NAD - Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by sublro

hey jon - so are you saying here that a 470kohm impedence would be a bad thing with the K&K? i'm thinking of using an EQ pedal with 470kohm as the first thing on my signal chain, as my preamp is a 10megohm impedence, but if i understand you right here, you're saying that less than 1mohm according to K&k could also be problematic? (i.e. reducing bass? how much? consequential? the reason I wanted to use the MXR is that it's 18 volt and so has (i think) additional headroom to help with spikes that the K&K can put out when playing percussively and "hitting" the bridge right over the pickup's elements....

Hearing is logarithmic, so something that seems far off from a linear view point is actually quite good enough. When K&K recommends 1M ohm anything from 100K (1/10th) to 10M (10x) is in the ball park and will likely sound fine. Nothing beats trying it out. 25K is low enough to start sounding bad. A typical 10K ohm line input will be worse, and a 3K ohm mic input will sound terrible.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Hearing is logarithmic, so something that seems far off from a linear view point is actually quite good enough. When K&K recommends 1M ohm anything from 100K (1/10th) to 10M (10x) is in the ball park and will likely sound fine. Nothing beats try it out. 25K is low enough to start sounding bad. A typical 10K ohm line input will be worse, and a 3K ohm mic input will sound terrible.

I wonder if anyone else has used a device that was mentioned with such a small amp like the Fishman Mini Charge? Does it even make sense given this is likely to be a tool for solo performers for the most part? Not saying it wouldn't work or shouldn't be tried, but its a 6.5" driver. How much can be pushed through the small amp to deliver quality sound seems like the bigger question.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Groberts

I wonder if anyone else has used a device that was mentioned with such a small amp like the Fishman Mini Charge? Does it even make sense given this is likely to be a tool for solo performers for the most part? Not saying it wouldn't work or shouldn't be tried, but its a 6.5" driver. How much can be pushed through the small amp to deliver quality sound seems like the bigger question.

Since we don't know the linear excursion of that driver you can't judge it solely by its diameter. Nothing beats trying it out. To my ear, it is plenty loud for its "60 watt" rating and more than enough for a medium sized gig at conversation friendly levels.

Power ratings have gotten so corrupt these days that I would not want to say how Fishman watts, compare to Cube Street watts, to Marshal stack watts, to QSC K watts, etc. Power numbers are only meaningful for comparison of products from the same manufacturer in the same product line (you can't even use watts to compare Cubes to Katanas to Blues Cubes to Jazz Choruses).

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Since we don't know the linear excursion of that driver you can't judge it solely by its diameter. Nothing beats trying it out. To my ear, it is plenty loud for its "60 watt" rating and more than enough for a medium sized gig at conversation friendly levels.

Power ratings have gotten so corrupt these days that I would not want to say how Fishman watts, compare to Cube Street watts, to Marshal stack watts, to QSC K watts, etc. Power numbers are only meaningful for comparison of products from the same manufacturer in the same product line (you can't even use watts to compare Cubes to Katanas to Blues Cubes to Jazz Choruses).

Jon, Point well taken. Doesn't hurt to try. at some point, I have simply found that only so much performance comes from small packages. But for another voice or acoustic guitar? Who knows? It could work great.

I too was very impressed with the output, volume and fullness from the small 60W package.

[SKYHIGH]

Sorry in advance to ask question about it on this thread.

Any of your Mini owners miss not havin a Headphone option? I ask because Artist has it but not Mini.

Thanks

[campfirehero]

How would the mini charge compare to the roland cube street ex?
I like the idea of using bluetooth for backing tracks through the min charge..

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by SKYHIGH

Sorry in advance to ask question about it on this thread.

Any of your Mini owners miss not havin a Headphone option? I ask because Artist has it but not Mini.

Thanks

I haven't ever used a headphone jack, hence my answer; I don't miss it.

For the most part, I want to play amplified and with such a small amp I am playing quietly.

FYI - It arrived yesterday and first impressions confirm why I loved it and bought it. The Carry bag that was included is incredibly durable and well designed. I'm going to get tons of use from this wonderful little amp.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by campfirehero

How would the mini charge compare to the roland cube street ex?
I like the idea of using bluetooth for backing tracks through the min charge..

The Cube Street EX has a lot of features for electric guitar that the Fishman does not. The Fishman is dramatically more powerful (loud) with a much larger (rechargeable) battery built in.

Those 8 AAs that run the Cube Street EX might be good for 1 amp over a 3 set gig and that gives you 12 watts RMS going into the amp. Coming out will be a lot less. No doubt it can briefly support a 50 watt peak due to the magic of Class D amplification, but it is no 50 watt RMS amp by tube amp standards.

[Gitaman]

Hello all,

My hardly used but always plugged in Mini Charge has an issue: The yellow charge indicator light is on permanently. Is it still trying to charge an already fully charged SLA? It seemed to take a long time for the yellow light to turn off, now it is on constantly when plugged in. Any guesses?

[jonfields45]

You need a new battery. One of the cells in the SLA is shorted out.

Due to the battery being behind the speaker and speaker grill removal requiring pulling the chassis it is not the simplest of jobs, but still a DIY no soldering iron project.

You can likely find a replacement VERY cheap online. I would choose an AGM SLA over the cheapest SLA. They are more robust. My lead acid battery charger says it's compatible with everything but the most expensive option, Gel SLA. My understanding is all 12v lead acid batteries are compatible as far as charging is concerned but maybe this is a hint to not spend extra on Gel, unless the original is Gel.

The advantage of an SLA is they are CHEAP and not proprietary (any charger will work unlike LiIon where the charger is partially embedded in the custom battery pack housing).

The disadvantages are weight and relatively unreliable.

[Gitaman]

Thanks, Jon!
Good thing I bought extended warranty.