Acoustic amp with DI-out and effects for gigging

imalrightjack

Hi all,

I'm looking for an acoustic amp to use with my PRS Hollowbody/electro acoustic.  I'd like reverb at least and a DI out makes sense.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

menamestom

Depends on budget, the Fishman amps are good for the price and have good DI's.

Jalapeno

AER60 </thread>

crunchman

Jalapeno said:

AER60 </thread>

Depends on budget.  At £900 odd you would expect it to be good, but a Fishman Loudbox is £300 cheaper.  If the 60W of a Loudbox Mini is enough then it's less than a third of the price.

If you want DI out then presumably you have a decent PA to go into.  In that situation I tend to just go into the PA and put the acoustic in the monitors.  You could always buy an active speaker of your own so you know you have a good monitor.  The Yamaha DXR10 has a good reputation.

imalrightjack

Thanks, peeps. The AER-60 looks amazing, although I'd like to find one second hand!

I don't think I need huge output, so wonder if there's that much of a difference, as per the price. 

ICBM

I really like the Acus One I got recently - I prefer it to the AER.

imalrightjack

@icbm can you post a link to the specific model?

ICBM

imalrightjack said:

@icbm can you post a link to the specific model?

They don't seem to do the one I've got any more - it's the 6T, but mine only has two channels (instrument and mic/instrument) and is black and 100W. The new one is wood finished, and has an extra mic channel and an extra 30W, which is possibly overkill for what you need...

http://www.acus-sound.it/en/products/one-forstrings-one-forall/one-forstrings-6-t-detail.html

The 5T has the simpler features of the old 6T, but is less powerful - although 50W is probably still plenty.

http://www.acus-sound.it/en/products/one-forstrings-one-forall/one-forstrings-5-t-detail.html

Slightly confusing that the reverb is called 'effect', but it is reverb! 

imalrightjack

Thanks, @icbm

Jalapeno

Found the Fishmax Loudbox 60w very underpowered and very "boxy" tone wise, 100w is far better

crunchman

Jalapeno said:

Found the Fishmax Loudbox 60w very underpowered and very "boxy" tone wise, 100w is far better

The 60W is great for small stuff.  If you are playing an unplugged type thing with with 30 people it's perfect.  You can carry it with one hand and the guitar in the other.  It will struggle on bigger stages with a drummer but then you would normally have a PA. 

maltingsaudio

Have a look at the deals on the HK  Nano cheaper than AER

KKJale

The AER is the standard and famously loud, but they do get boxy IMHO when pushed. 

Possibly a bit spendy, but there's good things said about http://www.mambo-amp.co.uk/ . 

rustneversleeps

Roland AC 60 is worth a test drive.

simonk

I’ve had a Loudbox Artist for a fair few years now which sounds great, is loud as hell and has never let me down.
I tried a Fender Acoustic SFX recently too which sounded very nice... quite large though and not that far off AER money.

p90fool

I've gigged the Fishman Loudbox and a Marshall AS100D and they were both fine, but I now have a JBL Eon One, which is in a different league in terms of sound, and it's actually lighter and easier to carry than the Marshall. It fills a big room with a lot of people and you don't need any kind of monitoring. 

I'd never go back to stand-alone acoustic amps now that compact PAs are so good. 

Phil_aka_Pip

Just had a look at the JBL Eon One. Interesting idea

crunchman

p90fool said:

I've gigged the Fishman Loudbox and a Marshall AS100D and they were both fine, but I now have a JBL Eon One, which is in a different league in terms of sound, and it's actually lighter and easier to carry than the Marshall. It fills a big room with a lot of people and you don't need any kind of monitoring. 

I'd never go back to stand-alone acoustic amps now that compact PAs are so good. 

It does depend on use.  I don't think you could comfortably carry that JBL in one hand like you can some of the smaller acoustic amps.  There is a place for the standalone acoustic amp - small venues where you don't need huge volume.  I don't see the point in the bigger ones though.  Anything you would want 100W for, you are better off with a compact PA.

imalrightjack

AmybAny tried the DV Mark Jazz 12 with an electro acoustic?

p90fool

It weighs less than my 20w valve combo, it's only 4kg more than a Fender Blues Jr. It all folds down inside its own case and is advertised as and genuinely is a one-handed carry even for our 4'11" girl singer. 

Having gigged for years with some very good acoustic amps I can can't even begin to tell you how much better this thing sounds than any of them. 

crunchman

p90fool said:

It weighs less than my 20w valve combo, it's only 4kg more than a Fender Blues Jr. It all folds down inside its own case and is advertised as and genuinely is a one-handed carry even for our 4'11" girl singer. 

Having gigged for years with some very good acoustic amps I can can't even begin to tell you how much better this thing sounds than any of them. 

If it's 4kg more than a Blues Jr it's still probably a lot more than a Loudbox Mini - and it's more than double the price.  There is a place for those small standalone amps for small venues.  It depends on your use.  I've used mine more in the past but I've used it about 3 times in the last year.  For my purposes it's fine.

When I've played bigger places there is PA anyway.

Looks like the JBL is based on the Bose stuff, but at a less eye watering price?