EV30M, Everse8, K8/10, DaCapo 75, Henriksen Bud10 on the gig - a few thoughts

nostatic · #1 05-29-2023, 10:33 AM

While I didn't have all these at the same time (but do currently have three of them), I've gigged variations of these on solo gigs over the past few years, and have longer band experience with the K8/10s. Yesterday was the first show with the Bud10, and it was an interesting example of waiting until you get onto the gig before deciding if something really works.

These days I am swapping between Beard squareneck resonator with a Fishman pickup and OM-21 with a Mojotone NC-2 sound hole, with the occasional archtop or solid body electric. Some other guitars recently including an OM-28e MD with Fishman Aura (sounds fantastic plugged in). I do a mix of acoustic classic rock/one-hit-wonders/country/jazz and I'm playing and singing, usually have a small pedal board with some must-have effects, and have used a Play Acoustic as well.

Let's get this out of the way - you can probably make any of these work for you depending on the details of your gig. But the details matter - how you play, your book, the room, volume levels, etc. In my case I'm always trying to limit the number of trips hauling stuff and like things as light as possible.

The tl;dr cautionary tale: I got the Bud10 a few days ago and was about the send it back. My OM-21 needed a notch filter badly unless I gutted the low end (use an Empress ParaEQ mk2 for that) and my archtop sounded a bit woofy. But I know from experience/mistakes in the past that the gig is the test so I decided to take it out yesterday. Glad I did as it worked like a champ for dobro, guitar and voice. Turns out it just doesn't like my small home studio space, and with some room to breathe it lives up to the reviews/hype.

K8/K10 - these are one of the gold-standards, and for good reason. Light, loud, and they sound good. I've used them as a standalone bass amp, for solo guitar/vox gigs, and as mains/monitors in small PA setups. Never had an issue with them. As I explored other setups, I found that I wanted to simplify a bit, and when playing solo, unless I brought a mixer, it was a bit more of a chore to setup and get levels right. Really depends on your particular application. But if you need a point source to make something loud, these are great boxes. If you want to just bring one box, they can be used but require some creative signal chains (assuming no mixer).

DaCapo75 - I bought one of these last year in an attempt to find a one-box solution. I didn't really care for the AERs (particularly vocals) or Fishman. This is actually a quite nice amp, and I liked the concentric drivers and having both reverb and delay available for both channels. The eq is slightly different between the two, but having an HPF on one is useful. WIth my voice I actually with there was HPF on both, as I like an 80hz rolloff on voice and maybe 100hz on acoustic. Small, and covered the wine bar gigs with no problems. Only sold it because I got curious about the Everse, and it also had a bit of a mid freq response that was a bit edgy to me (others didn't notice it).

EV30M - people raved about it here so I decided to try it. I traditionally don't like software mixing solutions (had previous QSC and other digital mixers) but the phone app works ok. Nice dispersion and I appreciate having the high Z input on channel 4 so I can run a pedal board direct to that, or use an XLR input if I'm using something like a Play Acoustic. Not a bad carry, and if I need to fill a larger space this is the pick due to it not being a single point source. Oddly enough though I have found myself wanting something even smaller/less bulky so it doesn't go out that often. Electric guitar is usable direct if you have an IR pedal, so it really does cover a lot of ground. Haven't used it in a multi-player setup yet, only solo stuff.

Everse8 - another one that people have talked about here so I figured I'd give it a go (and sold off my last QSC boxes). Have used it a few times and I think it has its place but is less of a single box solution that I thought it might be. Worked fine as a vocal amp when paired with a 5W tube amp (for dobro and archtop), and it works ok as a single box solution for acoustic (or electric with IR) and voice but is a bit boxy sounding and I can't really eq that out. The battery is a nice feature but I haven't used it that way yet. At this point I view it as the "smallest" amp solution that can also go without AC, or as a secondary monitor or point source with the 30M or Bud. But after using it a bit I knew it wasn't going to be my first-call single carry solution.

