Acoustic amp advice - Fishman artist or?

[Kettil]

I am close to pulling the trigger on a Fishman Artist acoustic combo amp.

But, I have always found amps the hardest thing to buy. You really can't test them out the same way you can a guitar, because there's such an important interaction between the guitar/mic you are using, the environment you are playing in, and the exact settings you are using on the amp. I have always felt I need hours of playing around in different environments before really start getting a feeling of whether I like an amp or not.

I have had a Mini and found it a versatile good little amp. I have heard good things about the Artist and am pretty confident I will find it at least pretty good.

My question here, really, is what other amps are in the same lane and perhaps better or more affordable based on experiences others have had? I don't have the opportunity to test drive a bunch of different amps, because there's limited availability in my area (and the issues I mentioned above), so a targeted alternative recommendation might be useful for me.

[hotroad]

Shertler David or Unico. I have owned both and they are stellar amps at reproducing the guitar tone coming into them. Compared the the Fishman Mini I would say they are much closer to the authentic tone from your guitar and much more punchy.
How many inputs do you need? XLR or 1/4"? How about on board effects or not? And what kind of power or wattage do you want? I recommend nothing under 75 watts for any kind of use outside the house. And I prefer to use outboard effect pedals so I can change my mind on what I like and not have the effects on my amp. I do like sweepable mids as well as phase and phantom power.

[Hotspur]

I just recently found myself wondering the same thing you are, and ended up buying the artist.

I don't think the Artist has the best pure tone - but, on the other hand, I'm running an UST and it's not like I've sprung for fancy toys like the Tonedexter, either.

The more research I did, the more it was clear that there are better-sounding amps, if you really have a top-end setup in your guitar.

But those better amps are going to set you back quite a bit more, most of the time. The Artist, to my ear, gives me solid sound reproduction, manageable size+weight, and some nice versatility at a very reasonable price.

The Marshall AS50D/AS100D line seems to have gotten good notices with similar prices, although I didn't get a chance to A/B them. That being said, the AS100D weighs almost twice as much as the Fishman Artist - I'm not quite sure how Fishman did it, but it really seems like they nailed the combo of price-portability-sound quality in a way that really worked for me.

[varmonter]

When I tested these SMS at my LGS I found the
mini to have the best sound of the line. I liked
It better than the artist or the the top end one
Is it the professional. Anyway I bit the bullet and
Bought an aer compact 60-3 . I don't think any of
Them sound as good as a well eqd pa. But the
Little aer is pretty amazing. It's like a bose in that
It kind of surrounds you with the sound. At medium
Volume no matter where I walk around the venue
(Wireless) this little amp cuts through.

[jseth]

There are a LOT of great choices that fall in the approx. price range of an Artist...

I have an AER Compact 60, and it is an AMAZING little amplifier... very clean, very natural sounding, incredibly powerful for a 60 watt (solid state!) amp with ONE 8" speaker!!!

As Varmonter said, the AER 'blooms" as you get a bit away from the amp, very similar to my Bose L1 Model II... not a lot of "flavoring" to the sound with the AER - you are going to receive a near exact replication of whatever you feed into this thing. At <13#s, it is my "go-to" mini-PA system for smaller gigs or when I travel.

I play and sing through it - both 6 and 12 string acoustics (w/Anthem SL pickups). Sometimes I'll use my Bose T1 Tone Generator/ Mixer as a front-end, when I have both 6 and 12 string guitars and a vocal mic to deal with... either way, the AER is a fantastic amplifier for acoustic players...

You can get a Bose L1 Compact right now for ~$850, brand new, due to a sale that Bose has every winter. That may be your best bet for amazing sound and portability... I can't say enough good things about the Bose units for acoustic guitar and voice!

If you are looking at spending nearly $1,000 on an amp/PA, I would suggest you do what I did when I first went to buy my Bose rig... I called ahead and spoke with the salesguy, told him I wanted to BE SURE this was going to work for me, so I wanted to play through it, similar to a gig. He cleared it with the manager, and we set up a time for me to come in.

I took both 6 and 12 string guitars, my microphone... and I set up right in the entrance area of a Guitar Center in Gilroy, CA.!!! Couldn't believe they wanted me to set up there, but I did it... and I played for about 30 minutes, doing entire songs like I was at a gig...

Turned out the manager and the sales force LOVED it! Loved having someone competent actually PLAYING an entire song! (As opposed to just whatever licks came to mind...)

In any case, I loved the Bose enough to buy it; this was 9 years ago, and I've loved the Bose L1 systems since then...

But go out and find one, and give it a REAL audition... get what you really want!

[Sonics]

It's a Marshall, so expect warm, lush, tube-like tones. It's not designed to be accurate. It's designed to 'flatter' the sound of an acoustic guitar. You get four channels, the usual complement of (stereo) effects, a footswitch and all the right I/O sockets. This is a heavy amp, which is what you would expect from Marshall.

https://www.amazon.com/Marshall-AS10...shall+acoustic

[dnf777]

I have a mini and also upgraded to the Artist. If you like the mini, you should also be very happy with the artist. Just MHO, but I play several guitars through them both, with different brands and types of pups, and the fish man's just seem to have the perfect circuitry and response to produce near perfect acoustics. Price is competitive too. Just my opinion, but I really like them.