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Hopefully this will not open a can of worms. I am looking for an amp that is more powerful than my trusty Roland Cube 30. I played around with an Amplifi 150 and was actually pretty impressed at the warm jazz tones I was able to get. Rated at 150 watts it gets pretty loud; at least loud enough for my gigs.
I also see an advantage with the bluetooth synch to play backing tracks. (I occasionally do a gig with backing tracks. Yes it is a little cheesy but I have quality tracks and a gig is a gig.) This feature would give me an all in one solution instead of schlepping an amp and pa to this kind of gig.
My only issue is that it is pretty new on the market and hasn't really, to my knowledge, been tested as to durability and reliability.
I also read lots of good things about the Fender Mustang IV v.2. Plenty of power, and two 12" speakers. Also the tone has been reported as being better than Line 6 amps. And, it has more of a track record. However it would not serve the dual purpose that the Amplifi would handle.
Either one has enough versatility to allow me to play the occasional non-jazz gig that comes my way.
Both are the same price.
Has anybody had experience with the Amplifi? I would really appreciate some informed input.
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08-29-2014 08:30 AM
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I don't have experience with the amp, but since it looked interesting, I read some reviews on Sweetwater. Aside from the typical one or two that unabashedly extol it as the answer to our prayers, many are somewhat critical of the sound. At $500 it's not a cheap amp.
Remember that a PA with a guitar preamp (with speaker sim) also gets the job done.
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I also considered a PA or Keyboard amp with a guitar pre-amp, but that opens up a whole new set of questions as to what is the best pre-amp and PA?
Originally Posted by rpguitar
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The Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 seems rather promising... Originally Posted by rsclosson
Last edited by Steve Z; 08-29-2014 at 11:24 AM.
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Might any to look at a Quilter. I love my MicroPro.
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Went by and tried the line 6 and Fender Mustang iii and iv side by side. The two 12s on the iv sounded better. Then the sales person had me plug in to a Peavey Classic 30. WOW!! The little 30 watt amp blew the 100 and 150 watt Fenders away. Tone, volume and projection. Not as much versatility and no effects, but what a tone!
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Comparing tube and SS wattage ratings is apples and oranges. Originally Posted by rsclosson
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Classic 30 is a great amp. Sometimes one good ole tone is all you need
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Yep! I believe I just learned that. Originally Posted by docbop
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Agreed. I can get some variety, but everything I get sounds great. The literally hundreds of tones on a modeler include a whole bunch I would never use. Originally Posted by Steve Z
Classic 30 is a great amp. Sometimes one good ole tone is all you need
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Line 6 is fine. For gigging it covers the waterfront.
Hey...The Classic 30 is a sweet amp.
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I know line 6 has a history, but the 150 is new and untried. That is why I am leaning toward the peavey. Originally Posted by Greentone
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Line 6 was recently purchased by Yamaha so going to be interesting to see what happens to them. Yamaha tends to buy companies and a couple years later they have extracted the technology they wanted and the company they bought fades into the sunset. So wonder what Line 6 has Yamaha wanted modelling, Variax, low end recording interfaces? Originally Posted by Greentone
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The Mustang IV v2 is nice, but after trying the Amplifi last night I like it a lot, and like it more than the Mustang for not just it's tone with an Archtop, but for the ability to blend a guitar with the input from another device, which could be backing tracks. Regarding the Classic 30 it is a great amp, but you have to ultimately decide what is most important to you. With a hollow, carved Archtop and an acoustic guitar the power of a 30-50 watt tube amp is not useful to me as the archtop will feed back before I get to a volume that optimizes the tone of the amp, and the amp is not designed to handle an acoustic guitar. With the Amplifi amp I got excellent tone, complete versatility with any guitar, and the versatility to be a one-man band if desired. Not to mention it sounds very good as a PA for my iPod as I plugged that in and was very impressed. My only knock on the Amplifi is that using the amp completely clean with the gain off, or nearly offthe, resulted in a noticeable drop in max volume. I don't know if using presets from online that emulate popular jazz amps will be different, but regardless, it is still loud enough to play a small room with drums and some horns, and if playing a larger gig with an Archtop I would think one would mic the amp anyway.
I am seriously considering the Amplifi 150.
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I'm thinking about getting one of these, not to use as a Swiss Army knife, but rather to sculpt one nice sound. Kind of in the same manner Metheny uses a Digitech preamp. The idea of a dry signal coming through the main speaker with a wet signal coming through the others in a self contained box is very appealing to me. I'm not going to need much volume, but I will need lots of clean headroom.
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I checked out the PG review and then went over to the Line 6 site and it does appear it is a good practice tool. Like that is can be you Bluetooth TV subwoofer or any Bluetooth device. The things that bother me at this point is they Android support hasn't been released yet. Also it only support iOS sure would be nice if it also supported OSX. Also they talk about it being a practice tool sure would be nice if it included a metronome and a looper. Looking good for a first generation product and like the idea all in one practice tool so don't have cable spaghetti in practice area.
Be interesting to see Fender and Roland's response.
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I like the out of the box thinking as opposed to another "me too" amp. The Bluetooth could be a useful tool.
Line 6, however, has never been my cup of tea.
FWIW, the Peavy Classic 30 is a common staple in many recording studios.
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I really liked the tones that I was able to dial in with the Line 6. The cleans were surprisingly warm and sweet sounding. I just was afraid of the lack of a track record. The last thing I need is an attractive, high tech doorstop.
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Take a look at the Quilter line up. 100-200watts, all the knobs work, half the weight of most. My 2x10 weighs in at 34lbs. The website lets you hear the full range of the Aviator series played with different styles.
Extreemly well built, excellent tech support. If you have a question you post on the Quilter web forum and within a day you have an answer.
Very easy to dial in any tone quality you need.
Well worth a look see.
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Quilter has impressive specs and a really nice sound. Very pricey.
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Pricey? It was almost half the price of the Tube boutique amps I compared it to. Just sayin. Originally Posted by rsclosson
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True but Tube boutique amps are way out of my reach as well. My trusty Cube 30 and Peavey Delta Blues (which I obtained for less than half of street price) will just have to suffice. Originally Posted by Al Br.
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Line 6 markets this as a practice tool that might be okay for small gig. I doubt the five speaker stereo config can cover much area. So comparing it to gear designed for gigging is kind of a apples and oranges comparison.
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What I think would help sales considerably is full support for android, and the ability to demo these amps in the store properly, meaning having an iPad or iPhone available to allow full adjustment of all amps and settings. I used the salespersons iPhone, and the difference in tone between the presets and what I created was night and day. I use a Henriksen Jazz Amp 112, and I can honestly say the AmpliFi was every bit as good to me. Certainly it is more versatile as well, but also heavier. It would also be nice to be able to store much more than 4 presets that can be accessed on the amp rather than having to use an Apple device every time beyond 4 settings.
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Any recent experiences?
Thanks,
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