Favorite Acoustic Guitar Amp Roundup 2020

[RockerDuck]

"I’m just curious if there’s anything that blows your socks off. I love the fishman artist as a preamp. It kills it in the preamp stage and gives me a really nice signal to a house pa. And 1 amp (which I often roll with for small gigs) is much easier than the PA system. I’m curious to find a box that will give me the depth and richness I get with that PA."

This is the reason for the Fishman/Bose combination. I use the DI from the Fishman amps as a preamp into the Bose L1c or S1pro. This sounds great. It is the Artist with a bigger sound.

[willymartin]

People are voting in PA's so I'll toss in that the Bose L1M2B2 is the King when used what it was designed for...1 vocal, 1 guitar with its Tonematch mixer. For amps..Love the Fishman stuff until I (or someone else) starts singing through em. So...the S1 pro is the workhorse that never fails in any AMP situation...ever (deliberately worded). But, when an amp can be used (the right situation/room/crowd) for guitar AND vocals..Genzler Acoustic Array Pro. What a treat to play and sing through... I really enjoy it.. (I'll throw in a nod to the sa330x (not as good as a Bose with vocals IMO) as far as filling the room with great guitar tones)

[willymartin]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

"

This is the reason for the Fishman/Bose combination. I use the DI from the Fishman amps as a preamp into the Bose L1c or S1pro. This sounds great. It is the Artist with a bigger sound.

Agree! I haven't tried this live as i don't own the Artist..But I've tried it a few times using my buddy's Artist with my L1 and...what a great combo! When my schedule slows down I'm gonna try this with my Genzler...hoping for similar results.

[localguitarist]

Originally Posted by willymartin

People are voting in PA's so I'll toss in that the Bose L1M2B2 is the King when used what it was designed for...1 vocal, 1 guitar with its Tonematch mixer. For amps..Love the Fishman stuff until I (or someone else) starts singing through em. So...the S1 pro is the workhorse that never fails in any AMP situation...ever (deliberately worded). But, when an amp can be used (the right situation/room/crowd) for guitar AND vocals..Genzler Acoustic Array Pro. What a treat to play and sing through... I really enjoy it.. (I'll throw in a nod to the sa330x (not as good as a Bose with vocals IMO) as far as filling the room with great guitar tones)

Haha hit the nail on the head. Singing through the artist is like driving a minivan through a rally car track. I wish fishman could clean up power section and speakers to give it more life or at least make it more versatile. Is the big performer any better? Also I am intrigued by the EAE stuff.

Also I owned the original Bose L1 way back when it first came out. I kinda liked it, but Bose always has a scooped empty sound to my ears? At least their small speakers do. I have some old book shelf speakers that I like with my stereo, but Bose’s line array speakers always seem to leave me wanting more warmth. Plenty of bass and treble though. I’ve never tried Artist direct through a Bose. Be awesome if Fishman would release a preamp version of the artist with out the power section and speakers. Lightweight. You could just run it into any power section you want.

[RockerDuck]

"Be awesome if Fishman would release a preamp version of the artist with out the power section and speakers. Lightweight. You could just run it into any power section you want."

They already have released the preamp section, its called the Fishman Tonedeq.

[leew3]

I've used a Loudbox Artist for a lot of gigs but have to say that I love the sound of my guitars through the Bose S1. I've found myself using the S1 more for live playing and will continue to do that on the rare occasions it is an option right now.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by leew3

I've used a Loudbox Artist for a lot of gigs but have to say that I love the sound of my guitars through the Bose S1. I've found myself using the S1 more for live playing and will continue to do that on the rare occasions it is an option right now.

For my own curiosity, isnt the S1 underpowered in comparison to the Artist?

[Reso1]

Centaur! The best that I’ve used and heard! Made here in Southern California...

[Greyhound]

Schertler Jam150. I use two of them for home and gigging. True HiFi sound in a relatively portable package. Crystal clear vocals and rich instrument sounds. I don’t know if you can tell...but I really like these amps. You owe it to yourself to check them out.

[Zandit75]

Never had an issue with Boss Acoustic Singer Pro amp.
Very solid, good features, great sound.

[RockerDuck]

Originally Posted by jricc

For my own curiosity, isnt the S1 underpowered in comparison to the Artist?

With the Bose, its in the sound pressure rating. People can hear you in the back of the room and still have a conversation in front of you. The Artist on the other hand, is louder in front of the stage.

[varmonter]

I think I like my d-68 mk2 best of all.
just for overall quality of sound.
I've recently purchased a schertler
Sub. With a qsc cp8 on top it has a real
nice rounded sound to it. With the eae on top
it adds even more sparkle.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

With the Bose, its in the sound pressure rating. People can hear you in the back of the room and still have a conversation in front of you. The Artist on the other hand, is louder in front of the stage.

The SPL of the Bose is 103db
while the SPL of the Artist is 113db.

I'm just trying to understand as I look into a purchase.
Do you mean to say the Bose has better throw, or dispersion?

If you needed to grab one and needed to be loud, which would you grab?

Thanks for any insight.

[Methos1979]

The Bose S1 is my favorite for it's simplicity, small size, light weight and versatility when you put a small mixer in front of it and/or add a second one. Just a ton of options. If the wife and I take our duo to a party outside (all we do these days) then just the S1, my guitar and her mic make for the ultimate in quick set up and great sound. If we need more (like more power or a second mic for me) then we take our EAE StompMix X6 digital mixer and you get MUCH more power and volume out of the S1. Then if we REALLY need more we take our second S1 and we can throw some serious sound and dispersion, even outdoors.

So while I love the 'modular' approach of those components, if I was looking for a one-and-done system that gave me awesome sound, volume and greater input and tone-shaping properties in one relatively small and lightweight system it would be an EAE D6-8 Pro or the D6-58 that many have mentioned since that is pretty much what our system is - a great little digital mixer incorporated into a great little but powerful amp.

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by jricc

The SPL of the Bose is 103db
while the SPL of the Artist is 113db.

I'm just trying to understand as I look into a purchase.
Do you mean to say the Bose has better throw, or dispersion?

If you needed to grab one and needed to be loud, which would you grab?

Thanks for any insight.

You can't really look at this in terms of SPL. I own both a Bose L1c and the big Fishman Performer. If I want sheer power for an outdoor gig or noisy bar environment, I'm going to go with the Fishman because it's just pure muscle and the people sitting in front of the stage are going to have bleeding ears. The dispersion capabilities of the Bose are very impressive. I played a large wedding reception last year with 150 attendees and by using my Bose I could set the volume where it was comfortable for the tables in front of the tower but could still be clearly heard by the tables in the back of the room about 100 feet away. And the volume SOUNDED exactly the same all over the room. You have to be able to wrap your head around these differences before you can decide what you need for your application. I just my Loudbox Mini as a preamp for my Bose L1c very frequently and it works great in that capacity as well.