Henriksen Bud10 - rave reviews from the jazz guys (and I do have an archtop that I gig from time to time), less comments from acoustic or vocalists. They have a 30 day trial period so I figured I'd only be out shipping if I didn't like it. Got it last week and started testing at home. Liked some of the features (identical 5-band eq on each channel), mixed on others (reverb only, no delay like the DaCapo), and unhappy with others (acoustic really needed a notch filter - too much low end). I have a pedal board that is designed to work with bass, dobro, acoustic or electric and the Empress ParaEQ did a passable notch. But the archtop sounded a bit too thick and in general I thought it was going to go back.

At the end of the day I got this amp to cover gigs, not home studio so I decided to take it out. Totally different experience - give it a little space to breathe and it sounds great. 20lbs, comes with a gig bag that has a pocket that can fit mic and cables - truly a one-box solution. Can run dirt pedals with an IR, or just plug directly in.

In action: dobro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf99-5n3ILo | acoustic guitar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkxsqDyseF0

So I suppose an embarrassment of riches but good to have different tools for different jobs. I think the Bud is going to get most of the work, especially for the indoor wine bar gigs. Will try it at an outdoor one in a few weeks but should work fine as I did the Everse8/Milkman combo for that gig last time. If I need a "proper" PA the 30M fills the bill, and if I need more volume/coverage then just combine as needed. We live in a golden age of gear at the moment...

Chriscom · #2 05-29-2023, 04:42 PM

Always great to hear from someone with wider experience than me, period, but especially when my 30m is in the mix. Thanks for posting.

jricc · #3 05-30-2023, 06:39 AM

Thanks for the real world report Todd. Both the resonator and Martin sounded nice through the Bud10. First time I've heard that amp in action. In the videos it looked like a pretty confined space. Just out of curiosity, how big was the room? Do you think the Bud10 could handle say 100 people? Thanks

nostatic · #4 05-30-2023, 08:16 AM

Hi Joe, actually a pretty big space - industrial building with high ceilings, the front area has seating for about 30 people for wine tasting, behind those barrels is about 10x the space for storage (more barrels, bottles, grape processing equipment). It is a pretty punchy amp and I had it barely turned up so I think a room with 100 people would be no problem. Only caveat is that is won't give you the spread of a vertical array, but whether that matters depends on the space.

jricc · #5 05-30-2023, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nostatic

Hi Joe, actually a pretty big space - industrial building with high ceilings, the front area has seating for about 30 people for wine tasting, behind those barrels is about 10x the space for storage (more barrels, bottles, grape processing equipment). It is a pretty punchy amp and I had it barely turned up so I think a room with 100 people would be no problem. Only caveat is that is won't give you the spread of a vertical array, but whether that matters depends on the space.

Thanks much Todd. One more thing, I went back and listened to the Martin with the Mojotone NC-2 and it's a great combo with the Bud10. I've been using the NC-1 in my Taylor and I'm really liking it.

lpa53 · #6 05-30-2023, 02:11 PM

When switching instruments do you have to make a lot of changes to the amp settings?

I use three guitars each with different EQ and volume needs and got the Everse 8 because I could save and retrieve the setups or each. I'm still experimenting with it and am not completely sold yet. I've gigged with it three times, two without issue, and once in which the Bluetooth mixer app connection dropped out twice.

nostatic · #7 05-30-2023, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpa53

When switching instruments do you have to make a lot of changes to the amp settings?

I use three guitars each with different EQ and volume needs and got the Everse 8 because I could save and retrieve the setups or each. I'm still experimenting with it and am not completely sold yet. I've gigged with it three times, tow without issue, and once in which the Bluetooth miser app connection dropped out twice.

There is a small level difference between the dobro and acoustic. I can deal with that a couple of different ways - by using some boost on the para eq, or setting up the comp to either boost or cut level. If I’m swapping with electric, I’d typically use the ir pedal and that has a single knob for level (quite useful). Basically I like dedicated buttons and knobs.