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I've got the Clarus IV that I pair with a Buscarino Chameleon - great combination. This was recommended to me by Howard Paul and really brings out the sound of the archtop without color.
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05-14-2015 05:26 PM
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Sage advice. AI/RE is not a rock rig.
Speakers...I have played RE cabs with the 12, 10, and 8. IMO, the twin 8 is the best jazz cab by a comfortable margin.
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I own a Twin 8, a NY-8ER, a Stealth 10ER and a Stealth 12 ER. The Twin 8 is a 4 ohm cab and drives the Clarus very well (all of the other are 8 ohms). That said, the Twin 8 is a very dark cabinet. It is great with floater equipped carved archtops to be sure, but a humbucking equipped 175 may do better with the Stealth 10 or Stealth 12.
IMO, The Stealth 10 is the most versatile.
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Originally Posted by sgcim
As a Sicilian-American Prince ( a Sap
), I feel it is my duty to warn my friend from the home country that you can't rock or funk out with the AI+RE, so make sure you keep one amp that's good for rock/pop gigs! Originally Posted by sgcim
If that's true, someone needs to tell this guy: Originally Posted by Greentone
'50's/'60's rock group, Boss GT-8 into Acoustic Image CodaR:
Backing doo wop group, Boss GT-5 into AI Clarus 1R into Raezer's Edge Twin-8-Tower:
Pit band R&R musical, Zoom G3X into AI Corus into FOH:
Although an AI amp won't make a rock sound on its own, it can do a fine job of reproducing one if you feed it the right signals. I don't book a lot of rock gigs, but when I do I just use one of my AI combos as a powered speaker and run my guitar into a modeler and then into the effects return. Won't make you believe it's a Marshall stack, but does really well subbing for combo amps.
Danny W.
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Danny has experience behind the wheel of the AI/RE, alright. He is correct--with a modeling pedal, you can use the AI (or even a powered speaker) and get 'er done. I have used a modeling pedal into my Polytone MB III with fine results for small cover band gigs. :-)
Hey, Danny, which cabinet do you prefer? Twin 8, 10, or 12? (for jazz)
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I'm interested in that combination: Quilter + RE. Do you ever crank the gain up on the amp? I'm wondering how the cab would sound then. Originally Posted by vernon
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I haven't really used the gain channel much... just the clean channel set at 12:00 with either a Greer Lightspeed (dirt pedal) or an Ethos (smooth overdrive) and get a fabulous authentic sound out of the RE NY8! Then I just crank the volume on the clean channel and it works great. For me the Quilter brings the best of both worlds - i.e. Fender Tube Warmth and Solid State clarity/transparency. I sold my Evans JE-200 w/ext cab as well as my Dumble OTS clone.
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Thanks for the info. I am looking at the Toneblock as a backup amp. Originally Posted by vernon
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I've owned the following RE cabs: Originally Posted by Greentone
Twin 8 Tower. I had two of these and used them for several years for all my gigs. My favorite for straight jazz guitar in the bigger venues we play or outdoor gigs when I don't have FOH support.
Twin 8 Tower-ER. This is a one-off that Rich custom made for me. It's the best-sounding guitar cab I've ever heard, but at almost forty pounds, too heavy for me to want to deal with nowadays. It's part of my home rig.
(Note that the T8T is not just a vertical version of the Twin 8; it's a completely different design. I found the Twin 8 to be too boomy and mushy for me, probably great if you need to add warmth and heft to a guitar, but not necessary on an L-5. Also, the T8T projects much better, although it can be too beamy in smaller spaces.)
Stealth 12-ER. I bought this to use at home, choosing it over the ST10-ER because it was the perfect size to support my digital recorder. The recorder is long gone, but the 12 is still holding up my stuff. Sounds great, but for gigs I'd just as soon choose the Stealth 10-ER.
