Mini / Practice / Battery Amps

[webwzrd]

I appreciate reading the experience with the Blackstar Super Fly from others. Thought I would add how it's been for me after burning through a set of Ni-cads.

First off, I play primarily acoustic fingerstyle even when playing my Les Paul, plus my electric-acoustic hybrids, a Yamaha SLG200S, and a Godin A6 Ultra. I didn't buy the amp to gig with, well maybe a living room concert now and then, so I'm not really interested in using it too much louder than an unplugged full-on acoustic.

I agree largely with the previous reviews with the exception of how good I think it sounds for acoustic playing. Each of my guitars requires a completely different adjustment to get the best sound. I think the guitars with a preamp can really affect the sound and the needed adjustments. I'm using the acoustic setting on the Super Fly for the best results. Besides the tone adjustments, the gain and volume can have a big impact depending on how you balance them. Keep in mind I'm going for a relatively quiet sound. I'm getting beautiful fingerpicking tones with it, strumming - not so much but acceptable.

No doubt it's missing a convincing low end but it's good enough to forget about it until you do a side by side with something better. However, I certainly wished streaming music sounded nicer - maybe there's a way I can adjust the eq coming from my Android. But it's certainly good enough for jam track practicing.

Btw, when the batteries go, happens fast. Everything seems normal and all of a sudden it studders a bit as if there's a short in your cord and then nothing, even though the red power light is on.

I probably wouldn't recommend this for the full retail price of $230, however for $99 I am very, very happy with it. It would be quite interesting to hear this with the extension cab, but I'm certainly not going to pay $119 for it - maybe I'll find one for a stupid deal.

[tenderland]

I am going to build a small acoustic only battery powered amp. It may be a monumental failure but to fail is to not try. Stay tuned for updates, got the driver , amps are on the way

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by tenderland

I am going to build a small acoustic only battery powered amp. It may be a monumental failure but to fail is to not try. Stay tuned for updates, got the driver , amps are on the way

Cool project! Do you mind doing a build thread so we can follow along?

[CASD57]

Some of these amps sound really good and I wish they would install a line out so that you could use them with a Powered Speaker when you need it louder..like in gigging...

[bsman]

We were without power for 9.5 hours on Sunday, so I broke out the Super Fly and plugged in a mic and several guitars (electric and acoustic). As noted above you have to be very careful with the volume and gain on the guitar channel - as those two are very interactive, but I found it was really not difficult at all to get a decent sound. I took a video (using an iRig Mic Studio into my iPhone) of the sound right from the Super Fly and the link is below. I apologize for my singing, my playing (particularly the spectacularly muffed lead break), but I hope it shows that the thing isn't totally helpless. I brought out the extension speaker, but it was already loud enough with the one unit, so I didn't bother.

[bsman]

Argghh!!! Why can I never get youtube videos to show up!!!! I'll try just posting a link and see if that works. Once again - please ignore the playing and singing and concentrate on "the tonez"!!!!

https://youtu.be/gxUWKZhXgTo

[tenderland]

Staring Builders thread for amp project

[webwzrd]

Originally Posted by bsman

We were without power for 9.5 hours on Sunday, so I broke out the Super Fly and plugged in a mic and several guitars (electric and acoustic). As noted above you have to be very careful with the volume and gain on the guitar channel - as those two are very interactive, but I found it was really not difficult at all to get a decent sound. I took a video (using an iRig Mic Studio into my iPhone) of the sound right from the Super Fly and the link is below. I apologize for my singing, my playing (particularly the spectacularly muffed lead break), but I hope it shows that the thing isn't totally helpless. I brought out the extension speaker, but it was already loud enough with the one unit, so I didn't bother.

Thanks for sharing your video, we all need a little Clapton in our repertoire. You mentioned the extension speaker, other than louder, does it impact the sound quality much?

[rmp]

kind of surprised no one mentioned a tonewood amp... (well for acoustic only anyway...)

[bsman]

Originally Posted by webwzrd

Thanks for sharing your video, we all need a little Clapton in our repertoire. You mentioned the extension speaker, other than louder, does it impact the sound quality much?

It does perhaps give more 'space', and thus help with the perceived smallness/boxiness of the unit. However, I really haven't plugged it in for more than a few minutes, because currently there just aren't opportunities for playing outside.

[tinnitus]

Though not actual replacements for bigger amps, those battery powered micro amps are cheap, fun, and sometimes surprisingly satisfying when you tweak the controls and find their sweet spots.

When I bought/sold/traded guitars a lot on Craigslist (sometimes 2-3 a week), I kept a little Fender micro amp and a cable in my car all the time. Maybe twice the size of a deck of cards, it ran on a single 9V battery, I think I paid $40 for it at Guitarget (GC). They're probably more now. Whether I was buying or selling instruments, it was a really quick way to verify that pickups, jacks, volume and tone knobs worked. Saved numerous trips to sketchy/far out places, or occasional creepy visitors coming to my home.

It was just extremely handy. I bought a decent Epi SG in a liquor store parking lot once, 5 minutes after I called the seller who just happened to be near where I was driving. Seriously, we met for 90 seconds. Everything worked, the neck was straight and we had a cash deal ($60).

My micro amp had a headphone jack, which was great on business trips staying in hotels. I'm not declaring they're a good fit for everyone, they all have obvious limitations. Just sharing an idea that was fun and handy for me for a few years.

[webwzrd]

The SDOTD right now is the whole Super Fly Pack including the ext cab, case and power supply for $149.99.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/stup...4bdd0c924f0601

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by webwzrd

The SDOTD right now is the whole Super Fly Pack including the ext cab, case and power supply for $149.99.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/stup...4bdd0c924f0601

Thanks (I hope... LOL). Sight unseen, I just ordered one. This'll probably replace a Roland Micro Cube (which my son can use).

As long at it sounds okay without overly coloring my guitar sounds (I use electric and acoustic) I see a couple advantages with this setup.
- Built-in battery pack and charger.
- Number and versatility of inputs.
- Bluetooth.

[webwzrd]

Yeah, even though I bought the single unit at the beginning of this month, I took advantage of this combo pack too.

Despite some of the mixed reviews in this thread, I've had the chance to use the amp extensively and really like it. As I've said many times, I'm primarily playing acoustic style at a medium volume. Using a mic to sing isn't really necessary at this volume, however, I've used it to get some reverb on my voice quite satisfactory.

Would I be happy with this amp if it were my only one and needed to use it at louder volumes... NO, but for practice, or a small gathering, it's light and terrific.

I'll figure out what to do with the original purchase later. I can either return it within 45 days or I'll offer it for sale.

[Shaneh]

If you can live without the battery, the Positivegrid Spark is really cool and has lots of practice features and gets quite loud