Acoustic guitar amplifier

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by terryd913

What are others’ recommendations for good starter amplifier? I mostly play alone and hope to have a looper or drum machine at some point.

Terryd913

I love my Loudbox, but the Spark is worth a look for your desires. Can be controlled from a smartphone and playback (so you can play along) from recordings on the phone or downloaded from the internet.

The Boss Acoustic Singer Live has features comparable to my Loudbox Mini plus a looper built in and can do voice harmonies. Has phantom power for the microphone input, too. A bit pricier than the Loudbox Mini. My local store had one for $500 last year.

[Don W]

Originally Posted by bsman

I loved my LB mini and LB performer, but unless they have seriously upgraded the coverings, they tear and rip if you look at them cross-eyed. I was using mine for performing, and after a very short period of time they looked like they'd landed at Normandy...

Mine too...I blamed the cats for a while thinking they were scratching on the covering but now I know I'm not alone. Well...The amp works just fine and I love it... so I will just need to make up a good story to explain to people what happened. I like the Normandy landing.

[fotofantom]

I believe Fishman improved the covering on their Loudbox amps a while back. The new ones should be fine. I'm another happy Loudbox Mini owner.

[Aspiring]

I have the Acoustic Singer Live. I also bought a loudbox mini at the same time and tried them head to head. I kept the singer.

The looper however is only ok ...

I now have an acoustic trio and other loopers tend to be easier to use.

The singer has a wider range of tonal adjustments vs the loudbox. On the plus side that means you can change the sound a lot more. On the minus side it takes more effort to dial in your sound.

The singer also can act as a USB interface for recording di and the loudbox that I had did not.

[drive-south]

I use to own 2 Fender Acoustasonic Jr's. I sold them because they had no mid control. You gotta have mid controls on an acoustic amp, especially if you have K&K pickups.

My buddies Marshall AS50 also lacks mid controls.

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by SupremeDalek

I tried all of the Fishman amps, and I never really got along with them. New or used they always sounded weak with my rig.

I'm in the market for a backup to my aging SoloAmp and today dropped by a Guitar Center to see what they had in stock. In that the website listed no acoustic amps in stock, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Fender Acoustic 100 and a Fishman Loudbox Artist on the floor. Having loved the sounds from my Fishman SA, I was surprised to find I did not like the sound of the Artist at all while I liked the Fender a lot. With the effects completely off and the EQ flat, the Fishman sounded tinny and almost as if there were a slight twangy reverb. Even with the bass turned up it still did not sound good. Nothing like my old SoloAmp for sure. It's off my list.

[slide496]

I have a Schertler YGuilia though I have been using my Behringer Ultrasonic

[koko61]

I also vote for the Loudbox mini. It's a wonderful amp and since I have it I can't stop using it!

[TRW1]

I would suggest the Bugera AC60 as a great starter amp. Compact and light, with two channels plus an Aux-in, plenty of effects to play with, and sounds good for both guitar and vocals. Has more than enough output to play small to medium sized rooms, should you ever need that. I've had mine for several years and it's still working great. You can find them brand new for around $219 or so, used I've seen them in the $150-$175 range.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by TRW1

I would suggest the Bugera AC60 as a great starter amp. Compact and light, with two channels plus an Aux-in, plenty of effects to play with, and sounds good for both guitar and vocals. Has more than enough output to play small to medium sized rooms, should you ever need that. I've had mine for several years and it's still working great. You can find them brand new for around $219 or so, used I've seen them in the $150-$175 range.

Strong agree! Love mine. Punches way above its price.

[ssstewart]

just recently bought a Yamaha THR5A acoustic amp and very impressed with it so far. Definitely not a gigging amp (5 watts) but perfect for home use and on the deck/patio. once i added the THR editor to my laptop and linked them it opened a whole new world of effects and library able. i of course still prefer au natural acoustic, but a lot of fun to play with...very inspiring to get me to practice/play for 2-3 hours instead of the normal 1-2

[JWJ915]

Loudbox Mini, hands down. I think they’re the best sounding amp in the Loudbox series. The Artist and Performer weren’t as pleasing to my ears. If you wanna go for broke and buy the best amp in existence, IMO, find yourself a Genzler Acoustic Array Pro.

[goodtimeshow22]

My live rig is the boss acoustic singer live .......great sounding little amp loud enough to gig with with a band and has 2 xlr outs to feed to a mixer as stereo or seperate mono signals if you need a little more volume .....which is a nice feature. Rugged build and beautiful looking too

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by Lost Sheep

I love my Loudbox, but the Spark is worth a look for your desires. Can be controlled from a smartphone and playback (so you can play along) from recordings on the phone or downloaded from the internet...

Yes, definitely worth a look. I just bought a Spark and am happy with it so far. More effects than you'll ever need and plenty of volume for playing at home. And it was ~$100 less than the LB Mini.