Stealth 10-ER. This is probably the most balanced RE cab. My choice for smaller venues, or larger ones with FOH support. Better dispersion than the T8T, but won't play as loudly, and eight ohms doesn't pull as much power from an AI head.
NY8. I bought one of these and an AI Clarus SL-R when they first became available to see if I could get better sound than my AI Coda Series II in a similarly small and light package. At home it sounded somewhat better, but on gigs the difference was hard to discern, and the wider dispersion of the Coda made a huge difference for many of my gigs. In addition, I couldn't hear the NY8 myself unless it was on a stand. Sold it after six months and went back to the Coda. Still have the AI SL-R though--it's a great little amp.
NY8-ER. This was another one-off that Rich made for me. I hated it and sent it back. No setting of the tweeter control made it sound balanced and turning it off produced a boomy, unpleasant tone. I don't believe the current NY8-ER uses the same design--I sure hope not.
Stealth 10-ER Combo Cabinet. This was an early one from the company after Rich died. Compared to my Rich-built St10-ER, it sounded peaky and lacking in bass, confirmed with a spectrum analyzer. The new company swore it was unchanged from mine. With an amp it weighed almost forty pounds, and sounded like it weighed ten. After a month of testing I sent it back. That's my only use of an RE cabinet that Rich didn't build.
If I had to buy just one now for gigging purposes, I'd probably get a Rich-built ST10-ER as the best overall compromise, but I'd never give up my T8T-ER.
All that being said, I haven't gigged with an RE cab in six years--my AI combos sound great and will handle any gig that I'm likely to do.
Danny W.Last edited by Danny W.; 05-15-2015 at 08:05 PM.
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Thanks, Danny. Folks...DannyW has about the most experience with the RE cabs of anyone on this forum, FWIW.
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I have a Toneblock for a backup. Very compact and powerful. Needs a reverb pedal and with it sounds nice. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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There is no greater proponent of Raezer's Edge Cabinets than me. I own 4 (two of which were built by Rich, the other two were built in Wisconsin) and have owned 4 others (all built by Rich). I use them with an Acoustic Image Clarus or a Polytone mini-brain. While these are great cabinets for jazz (the very best IMO) and can certainly be used for a rock gig if you need to, I would caution any buyer that these are Jazz cabinets by design. A rock gig is better served by a good tube amp. If you want one amp to do it all, get a vintage Fender tube amp (point to point wired, the new circuit board reissues simply do not sound as good, IMO). One thing that Danny W. and I agree on is that the Stealth 10ER is probably the best choice if you are going to have only one Raezer's edge cabinet.
PS: I replaced two of my Rich built cabinets with Wisconsin built cabinets (I wanted ER capability since I often amplify acoustic guitars at gigs). I seriously doubt that anyone could tell the difference in a blind listening test. The designs are the same and with two exceptions, the materials used are the same. Geoff Felsher (the Wisconsin owner of Raezer's edge) uses Birch Ply for the cabinets (Rich used Doug Fir ply) and Geoff also uses a different glue for the tolex. While I doubt that the tolex glue can change the sound of a cabinet much, the type of wood probably does. Mesa and some other boutique amp makers use Birch Ply. I am not sure why Rich used Doug Fir ply, but I would bet that it was just what his local lumber supplier carried. That said, If I was looking for another RE cabinet and could choose between a Rich built cab and a Wisconsin built cab, I would certainly take the Rich built one. Rich was a good guy. I miss him. RIP
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I had a Raezers Edge Twin Eight and used it with a AI head for a few years, it was a great set up.
I untimately switched to an AI Corus though. It suits me better because it weighs a lot less and is a simple all in one package, and it too sounds great. It has survived mutiple falls and once bounced for about 50 feet down a paved road when it fell out of he back of a van parked on a steep incline, even after that it still worked fine. If the room is really big I will add an AI Two Ten extension cabinet. I can't say enough good things about Acoustic Image amps.
I also double on bass from time to time and I can use the Corus with the Two Ten cabinet for just about any size venue.
