Acoustic Amp

[Rinkhals01]

Hi there.
I really need some help please as I am now a newly retired man who has an opportunity to play as a "one man band" in a small local pub and as such will need an amplifier. After playing for 50 years as a pure acoustic guitarist I am totally overwhelmed by all the specs and doodaas of the modern amps and only want a reasonably simple plug and play amp that can also handle vocals and possibly a small Karaoke set up.

The gigs that I would play at will be little pubs and restaurants, with about 50 people at the most and as such I was looking at the Laney AudioHub AH40 or perhaps the Laney audiohub AH80 if the 40Watt is not powerful enough.... what are these amps like and are they value for money?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Acoustic Amp

welcome to the forum! the fishman loudbox series is my favorite line of acoustic amps. i use a loudbox mini and my friends have the artist and performer models. the bigger models are better for sure, but for my purposes the mini works just fine. super portable and sounds great

 

[Rinkhals01]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Thank you for your answer I did look at the Fishman amps..... For some unbeknownst reason the Fishman amps are a heck of a price here in New Zealand whereas the Laneys seem to cheaper and a bit more versatile so that is what I am basing my choice on, but as I said I don't much about amps and I am most definitely keeping what you said mind.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Acoustic Amp

My recommendation (As a guy who has done this...)

Get a simple 12" powered PA speaker. Here the brand would be Alto. We are talking like a 12" Speaker maybe 50 watts or so. Here is an example. This one even has two inputs so you are good to go.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Kustom-PA/KPX110P-10-Powered-Speaker-1410794687534.gc?rNtt=10

However - I would add two things:

#1 A stand - always good too get the sound avbove the heads of the audience, so it projects.
#2 A small mixer like this: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Mackie/Mix-5-Unpowered-Mixer.gc

The mixer will just allow you to - that's right - mix things better!

If you go with the guitar amp, it likely won't pole up, will be more expensive, and you can't ever add another guitar or microphone if ever want/need. You can always add any number of awesome little multi-fx or processors if you want. The speaker, and the mixer/pole will also likely be cheaper than the guitar amp also.

 

[Rinkhals01]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Wow Aceman thank you.
Oh boy you've thrown a cat amongst the Pigeons as I had not even thought of going in that direction.... you've certainly given me food for thought and I need to do some more research me thinks!

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I second the PA speaker
That's what I use

If you need more than a guitar and vocal
You'll need a little mixer

Look around and find one that will.play bluetooth songs from your phone or takes a usb stick
For breaks and such

 

[Mincer]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Yeah, I've always just used powered PA speakers. Some powered speakers even have a few channels- it is like having a simple mixer built in. But it is cheap to add a small 4-8 channel external mixer, too.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I like the simplicity of an acoustic amp. I use the little brother of the Boss unit linked below. (you mentioned possible karaoke use so you'd benefit from the larger speaker and extra power)

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...er-pro-120-watt-bi-amp-acoustic-combo-with-fx

With this you get a perfect suite of FX for guitar and vocal, feedback suppression and phantom power for the mic, aux in, direct outs should you need to interface with a large rig. All of it works with just three cables: power, guitar and mic.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Acoustic Amp

For Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Karaoke with no soundman and one guy doing the moving -I would look into a modern portable PA tower system where the sub sits at the base of the tower.

They will sound better with the bass on the floor, with the tweets and mids in the air, and can be setup and transported WAY WAY easier. They have multi inputs, built in mixer and presets AND inherit feedback rejection in many. With DSP technology and rare earth magnet tech, they can get the performance of a traditional speaker box/wedge or better in 1/4 of the weight. Traditional Wedges on the floor and Wedges up on polls may annoy you with the setup, projection and their weight -but price will be slightly better. These stack systems with a sub start at about 300.00, a good one sits around 500-700 and a top quality portable sits at about 900-1500.

Bose, Fishman, JBL, Electro Voice, Harbinger, Turbosound, Behringer, Mackie.... everyone is making one now because they make a lot of sense for EXACTLY what you are trying to do.

Also, I'd pick a really good acoustic pickup for your guitar. -that's often where the problem is.

Don't worry, your sure to look cooler than this guy :lmao:

 

[jeremy]

Re: Acoustic Amp

hes in new zealand so not sure your pricing will be at all accurate over there. i got my loudbox mini for $200 here. the pickup in my guitar was more than the amp

 

[Mincer]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Those Bose systems sound terrible to me for some reason.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Those Bose systems sound terrible to me for some reason.

I'd offer that it was not set up and tuned correctly or not with a placement or understanding of how to best use it -as it's easy to make that mistake using traditional PA setup knowledge. The EV system is the best one I've heard though.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I don't know what is good as acoustic is not really my subject but whenever an acoustic gig is around I use powered speakers like the guys above here. I either use an Alto that Aceman mentioned or a TC Electronic FX150 mini monitor. It is light and tiny and has a lot of stings in the tail, it is more than enough for small clubs. To me it sounds pretty good but maybe it is a blasphemy in the General Truth of Acoustic Guitardom.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Acoustic Amp

One other feature I like about the powered 12" PA speaker is that it is modular and thus expandable. Get one speaker and a pole. Add a second guitarist and start playing in bigger rooms...add a second speaker. Start using a drum machine...add a sub. Add a bass player and a drummer...now you need another sub and a bigger mixer...and bigger mains. Buy a set of 15" powered mains, and your 12" powered speakers become your monitors.

Modular. Portable. Expandable. And alway buy a mixer with more inputs than you think you will ever need.

Bill
(The voice of experience)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I'd offer that it was not set up and tuned correctly or not with a placement or understanding of how to best use it -as it's easy to make that mistake using traditional PA setup knowledge. The EV system is the best one I've heard though.

Well, then I've heard dozens of people who don't know how to set them up make them sound terrible. To me, it is always the Bose-branded ones that sound bad...and they are crazy expensive, too.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Well, then I've heard dozens of people who don't know how to set them up make them sound terrible. To me, it is always the Bose-branded ones that sound bad...and they are crazy expensive, too.

ha.. well, certainly possible that the Bose isn't that great... I just googled Column PA system and grabbed pics irrespective of the manufacturer..

Forgot to mention Yamaha makes one too.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Acoustic Amp

The Fishman SA "stick" system is amazing. I have a first gen model but don't use it too often as it's a bit overkill for most of the small gigs I play. But the newer systems have a sub and expandable mixer inputs.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I've been using EV powered speakers, and an iPad-powered digital mixer which is smaller than a shoebox. I actually do the mixing on an iPad, and the software has a ton of effects. Sounds huge and clear.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Acoustic Amp

I've been using EV powered speakers, and an iPad-powered digital mixer which is smaller than a shoebox. I actually do the mixing on an iPad, and the software has a ton of effects. Sounds huge and clear.

Cool, where and whats the interface conversion from A to D? is it the EV analog I/O being controlled by the IPAD or does the IPAD have a dongle or interface to get and give signals?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Acoustic Amp

Cool, where and whats the interface conversion from A to D? is it the EV analog I/O being controlled by the IPAD or does the IPAD have a dongle or interface to get and give signals?

The actual mixer is analog, and goes to a stage box. You control it over wi-fi. So the mixing itself is digital, but the signals stay analog.