Small giggable solid state for acoustic and electric with 2 channels?

[omphalopsychos]

I'm looking for a small footprint amp that works for small venues. Requirements: two channels with separate EQs. I'll be plugging a piezo pickup into one channel and a floating magnetic into the other. Both have to sound good!

I want something that takes pedals well, since I may use an amp character preamp for the magnetic pickup.

I don't know much about the territory. There are 4 amps currently in the running: Henriksen Bud, AER Compact 60, Fishman Loudbox Artist, Roland AC 60.

Which ones are the best? I want something durable that's small and has sufficient range and control to transfer the warmth of magnetic pickups and the high dimension of piezo / microphone.

Thanks for the help.

[Doctor Jeff]

Fishman Artist. Sounds great with every pickup I've ever tried, especially useful for taming unwanted piezo sounds. 2 main inputs plus an auxiliary.

Each channel has a gain cut button--keep full for piezo, cut gain for magnetic. There's also a treble cut knob especially useful for taming piezo quack and a sweepable midrange filter for removing feedback.

Plus relatively light (~25 lbs. IIRC), not too expensive, and LOUD.

The only drawback, and admittedly it's nitpicky of me, is poor quality vinyl covering that will get nicked and abraded with use outside the home. I'm thinking of taking my cabinet apart and covering the sides with high-quality Tolex or tweed.

Tolex and Tweed Amplifier Covering Material - Mojotone.com

[tonyp145]

Don't forget the Quilter MicroPro, it's pretty much made for what you're describing. Get the 8" model, it's tiny, loud and the speaker is full range so it produces a nice acoustic sound in channel 2 and killer electric tone from channel 1. Lots of options and extras too, very versatile, flexible amp. I sing out of the 2nd channel of mine, sounds great.

[omphalopsychos]

Good to consider. What are opinions on the Schertler David? It seems like another nice option at a slightly lower price than the Bud.

[Alter]

Except from the Henriksen Bud, i 've had the other three amps. They all can do the job, but my favorite would be the AER, for quality of sound and portability. Fishman second. The Schertlers are great amps but i never had one personally.

Also the AER gets major points for build quality. Almost everybody in know with Henriksens (4-5 gigging friends plus me with the Jazzamp) has had problems down the road, whereas the Aer is extremely dependable. Sounds great with nylon strings also.

Best advice would be to try to play them, as they all sound a bit different and you might find one more to your liking.

[gitrman]

I've had my Roland AC60 for a year now and am very happy with it. It has all the features requested, sounds great, reliable, lightweight, even comes with a gig bag. I've used it on various venues, including numerous outdoor big band gigs. Handles everything really well. Hope this helps.

[DanielleOM]

Noting all of the admiration for the Katana combo amps, I wonder what the Boss Singer Live amp is like. Under 25 lbs and introduced around the same time as the Katana series.

[omphalopsychos]

Well, I don't have the ability to play these all locally. I played a Bud for about 5 minutes at Rudy's last time I was in NY. It was impressive, but I only played an electric through it. My big concern is the durability reputation and the price (The AER is more expensive, but it's not hard to find a used one). Even the used ones are selling for $900+.

I ended up going with the Schertler David. In all comparisons I've found online people either equate the quality of Schertler to AER's or even prefer Schertler. Plus the price for a used one was too good to pass up - about the cost of a Loudbox Artist new.

[Woody Sound]

I ended up going with the Schertler David. In all comparisons I've found online people either equate the quality of Schertler to AER's or even prefer Schertler. Plus the price for a used one was too good to pass up - about the cost of a Loudbox Artist new.

Which model did you get? Do you have it in hard, or waiting for delivery?

[Alter]

I 'm sure you ll enjoy it. Everybody i know with one really likes them, and they sound fantastic

[omphalopsychos]

I got the Schertler "David" 100w. I'm awaiting delivery. I got one used, but Djangobooks has them new for also a great price. I'll post a review when it arrives.

[sgcim]

I'm happy with my AI Corus. It's light, small and meets all of your requirements.
I had two gigs today; I used my PV for the pop-rock type show in the afternoon, and then the Corus for the big band at night.

[Hurricane Ramon]

I have one of these .

They are really nice units . I bought a heavy duty bundled stand / The Gig Bag / Lithium rechargeable battery / angled kick stand for floor use mic stand and assorted cables . For a little more than $500.00

With out the extras you can nail one for$300.00 or less.

Some love these while others hate them . They are quite powerful systems too .

75 watts to the main driver ( 8" ) & 75 watts split between the two 2" HF drivers =
150 watts RMS @ .05 THD .


EZ :

HR

[Chazmo]

+1 on the AI Corus. I bought mine used and have brought it to gig after gig, year after year, and it has never let me down. It has not been babied, either. I use one channel for guitar and one for vocals. The other guys in my trio like it so much they went out and bought AI combos too. They handle any gig. If the venue is large or outdoors, we run extension speaker cabinets or run a line out to the house PA.

[Eddie Lang]

I'm looking for a small footprint amp that works for small venues. Requirements: two channels with separate EQs. I'll be plugging a piezo pickup into one channel and a floating magnetic into the other. Both have to sound good!

I want something that takes pedals well, since I may use an amp character preamp for the magnetic pickup.

I don't know much about the territory. There are 4 amps currently in the running: Henriksen Bud, AER Compact 60, Fishman Loudbox Artist, Roland AC 60.

Which ones are the best? I want something durable that's small and has sufficient range and control to transfer the warmth of magnetic pickups and the high dimension of piezo / microphone.

Thanks for the help.

You could also get one of the old original model JazzKat. They're not too expensive and they do everything on the wishlist you wrote.

[Cunamara]

A a system I have used:

Powered speaker like my Alto TS110a with two channels;

Into one channel, your standard electric pedal setup (assuming you have one); you may need a DI like the SansAmp Para Driver DI or preamp as the last item in the chain to bring the signal up enough;

Into the other channel, an acoustic preamp like the Baggs Para Acoustic DI plus whatever other effects you might want (reverb, etc.- the PADI has an effects loop); the PADI will bring the level up enough to drive the speaker well.

You can also run a line out from the speaker to the PA.

[omphalopsychos]

You could also get one of the old original model JazzKat. They're not too expensive and they do everything on the wishlist you wrote.

That looks amazing. If I hadn't pulled the trigger on the Schertler, I might have given this a shot. The Tomkat model looks especially interesting, with the 5 band EQ.

[omphalopsychos]

This is perfect. The piezo pickup sounds very natural and the electric pickup sounds electric, thanks to the two separate eqs. For anyone looking for a similar setup I can solidly give my recommendation for the Schertler David. Time will tell how it stands to abuse and and how well it handles louder volumes but it's amazing at low settings.