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Before buying the Henriksen I used the AER Compact 60 quite a lot.
I think you can get a nice jazz tone.
I prefer the Henriksen, but the AER did his great job in many jazz gigs in pubs.
The only thing I don't like about the AER C60 is that the sound is a bit boxy,
probably because of the small speaker.
However lasr summer I used it live on stage with a good microphone in front and a great PA and the sound was quite good.
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03-02-2012 04:39 AM
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I too have found this with smaller speakers. I have a very old Cube 40 which has a 10" speaker. It sounds a bit boxy, both with the original speaker and with the Eminence Lil' Buddy I have put in it now. Some do actually like that boxiness as it gives the sound a tight compactness which goes well with say a Tal Farlow type of tone. A sound more in the direction of say Kenny Burrell would call for a more open and spread tone.
Originally Posted by Jazz_175
One way to get rid of that boxiness is to choose a speaker cabinet with a tweeter and an L-pad to dial in the amount of high frequencies. I use a Redstone RS-10ER which has a tweeter with an L-pad. With the tweeter turned off, the sound is indeed a bit boxy, but with the tweeter halfway engaged, the sound becomes beautifully open and transparent and still not too bright. Raezers Edge also has good cabinets with tweeters and L-pads. The advantage of a smaller 10" speaker paired with a tweeter is that with the smaller speaker, the bass is easier to control and doesn't get too boomy or muddy, while at the same time the sound is open and transparent like with a bigger speaker.
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How do you think the Henriksen would improve if I used a SansAmp Para Driver DI? Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Would you notice a substantial difference in conjunction with an Archtop
or rather with an Acoustic Guitar, and how?
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Depending on the settings, a Sansamp Paradriver DI can give everything from almost no difference at all to wildly destorted sounds aka heavy metal. So you can pretty much shape the sound as you wish with it. The controls are very sensistive and a small turn of a knob can mean a big difference in sound. For many (including me) it takes a while before on finds ones preffered settings. The other Sansamp preamp pedals from the "Character" series is less temperamental, but also less flexible. Some prefer them to the ParaDriver DI, because they are more forgiving when turning the knobs. An excellent "Character" pedal for jazz would be the "Blonde" (intended to mimic Fender amps). I like analog units like the Sansamp pedals much more than digital tone shaping. To my ears the sound is wastly better. They are not cheap, but for me the Paradriver DI has been worth the price. Originally Posted by Jazz_175
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I was mainly thinking of leaving the Henriksen flat and using the Para DI as an EQ.. I once tried this with my Shape EQ and the results were great, I was never able to do that with the amp's controls. I can also imagine the amp would benefit of using a little of the tube emulation circuit to warm it up. But maninly the EQ thing because I don't really like the amp's eq.
And that pedal does so many other things... I will buy one soon and I can report back to you although my jazzmaster ultralight is not the best amp to try it because the EQ works very good and already has a little tube warm vibe. But maybe I call the guy I sold my Henriksen to try it. Oldane here on the forum has one.
http://www.google.pt/imgres?um=1&hl=...:0&tx=76&ty=65
Here's a photo of the Para DI being used with a Buscarino speaker and an AI amp at Benedetto shop.
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Ups just saw oldane's reply
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Actually that picture redirected me to an old thread in this forum where some other interesting discussions can be found (and also Oldane explaining about the SansAmp Para DI) Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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Really? In my pc it goes straight to the picture! But anyway you can see the picture in the thread right?
But as I said if you like the Henriksen as it is don't worry about this
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If I click on the link I see the image, but in the background I see a thread from this forum, then I click on that part of the screen and I am in another thread. That should also work with your computer, I guess....
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Yes, that's what happens, read your post too fast, sorry.
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(redirect me to the correct thread if I'm off topic)
At ther moment Polytone 12" is my choice... and being quite satisfied, I'm not in a hurry to try other brands (that by the way seem also much more expensive to me)...
Lately, due to some backache I'm suffering, I'm looking for other, even non-optimal but lightweight solution to carry at rehersals, and I'm experimenting with the EHX Magnum 44 pedal..
EHX.com | 44 Magnum - Power Amp | Electro-Harmonix
A bit "hissy", but not more than other brands, and definitely needs some kind of preamplification chain, but I think it is the lightest amplification solution around... a compressor, and a delay (or reverb) pedal should be all is needed...
I only need to find a light 12" speaker cabinet (neodimium series maybe?), and i THINK I'm done, and maybe even not only for rehersals...
Anyone else experimented this kind of solutions?
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I got curious with that because I am getting the Para DI... I think you could a sort of pre-amp before the Magnun like this (or the Para DI)
BB Preamp
Maybe the Barb EQ could also be a preamp? Not sure.
It seems like a very good way of having a light rig. As I am getting the Para DI I will have someone make a small custom power amp (I need more power than the EHX)
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.. to increase the wattage I also considered the option of going stereo, with two Speakers and 2x44 Watts... but indeed it starts to be a bit bulky solution... Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Anyway, any suggestion for the speaker choice?
Looking at weight I'd say definitely a neodymium series... but which one?
weber? https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/neo12.htm
eminence? Neodymium Series | Eminence Speaker
other?
