have a Jackery 290 power station that provides pure sine AC and it works well with amps. The power station is a good way to go - and is useful for power outages as well.