Fender Passport mini

Mr Blues · #1 09-12-2017, 07:33 AM

I brought a small practice amp yesterday after visiting a guitar shop near where my daughter lives( I should never have went in .lol)

First of all I tried it out and i thought for the size its had a clear sound .
OK its not an AER but for a 7 watt amp its very good.
It cost just over £100.
It has 6 C batteries. They did'nt have the power supply they ordered me one
The reverbs are good it does#nt have phantom power so you can only use dynamic mics.
Anyone else familer with these amps.
Here is a rough demo of me using the amp
https://soundcloud.com/david-mwaniki...port-mini-demo

Recorded on my samsung mobile phone camara and then converted it to a Wav file
Dave

roylor4 · #2 09-12-2017, 07:56 AM

I have one and love it. If you upload and use the FUSE software you will get some great sounds out of it. I ditched several of there high-gain stuff for more blues type amp models with just a bit of breakup.

You can get very good acoustic tones too, but you need to tweak the amp through the software. I played an outdoor gig at a restaurant last week with mine and it had all the juice I needed (I did use the ac cord though).

These little things are undiscovered gems. They shine the brightest with electrics though IMO, but still plenty of versatility.

Kip Carter · #3 09-12-2017, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Blues

I brought a small practice amp yesterday after visiting a guitar shop near where my daughter lives( I should never have went in .lol)

First of all I tried it out and i thought for the size its had a clear sound .
OK its not an AER but for a 7 watt amp its very good.
It cost just over £100.
It has 6 C batteries. They did'nt have the power supply they ordered me one
The reverbs are good it does#nt have phantom power so you can only use dynamic mics.
Anyone else familer with these amps.
Here is a rough demo of me using the amp
https://soundcloud.com/david-mwaniki...port-mini-demo

Recorded on my samsung mobile phone camara and then converted it to a Wav file
Dave

Lovely voice!

Mr Blues · #4 09-12-2017, 08:03 AM

Hi roylar. Its great to meet another passport owner. I was first inspired when I was walking by the Tate Gallery and saw a busker using one of these. He was using a electric guitar ( the guitar did'nt sound to great I think the battery might have been low) but the vocals were cyrstal clear plus the reverbs were beautiful.

Thanks for your tips . Does the software only work with Mac.

I used the natural setting for the guitar effects which is'nt that loud but sounds great. I still need to experiment with the settings but was well suprised with the quality of this tiny box . To my ears it sounded much better then the Roland Streetcube.
I was using a sienhesser E 945 dynamic mic.

Dave

Mr Blues · #5 09-12-2017, 08:07 AM

Thanks Kip. I can sing a better then that. I was just feeling my way through the settings.
The great thing with this little amp is you can use the handle to tilt the amp and use your amp as an angled monitor.

Dave

roylor4 · #6 09-12-2017, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Blues

Hi roylar. Its great to meet another passport owner. I was first inspired when I was walking by the Tate Gallery and saw a busker using one of these. He was using a electric guitar ( the guitar did'nt sound to great I think the battery might have been low) but the vocals were cyrstal clear plus the reverbs were beautiful.

Thanks for your tips . Does the software only work with Mac.

I used the natural setting for the guitar effects which is'nt that loud but sounds great. I still need to experiment with the settings but was well suprised with the quality of this tiny box . To my ears it sounded much better then the Roland Streetcube.
I was using a sienhesser E 945 dynamic mic.

Dave

No, I use a windows based Dell PC. Just plug in the USB port on the Passport and it will automatically load.

The acoustic settings are all set at 12 o'clock if I recall, including volume, so it only gives you 1/2 of the available power in the acoustic settings. My guitar has a passive pickup, so I had to change the acoustic amp settings to a Deluxe Reverb set all the way up with the gain low. I also used a Princeton Reverb (I think). If your guitar has a preamp, the acoustic preamps are fine. I find the amp modeling (parlor, dread, etc) pretty stupid and useless.

My wife play banjo through it w/a passive pickup, but it is much hotter than mine, so the acoustic and studio preamp settings work fine for her.

All this will make sense when you upload the software. It takes a little while w/a lot of trial and error, but believe me, you can and will get some great tones out of that thing.

CASD57 · #7 09-12-2017, 03:30 PM

Another thumbs up for the Fender,
I would still have one if I hadn't bought the Mugig

Mr Blues · #8 09-13-2017, 06:22 AM

Here is another demo of me useing the Passport Mini on youtube. I am using my Nokia 808 phone.
(Supurb phone for videoing live music)

I'm doing a short cover of a Stevie Wonder ballad 'Taboo to Love'
The second video is a cover of a James taylor song using my AKG D5

The mic I was using was a Shure beta 57a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIgt...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmGV...ature=youtu.be

As you can hear the reverbs sound great.

Mr Blues · #9 09-13-2017, 06:25 AM

Thanks roylor4 for your adivice.
It is such a great little amp , I am lovng experimenting with it. Do you know if its possible to DI out to an external speaker?

Dave

wcguitar · #10 09-17-2018, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Blues

Thanks roylor4 for your adivice.
It is such a great little amp , I am lovng experimenting with it. Do you know if its possible to DI out to an external speaker?

Dave

I know this is an old thread but I really enjoy my mini, you do have to tweak it with the FUSE software for best effect. I added a $2.00 speaker out connection (I made a replacement back out of 1/4" wood and drilled the hole for the connector through it, saving the original removable back piece) and now can plug this little guy into either my 8" Randall cab with a wide range pa speaker or even a 12" homemade cab with an Eminence pa/bass speaker for more air movement...sounds good with the original speaker or either external cab....not a di out but speaker out...if I wanted to go to a house pa I would just mic the mini...cheers...