Can I use effects on a classical guitar?

[oniman7]

I've been getting into writing my own stuff lately and I thought maybe it would be nice to get an electric guitar. However, I don't have a lot of money to be spending, and I have a perfectly good classical guitar. I bought it because I'll be spending my junior and senior years in high school in classical guitar classes and performances, so I'll be getting pretty familiar with my instrument. I don't like picks much, and I'm much more comfortable on a classical than a standard acoustic.

I'm just curious how practical it is to put effects on a classical guitar. Google searches pulled up almost nothing, and none of the YouTube videos I found were any good. I'd just use it for writing and maybe some home recording, so it wouldn't have to be very loud at all. I'd try it, but I need to have some idea before I run out and buy a pickup and pedals for it.

If it helps, I play a lot of rock and metal, and some of the stuff I write on my own is pretty ambient. At times, I'd use a simple chorus or reverb, and at other times I'd like to use a good amount of distortion, phaser, etc. I have a bass multi-effects pedal, but the distortions on it aren't very good, so I'd probably buy one of those as well.

[Jools4001]

Does it have a piezo pickup? If so, there is no reason why you can't run it through effects. You could even run a mic'ed up classical through effects but it would probably be less successful. I would expect the reverb and modulation effects like phase and chorus to sound good, but I'm not sure distortion would be that good, simply because the input signal and the sustain characeristics of the guitar probably won't drive it properly...it'll just sound like a crunchy classical. As for metal, well...good luck with that. I think you could get some interesting sounds out of effected classical, but a good tone for metal is probably not one of them.

[oniman7]

I would consider getting a piezo pickup for it anyways. My laptop mic sucks (the mic/speakers clip at incredibly low levels, and I think the speakers are blown) but I can record my bass straight in by adding a headphone jack adapter to an instrument cable and plugging straight into the microphone slot. Works great. I want to do the same with my classical so I can record. My birthday's coming up, but I've already asked my parents to take me and some friends to an Opeth concert, so I've bled that money, and have almost no other income . I want a 7 string electric (even a decent 6 string would work) but I want one that will sound decent and play and intonate well, so I imagine at least a couple hundred dollars for that. I'd even be using my bass practice amp to save money

[charlie monroe]

A good friend of mine used to run an accordion through various pedals. Not for the faint of heart, but very creative, and a lot of fun.

There is a fabulous trumpet player in Toronto, goes by the stage name 'Brownman'. I have heard him use chorus and phasers/flangers to great advantage.

I say give 'er!

[bassbrad]

You can use effects but things like distortion will not sound like you might expect but...... I have a Highlander piezo Insider mic system in my classical and it sounds and records very nicely. It's a bit pricey but it was worth it in my Hirade classical.
Internal Microphone
iP-2 Acoustic Guitar Pickup Dual System

BTW good on you for planning to study classical guitar to improve your electric bass chops, the 3 years I studied did much to improve many technical things in my playing.

[The Owl]

Classical guitar sounds amazing through a good digital reverb. The BOSS RV-5 is a good start

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by The Owl

Classical guitar sounds amazing through a good digital reverb. The BOSS RV-5 is a good start

if you're actually playing classical music on it, i wouldent consider digital reverb a good idea. real reverb in a nice hall.. now that.. is a fun time..