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#1
11-17-2016, 01:52 PM
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New Use For My SoloAmp
Long story here.. hopefully of at least a little interest..
Way way back, before they were available, I PRE-ordered my SoloAmp, unseen and unheard, on faith and description, happy to pay full retail. At the time, I was playing solo acoustic frequently, and was weary of lugging around my Bose Classic L1 - with the BIG base, and I used two B1 subs because it sounded much better to me. It was a lot more power and volume than I needed, but sounded real good. I had used the Bose since IT first came out, STILL use it, STILL find it the best amplification for me. So, I got my SoloAmp, early serial #00049(!), and it sounded fine, better than fine, and used it for many many gigs over several years. The vocal sounded between ok and pretty good, but the GUITAR.. sounded fabulous! I later backed away from the solo acoustic performing and the SoloAmp sadly sat idle for a long time - I planned to sell it, but never got around to listing it (thank goodness).. I continue to play in a few configurations of a few bands, classic rock, with a Thinline Telecaster thru a Super Champ FX line-out thru the big Bose, sometimes/rarely thru a Bose Compact. This Tele also has the Fishman piezo bridge pickups with stereo/separate output, and the acoustic side sounds MUCH better when routed into an acoustic amp or pre-amp, with a stereo Y-cable (than just blended into an electric guitar amp, pretty obvious). I THOUGHT it sounded pretty good with the Fishman ToneDEQ box into Bose Ch-3, which I got because it had all the good acoustic tonal features of the SoloAmp, and their other amps.. .. .. UNTIL I stumbled into trying it with the SoloAmp, don't even remember WHY I tried this. Yet again - the SoloAmp sounds really superb for acoustic guitar - EVEN an electric guitar with piezo pickups! So now - behind me is the classic Bose - for lead vocal SM58-Beta and electric guitar (line from Super Champ), AND the SoloAmp for the acoustic side. I also found that I enjoy my vocal also coming from both sources behind me - the audience really doesn't hear the vocal from the SoloAmp (with a touch of reverb), but I do, and I like it. Audience also doesn't hear the Super Champ speaker, because the tone projects thru the Bose. Finally - what I REALLY intended to comment on here is the brilliance of the features and implementation of the Fishman SoloAmp! ALL the front-panel controls and acoustic tone shaping are obvious, but also the connectivity is so well-thought out! For example, I run my mic into SoloAmp Channel 1, and use just a touch of reverb (just for me), and it has a dedicated line-out for each channel, pre-eq&verb, which I run to the big Bose for my primary vocal sound - perfect! I also have an application in a very small restaurant where I need to mix in two other background singers, and the SoloAmp Aux-In is right there for that, with both Aux-Volume and Master-Volume. It also has a Full-Mix Post-Eq&Fx Out that could be useful in some situations. Brilliant Design! Great Implementation! My guess is that while that Jack guy came up with the overall amp box design, the acoustic controls are classic Fishman excellence, and the connectivity and implementation.. my bet is that's highly Fishman also. Anyway - this is my rig, and I'm real glad to have my fine SoloAmp back on stage with me again! Thanks Joe B!! Best to all, MIKE O' 
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#3
11-17-2016, 06:57 PM
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Nice review, Mike. I am glad to hear that you are finding such satisfaction with your amplification.
One point, if I may be sold bold: In addition to the Fishman (brand) "SoloAmp" product which you apparently own (though I didn't realize this until the very end of your post), there is also another product also calling itself by the "SoloAmp" moniker. Some folks may get confused if we are less than specific regarding this point.
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