Acoustic amps

Jalapeno

Loudbox Pro is damn fine, little more toppy than AER60, but excellent sounding.  I have a Loudbox in the loft in case I get another AER fail.

Lukeage

Come on people, what happened to playing acoustics through Marshall TSL60 heads?! That's how you make a Tubescreamer OR playing an acoustic in a Roland Cube with the acoustic emulator :P It's like... double acoustic! Or fake sounding acoustic behind real acoustic amplified and just... NO.

But in all seriousness I think the Tanglewoods are quite nice, but the Fishman really takes the cake. I don't have one but I've given a few a work out in my local and liked them. I did like the AER. The Marshall seemed a bit lifeless to me and very very big.

But I pick Fishman.

yournextguitar

We use a Vox AGA150 - has two channels each with guitar or mic input. One channel has a Tube pre amp so is really warm and at 150 watts you will be heard! Also has a DI output and aux input. Cost c£400 which is a bargain

See our demo on our YouTube channel yournextguitar.com

Jalapeno

She has a superb voice - needs to curb the Mariah Carey/Beyonce warbly meanderings a tad as they are so cliched these days. Not to take anything from a really good, and toneful voice.

ICBM

Lukeage said:

Come on people, what happened to playing acoustics through Marshall TSL60 heads?! That's how you make a Tubescreamer OR playing an acoustic in a Roland Cube with the acoustic emulator :P It's like... double acoustic! Or fake sounding acoustic behind real acoustic amplified and just... NO.

The bizarre thing is that acoustic simulator pedals (at least the Boss ones) sound dreadful for what they're supposed to be for, which is making an electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar - either through an electric guitar amp or even a PA… but for some reason they do actually sound quite good for putting an electro-acoustic through an electric guitar amp - it's almost as if they're unintentionally more of an acoustic *amp* simulator than an acoustic *guitar* simulator.

NB, 'simulator' is being used in the broad sense of something that gives you a loose representation of the real thing, not an accurate emulation . It's never going to sound like a real acoustic through a real acoustic amp either way, but it does work as a solution if you want to play acoustic guitar on stage with a loud electric band without carrying an extra amp, and don't want to put it through the PA.

menamestom

musicegbdf said:

OK I bought a Fishman Loudbox artist for my daughter . I am blown away by it. It is 120w and fairly small ( I brought it home on the bus).
It is 100w on the main amp and 20w on a tweeter with independant control.

I was concerned if it would be loud enough for a gig at a medium size venue , but no problem. It was crystal clear and the vocals were brilliant. The anti feedback features are also very useful. What I really like is the independant controls for the effects and the amount of ability to line out into a PA for bigger venues.

The only downside is she also uses now to plug her iphone in and have music REALLY LOUD in her bedroom.

The price was good (think I paid £440) , I A B it with a number of acoustic amps , and the it was much better than most i listened to. Even my strat (which she steals) don't sound bad.  here is a link to her playing in her bedroom  you can hear it with her playing and singing into it

Nice clip, she has a brilliant voice.

I've ended up getting the artist and it came this morning.  First impressions are very good, but oddly I can't seem to unplug my Peerless Songbird out of it to give my acoustic much of a go.  I thought for electric it would have that terrible PA tone but it's really warm and articulate, I can see me plugging in my semi a lot.  I can see how BB King got such a good tone from solid state amps now.

I tried the AER a while ago, but definitely prefer the Artist, it has more warmth and flattery whereas the AER is very accurate but felt a little cold, probably just what you want if have an expensive and accurate pickup system.

Also, tried the Jam 150, that was great as well but the Artist was cheap enough for me to order a THR5A as well.

So very happy, I think this is just the amp I needed.....

musicegbdf

Nice one Tom , glad to hear it. Yes I was surprised too , When she has gigged using my strat is sounded much better than expected.
Glad you all like the clip , she is is LA right now in the studio for about three weeks. Recorded 4 songs in the first week, and had her first earthquake experience !
Yep Jalapeno , I hate the warbling as well. She also insists on too much reverb ... but her producer sorts those things out on the recordings and really gets the best from her. He did the same for a lady in her early days who has since had some big hit albums named after her age !!!

again Tom am glad you like the recomendation , I also have used my Godin with it with the Peizo via the Loudbox and the Magnetic via a Tube amp ... was ace.  :-)

ICBM

I just got a little Vox AGA4-AT on trial.

To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect from a 4W single-ended valve amp (not exactly renowned for their clarity and headroom normally) with a 6.5" 'Vox Custom' speaker, only a volume and tone control, and no other features at all apart from reverb…

It's really very nice! It's not loud - really not that much louder than an unamplified acoustic, to be honest - although just usefully so, and it fills a room a lot better - but it sounds wonderfully natural and warm in a way I've never heard from an acoustic amp before. It doesn't distort, as I was expecting such an amp might (only a tiny bit, at full tilt) - or at least it doesn't *clip*. It certainly distorts harmonically, and isn't at all like a normal clean acoustic amp… but I think that's why I like it. It even sounds good with an unpreamped piezo undersaddle pickup straight into it, which is the first time I think I've ever heard that. The reverb is the excellent Belton digital 'Brick', although there's probably too much of it available really.

Faults… just one, really. It has no form of external output at all, so it's useless in any louder situation than it will cope with by itself. I suppose you could always mic it… although this particular one has been modified, with a line output jack. (Actually by me, a few months ago - not a huge job, there's a convenient space in the middle of the back panel. I never really listened to it then, other than to test that it worked.)

I think I might buy it . Quite funny really, when I had said I probably couldn't see myself buying another valve amp...

ICBM

Ah... now I didn't expect this: it sounds terrible with my LR Baggs M1A. Hollow and nasal, and surprisingly prone to feedback. Far worse than with the normally totally inferior UST.

I wonder why?!!

rockmonster

I'm thinking about getting a fishman loudbox artist now too! Good intel guys!