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Not necessarily--see reply #38 Originally Posted by Greentone
I've posted in the past that if I had a steady gig doing rock stuff I'd get something more appropriate, which in my case would be a powered speaker to use with a modeler. For the occasional rock gigs I've done (which did not include metal), the AI/RE/modeler approach worked really well). Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I've only used one cabinet not made by Rich, so I shouldn't make a blanket statement, but the combo cab just didn't sound right, yet when I returned it the builder told me it sounded fine to him. Made me doubt his judgement.
That's exactly my feeling, although I try not to drop mine. Originally Posted by John Link
I have a Ten2 and Ten2 EX, but I mostly have no trouble with just the Corus
Danny W.
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As a long time Pearce user I have to disagree. You can shape a Pearce to sound great for almost anything, jazz included. Bright, thunk, clean, tubey.... Originally Posted by sgcim
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If you're wondering about convenience, RE also makes these in a few configs. But I'm not sure which AI heads fit in them.
12" Combo Speaker Cabinet
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I have both an Acoustic Image Clarus (with A Raezers Edge Twin-8) and an Acoustic Image Corus (with an extra AI extension speaker). I love them both but they each have their own positives and some minor issues.
When I play with the Raezers Edge I always get positive comments on my tone (maybe not so much in my playing ;-). It's heavy (40 lbs?) and I built my own twin 8 with birch plywood and Eminence neo speakers properly ported by specs. The RE is 4 ohms and says 200 watts, although the Clarus is 400 watts into 4 ohms but I never get there. Homemade cabinet is presently 2 ohms and much lighter, and sounds much more 'acoustic' than the RE. I also use my homemade cabinet with a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight head (250 watts in to 2 ohms). Very different from the AI, but a good backup. The Corus I sometimes use in a Big Band setting and have the amp next to me, and the extension speaker back by the rest of the rhythm section (for some reason the band director wants me up with the saxes). The Corus is 22 lbs. and 300 watts(?) and 2 channels. I regularly bring 2 guitars so one goes into CH1, and the other in CH2 cause the Director likes to do some Big Band rock n roll one in awhile. Combo gigs I almost always use the RE and Clarus unless it's a smaller quieter gig then I use the Corus. Never had a problem with the bass end of the Corus, even with carpet although most stages don't have carpet. FYI, I have an Eastman AR910LTD (only 300 made), an Eastman JazzElite 17", a D'Angelico NY-2 (Vestax), A Phillips Nouveau 17", and an Epiphhone Emperor TH (thinline, single cutaway with a spruce top). These are what I use the most in public with e Acoustic Images.
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Wow a thread from almost 10 years ago! I was new to the forum and I had 4 RE Cabs back then. I still have one, a Rich Raezer built Stealth 12 ER which i now use with a Milkman The Amp 100 pedal amp. It sounds so good that I will probably keep this cabinet for the long haul (at 67, that long haul is probably shorter than I hope for, HA!).
I sold my last Acoustic Image amp awhile back. With that company gone and no more parts being made, it seems like at some point those amps may all become expensive paperweights. At one point, Polytone amps were my go to jazz amps. About 23 years ago, I switched to the whole AI/RE thing. About 5 years ago, I went Henriksen. The Henriksen Bud 6 is simply an amazing amp. That amp is my number one for jazz.
At one point, I tried an Acoustic Image combo and did not like it. Perhaps it was the plastic cabinet, but it sounded way to sterile for my taste.
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Bearing in mind that the original thread is 9 years old and is now a zombie...
Acoustic Image is gone, the founder and main guy having passed away. It's difficult to recommend buying one now, since the only guy who knew how to fix them is no longer available. If you already have one, they are good amps in a high-fidelity PA-ish way. Mine is at least 10 if not 15 years old (Clarus 2r, can't recall if it's a Series II or III). Razor's Edge cabs are great and work well with many different amps.
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