Amp???

I'm not sure how long the AC33 will run but I've generally played for about 5 hours in the course of an evening. I've played a number of the smaller Roland street amps and they are all pretty nice. The AC33 is particular nice for vocals.

The only problem with the amp is that the batteries have to be removed to charge; this is a fixable problem. On the old MacNichol site a participant explained how a plug could be attached to the amp that would allow it to be charged without removing the batteries. The fix ran about $30.

Another portable option is offered by Crate, a much larger amp that weighs 40 pounds, has an easy charge system, two channels and effects. An even large portable unit is offered by Carvin; a four channel PA-like amp that weighs a million pounds and is capable of reaching many many ears.

I had a Loudbox and while it was louder than the Roland, the Roland has (to my taste) better tonal qualities.

I've never seen the AC33 in local stores and ordered mine through Sweetwater.

[Earl49]

The book rating for the AC33 with a fresh set of batteries is up to 8 hours, but I've never pushed mine past two hours for any given session. The battery pack holds eight AA batteries, and so far has only held alkaline batteries. I was not aware that rechargeable ones were an option. Maybe I need to download the manual and do some studying (mine was bought used, and did not come with papers).

Alkaline batteries are 1.5V per cell, whereas NiCd and other rechargeable are 1.2V per cell. It takes four alkaline to achieve 6 volts, but five NiCd to get there. I would expect battery life to be correspondingly shorter with rechargeable cells. Rather than mess with chargers and whatnot, it seems simpler to just have second battery pack ready to go - if you need longer life.

I tested the Crate Taxi amp several years ago, when looking for something portable and battery powered. I found it to be very unbalanced in tone. Using pink noise in, and all the on board tone controls tweaked, I could not get an acceptable "flat" output. It rolled off the lows way too much, and was not very pleasant to listen to - kinda like a cheap transistor radio.

Earl;

I think we are very much on the same page. Except for the charging bit. I hate having to remove and charge or replace the batteries. I am going on 4 years on my current batch of rechargeable batteries and all I have to do after play is plug in my charger. The AC33 is a great amp and particularly nice for vocals. the Crate is a powerful amp but not exactly subtle.

[tdq]

Another Loudbox Mini owner here (with a CA GX). It hasn't been pushed very hard, admittedly, but so far, so good.