NAD - Fender Acoustic 100

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by Anand00028

Never mind. My Bad.
The Battery was dead on the Ellipse.
Guess the mic is passive so it was confusing.
Hope to talk to Fender tomorrow about the voice issues.
These come with a 'whizzer' cone that many people don't like.
More info on these cones if you look it up on google.

I'm normally not a fan of whizzer cones, but this amp is very clear and true on both vocals and guitar. I'm using it for the majority of my shows.

[Pecx]

Originally Posted by Mick's Goat Whiskey Picks

I'm normally not a fan of whizzer cones, but this amp is very clear and true on both vocals and guitar. I'm using it for the majority of my shows.

That's what I was about to say. Indeed very clear on both.

[Anand00028]

I must have a defective unit then.
I actually went to the store on the same day to swap it with another one they had but it's hard to make out such irregularities in a noisy store.
Thanks for letting me know.

[Johnny Danger]

I'll go ahead and weigh in on this, but will admit I have pretty limited amp experience. So take this as the "noob" review of the Fishman Loudbox Artist vs. the Fender Acoustic 100.

During a quick visit to a local GC, I tried both amps side by side, but left the dials on both amps at midway and played with no effects. This made me think the Fender was a "warm" but overly bassy amp. Almost to the point of being muddy depending on how loud you were playing. The Fishman, on the other hand, felt like a more natural reproduction of the sound.

So I watched some videos on the two amps and was surprised to see how clean the Fender sounded on the reverb settings. I then went back to the store to try out the different effects on each amp. I felt like I liked the Fender effects better and I also enjoyed the cleaner layout, though you were limited in what effects you could overlap (does that really matter if I wasn't digging the effects on the Fishman?).

The Fishman effects were ok, but made less logical sense than the Fender layout. For instance, Room vs. Hall reverb on the Fender as opposed to Fishman's Reverb 1 and 2. And the room reverb sounds like actual room reverb, same for the hall reverb. The Fishman sounded more like two slightly different reverbs. As if I could get the same sound on Reverb 2 as I got on Reverb 1 if I tweaked the tone controls a little bit.

The only real pain on the Fender was the phase switch. I expected a secure off/on like click when I pressed the button, but it doesn't work that way. The LED's in the middle of the amp next to the effects selector flashed up or down, which must have correlated with a phase on/off, but I didn't know which was which. I could tell by the fact that I got crazy feedback, hit the switch and then got less feedback. But ideally, you want to know before you play live somewhere. Then again, I'm sure once you figure it out, you'll know. Or just leave phase on all the time.

All in all, I think I'm going to pick up the Fender amp soon. Maybe the 200. Most likely the 100, though. I'm kind of new to amplified playing and don't expect to be playing to large crowds anytime soon.

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by Johnny Danger

I'll go ahead and weigh in on this, but will admit I have pretty limited amp experience. So take this as the "noob" review of the Fishman Loudbox Artist vs. the Fender Acoustic 100.

During a quick visit to a local GC, I tried both amps side by side, but left the dials on both amps at midway and played with no effects. This made me think the Fender was a "warm" but overly bassy amp. Almost to the point of being muddy depending on how loud you were playing. The Fishman, on the other hand, felt like a more natural reproduction of the sound.

So I watched some videos on the two amps and was surprised to see how clean the Fender sounded on the reverb settings. I then went back to the store to try out the different effects on each amp. I felt like I liked the Fender effects better and I also enjoyed the cleaner layout, though you were limited in what effects you could overlap (does that really matter if I wasn't digging the effects on the Fishman?).

The Fishman effects were ok, but made less logical sense than the Fender layout. For instance, Room vs. Hall reverb on the Fender as opposed to Fishman's Reverb 1 and 2. And the room reverb sounds like actual room reverb, same for the hall reverb. The Fishman sounded more like two slightly different reverbs. As if I could get the same sound on Reverb 2 as I got on Reverb 1 if I tweaked the tone controls a little bit.

The only real pain on the Fender was the phase switch. I expected a secure off/on like click when I pressed the button, but it doesn't work that way. The LED's in the middle of the amp next to the effects selector flashed up or down, which must have correlated with a phase on/off, but I didn't know which was which. I could tell by the fact that I got crazy feedback, hit the switch and then got less feedback. But ideally, you want to know before you play live somewhere. Then again, I'm sure once you figure it out, you'll know. Or just leave phase on all the time.

All in all, I think I'm going to pick up the Fender amp soon. Maybe the 200. Most likely the 100, though. I'm kind of new to amplified playing and don't expect to be playing to large crowds anytime soon.

I think you'll like the Fender amp. I'm gigging with mine multiple shows every weekend. Even if the venue has a house PA, I'm using my Acoustic 100, getting my mix and then running a line out to the PA. I like to keep my live sound constant so there's no surprises and this is the easiest way to do that.

Also, I think you may be a bit confused on the purpose of the phase switch. It's not designed for controlling feedback, but it is intended to eliminate the amplified hum that comes from plugging into house power that isn't as modern as it should be or has grounding issues. If you hook up and hear a buzz or hum, then hit the switch. Otherwise you never need to mess with it. It's extremely rare that I have to use mine and then it's when I'm plugging into the same circuit as a neon sign or something like that.

I've been amazed at how capable my Acoustic 100 has been for covering larger rooms and even outside gigs. I think you'll be happy with one. Thank you for taking the time to do the comparison and posting all of the details here.

[Johnny Danger]

I thought I would give an update. I had a pretty insane month at work and was smiled upon with a bonus check, so I sprung for the 200W. I'm really loving it. I have small sort of lounge room in the back of my house where the guitars live, so the amp goes there as well. I got it pretty loud the other day when the wife and kids were out, but not even past halfway. I've played through headphones a couple of nights, which is a great way to try different settings and not wake up the kids.

My initial impression of it being very bassy is still pretty spot on. I haven't really played a Fishman amp for a long time at any reasonably high volume, but the Fender does seem to irritate my left ear (I have drainage issues on that ear, so it always feels a little "full") if the amp is sitting to my left. But only on the bottom E string. I can play the same note on the A string and it's not nearly as bass heavy. It could be the undersaddle pickup vs. a nicer system that also uses a mic. I do have the bass turned down a good bit.

Also, the bluetooth feature ended up being a great little feature because my record player and records are in the living room, so I had no stereo of any kind back there. Now I can play music through the amp from my phone, so it really adds to the room in that way as well. Not that I wouldn't prefer a proper stereo, but that room is already kind of crowded, so it works.

I don't know that I will ever play with a large group, but things might head that way. I will put it to use at church, so we'll see how that goes. Either way, it's lots of fun and now I'll be ready for pretty much anything.

[Kpronline]

Hey all,

I just picked this up and learning about its capabilities. If I were to use this amp in a small room, open mic (small cafe). I assume I could go straight into the PA if needed, not having to use a DI?

Also since it is equipped with EQ and effects I would not need to purchase these types of pedles?

Thx