Acoustic amps

bermudianbrit · March 2017

Hi all,

I'm still doing research here. I'm looking for an acoustic amp for small to medium-sized shows. I have used a friend's Roland Cube Street X and quite enjoyed that. I also used the Roland AC33 and hated it (limiters are evil things when that amp kicks one in). I like the 2 speakers in the Cube Street x, just a bit wider than having 1. But I welcome any other suggestions. I was thinking of heading to GuitarGuitar or somewhere and trying a few.

For the record, I need something I can plug a mic into and preferably with reverb or similar, though I don't use many other effects. I know about the Compact 60 but having only 1 tiny 8-inch speaker puts me off a bit...though I've not tried one so that opinion may only be inexperience talking.

Jimbro66 · March 2017

The Compact 60 is great, as are all AER. Farther down the cost scale is the Fishman Loudbox Artist which will do all you are asking and is worth trying out.

Lewy · March 2017

Whilst I love the concept of a "PA in a box" for anything other than really tiny gigs I don't think you can beat a little PA with the speakers up on stands and a mixer with decent EQ.

Jimbro66 · March 2017

Lewy said:

Whilst I love the concept of a "PA in a box" for anything other than really tiny gigs I don't think you can beat a little PA with the speakers up on stands and a mixer with decent EQ.

I assumed the OP wanted a mic input for micing up the guitar, not for vocals. If it is for vocals then I concur with @Lewy.

Lewy · March 2017

Jimbro66 said:

Lewy said:

Whilst I love the concept of a "PA in a box" for anything other than really tiny gigs I don't think you can beat a little PA with the speakers up on stands and a mixer with decent EQ.

I assumed the OP wanted a mic input for micing up the guitar, not for vocals. If it is for vocals then I concur with @Lewy.

Interesting - I automatically assumed it was for vocals.

Although actually I would probably go even more firmly away from an amp if I was micing the guitar - a PA offers more sound dispersal and feedback avoidance strategies to cope with various environments (e.g. ability to point the speakers in different directions).

There are also the line array type things like the Bose L1 Compact or Fishman SoloAmp but they seem quite pricey and for my purposes are always missing some feature or another that I want.

BigLicks67 · March 2017

I used a Marshall AS50R in the past and it is a good used buy. The truth is you could pay top dollar for an AER amp and still be disappointed, as it won't beat the sound of a mic'ed acoustic running through a PA.

crunchman · March 2017

I've got a Fishman Loudbox Mini. That has a guitar input and mic input aimed at vocals. It's fine for small stuff, but I'd echo what others have said and say that for anything other than small stuff a PA would be better. They have gone up since I bought mine but £299 new on a 60W Loudbox Mini is ok. I wouldn't spend £800 on a bigger acoustic amp when I'd be wanting a PA for bigger stuff.

mellowsun · March 2017

Powered monitors plus a small mixer is another option.

AER amps are superb, very hi-fi sounding. They sound much bigger than the small speaker would suggest.

Tanglewood do a great AER clone for about half the price. It got great reviews in Acoustic magazine a couple of years back.

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