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One more neodymium: Jensen. Their 15" is pretty sweet, if you like 15s Originally Posted by e_del
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I have owned all of these amps - and also have had a Polytone Minibrute. I gig with jazz groups and also play gypsy jazz as well as bop on my archtops.
My ideal amp: sounds good (and fat) at low volume while practicing with backing tracks in my home, sounds great in a live setting with trio or ensemble, and is light enough to easily carry around.
My main jazz guitars include a Wes Montgomery L5 reissue, Gibson Super 400 (my favorite), and (if I am playing a wedding where there is a wide range of versatility is needed), a Les Paul Deluxe.
The winner for me is the Henricksen 12 (not the 10 -and I have owned both). It has great projection and allows me to play in larger jazz groups where amps like the Jazzkat or Polytone can get overwhelmed. It is also super fat sounding has that nice soft warm Wes Montgomery sound even for guys like me that use a pick. It is a bit heavier than the others - but I use a cart so not a big deal.
For gypsy jazz, the Jazzkat beats out the AER - but it is a very close call IMO and I can go either way depending on the room. If you use a PA, the AER would win for lightness and a slightly clearer and more authenic sound - but you need that added PA projection to fill a medium or larger room.
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Ah Ah!! the winner is the henricksen!!!!!! Originally Posted by pmgetty
I made the right choice, because I own the JazzAmp 112 ER.
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I've owned all these amps too, except the Jazzkat. I'm currently playing a Buscarino Starlight archtop.
I agree with the AER being more for acoustic guitar. It's the bomb for my flat-top - the best. But it lacks balls when paired with an archtop. It's not the sound I want for that.
Henriksen is a nice little amp. Simple and basic. It sounds good. Period.
Acoustic Image with Buscarino Chameleon speaker; This combination is my favorite. I bought the new AI Clarus S4Plus (slightly more than the S4 regular but it works better with the Chameleon speaker - ask Rick why). This amp is also killer with any other cabinet as well. I just don't think it gets any better than this.
I also want to give a thumbs up to the post about the Sansamp Para DI. It gives you a lot more tone-shaping capability, and you can dial in a touch of warmth with the drive knob if you want that. It works well with any amp.
I'll have an opportunity to try the Jazzkat next week and if it knocks my socks off I'll post something about it. I'm told there's a new version of the Tomkat that's better than previous versions.
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I'm going to have to disagree with some on this thread.
I never liked the AER. Someone at uni had one and I thought his guitar sounded thin. I also don't think acoustic amps work well for electric guitars.
However! I recently found myself amp less and in the possession of a Guild X-700 (solid carved top L5 size etc). My friend said he would lend me his AER 60 so a said ok, without much excitement.
It is the best amp I have played though. My tone is pure smokey thick 50's jazz (think Wes, Johnny smith, not Joe pass, early George).
The reverb is actually pretty good too. Certainly far better than on most Fender amps, but thats not saying much.
I have totally changed my opinion on these. Why pay thousands for a Henriksen (which I don't rate at all) and or other 'specific overpriced' jazz amp when you can get something a lot cheaper that dose just a good a job, if not better (if compared to the Henriksen).
I consider myself a tone nerd/freak so I would say you could trust my opinion. Although I would wouldn't I ;-)
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I wondered if the wood cabinet made a difference or not.
Regarding your comment about the Henriksen, I thing it's roughly the same price as the AER Compact 60; maybe less than the AER with a wood cabinet.
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I have owned AER Compact 60 and Henriksen.
I now own Henriksen only.
In my opinion Henriksen is better, but AER is very close.
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AER is great for nylon strings guitars.
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Potential buyers should note the the EQ on the new AI S series is different from on the older AI heads. It's a good change (I hope, I havent tried the new version myself) because with the older heads I always found it necessary to use an additional EQ pedeal in front of it. Both the Sansamp Paradriver DI and the BarbEQ work well for me (the Paradriver DI is the most potent and versatile while the BarbEQ is easier to dial in, but both can get my sound where I want it). Originally Posted by troxelj
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I have a Henriksen head with a Redstone 110ER cabinet. The amp certainly colors the sound. When you set all the EQ knobs flat, you get all midrange punch. You can adjust the EQ (agree that the 10Khz doesn't do anything audible) to get something different. If you prefer to scoop out the mids, the EQ will let you do that. Still, I would not call their EQ high tech. A good 3 or 4 band parametric would be more like it. Overall, the amp is OK but can't say it's inspirational.
Thing is.. what kind of sound are you looking for? The AI and the Henriksen are very different. Do you want a high fidelity system that reproduces with precision or do you want the amp to color your sound in a 'jazzy' way? Are you going to use a pedal board?
Finally, discounting tube amps because they are heavy makes sense.. just don't discount their sound. An awful lot of audio tech has been aimed at reproducing that sound and we're still not there.Last edited by Spook410; 04-04-2014 at 03:09 AM.
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Consider Mambo Amps too ...........
Mambo Amp
they get a LOT of love round here
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I'm back to this solution... There are some additional benefits, besides great tone! YMMV.
And
Last edited by yebdox; 04-05-2014 at 10:49 AM.
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