Need Acoustic Guitar Amp Ideas
 

Hi People, it's been a while. Life got busy & crazy for me, and I also hit a major money crunch that resulted in both guitars and amps going bye-by (though I never went guitarless - I managed to hang onto my Gibson J-35 yay!!!!). The gear issue has settled down, but now I have a dilemma. As of a few hours ago, I've been asked to play in the church band for mass. I need a decent (but not one that'll break the bank) acoustic guitar amp, to do my J-35 justice. Also, it needs to be loud enough to fill church (it has to compete with a Steinway piano, choral singers, a bass player, a drummer, and a flute player). I could run through the PA, but from past experience I know that will just rob power/volume from the singers and the flute player, so the amp needs to be able to hold its own, and fill the church.

As of now, I'm leaning towards a Fishman Loudbox Artist 120, but I'm still not sure it will be enough. Will it be adequate for the job, or are there other amps I should consider? As I said earlier, it has to sound decent, and be up to my volume requirements (no, it doesn't have to be brutally loud like some of my electric guitar amps have been :)). Thanks.

I use a loudbox mini, but if you want the artist go for it. I like Fischman amps.

+1 for the Artist. I used mine last night in a local general store for a gig with people talking throughout the night. Master volume at about 11 o'clock, channel gains about the same and it was plenty loud and met your other sound requirements as well.

How about a good preamp and a powered speaker. Something like an L.R. Baggs Venue and a QSC K10.

how much are you willing to spend.?
a qsc k10 and a decent preamp will be around 1k.
a cost limit will give us an idea of what to suggest.

Fishman Loudbox Artist
Bose S1 Pro
QSC K8.2 (with preamp)

If you have enough time to online shop, you can get a used Fishman Platinum Stage (pocket sized) preamp for less than $100. Then, with it, a powered speaker from QSC, Yamaha, JBL will do a very nice job. You will be without reverb, which is usually not a concern in a church, which has an abundance of natural reverb.

The new Bose S1 Pro might be a good option for your application. I own one and it works well and is surprisingly loud. It should hold up just fine at church.

The Loufbox Artist will sound nice and have tone shaping and reverb onboard. It’s a pretty bullet proof solution.

Thanks for the ideas everybody! As of now, it looks like the Loudbox 120 is the one I'm leaning towards. I'd get the Loudbox Artist 60, but I figure I'd better go with at least 100 watts or more, to get more headroom (I can always turn down if I have to, but the opposite isn't true with a lower wattage amp, and while, I like clipping/distortion from electric guitars if I really have to crank an amp to get needed volume, it sounds awful for acoustic guitar).

good choice you can't go wrong with fishman.
And that extra power will make it sound better
at lower volumes and good when you need to crank it a bit.,
good luck and let us know how you like it.

I have a hard time believing you would need more than the Artist 120 in a CHURCH! Unless your praise band is big on playing AC/DC!! If the Artist is not enough just get a QSC k8.2. That'll learn 'em to mess with you!!

Another + on the Fishman Loudbox Artist

It would probably be worthwhile to compare the Loudbox to the Boss Acoustic Singer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_pFnvgYtk

I have a Loudbox mini. It's great for solo work but when I use it with the band it really had a tough time competing with the rest of the band. The speakers are too small and don't move enough air. I was over at my luthier's getting a pickup installed. We tried it out through his amp, a Carvin Nomad 112. It's made for electric guitar but the acoustic sounded fantastic through it, very natural. So I bought one to use with the band and I am very pleased with the results. The 12" speaker moves plenty of air and it is plenty loud enough.

Loudbox Artist
 

I bought my Loudbox Artist used from a Guitar Center a few years ago for $230 and it looked like it was drug down a gravel road. What a great performing and sounding amp! If you are not a fanatic about appearance you can find great deals for not a lot of dough with a little searching.

I'm a big Fishman fan too. Depending on your budget you might look at a used Fishman SA 220 (the Fishstick). With the recent release of the SA330 the 220's are available for $400-$500 and that gives you 200 amps, two inputs (each with a mike or instrument jack) EQ on each channel and pretty light weight, I think its 35 pounds. Easy setup too. I just bought a mint one for $450 as a step up from a Fishman Loudbox Mini. Just a thought.

I have a Fishman Loudbox Performer and its a GREAT amp. Bought it from Alto Music as a demo with full warranty at a 25% discount as the tolex was trashed. The Loudboxes tolex is total garbage - if you look at it too hard it tears. I've heard a rumor that Fishman is updating its tolex on new models. I'm going to recover mine with real brown tolex when it gets warm. Hopefully that's soon :)