Fishman Loudbox Artist or New Performer??

[Carbonius]

These are essentially identical. The pre-amps and all controls are identical.

The only differences are:
-addition of a 5" midrange speaker
-hybrid active/passive crossover
-60 more Wrms continuous of power
-half a cubic foot more cabinet space

Also, the power distribution is different:
-Artist has 100 Wrms to woofer/20 Wrms to tweeter.
-Performer has 120 Wrms to woofer/60 Wrms to midrange & tweeter

Power wise, an extra 50% isn't very noticeable. Since doubling your power gives you an extra 3 db of power, a 50% power increase will give you 1.5 more db. So it can't really be about the power increase. I believe Fishman did this so as to give the 5" speaker what it needed, while not robbing the woofer. They actually gave the woofer a 20 Wrms, or 0.6 db increase.

So then, is it worth it?? Does that 5" speaker and increased cabinet size help to fill a gap tone wise?? Is the bass fuller??

[briggleman]

You want More, More. Because less is not more. If you have less you want more. I really forget that commercial, but that little girl explains it beautifully.


On a more serious note... there will be a tonal difference. Now its your ears that will say...... yes this is what I have been missing or your ears will say, nope, just not there yet.

Yes, the 5" mid-range will allow the woofer to do a better job with the lows. The increase cab. size will deepen the bass somewhat and depending on how its constructed and the speaker used will define it in a good way or maybe a bad way. Having the increased mid-range speaker size will add more clarity to the notes.

All the above is conjecture of-course. I have not heard one.

So this response is not more... its just more of less

[chitz]

I've pondering this same questions between these two amps.
Soon going to be downsizing from a PA system to a acoustic combo amp and these two options seem to get a lot of love around here.

Formite CCoehick has got the Performer and gives it high praise. My inclination is the Performer over the Artist because of the potential headroom.
(It's easier to turn it down than up)

I've only read one poor review on either one, and that was someone calling the Artist "low on power" "Good practice amp" But again, around here, folks love em.

For my satisfaction... I'll have to go hands on with both.

[GregEL]

Yeah, try 'em out. I went with the mini due to the size (and considerable price difference). The key in those amps is not to use too much gain and up the master. Also, spend some time with the mids, less for fingerstyle, a little more for strumming.

Good luck!

[sublro]

having gone from the mini to the artist, which made a big difference in headroom and tone for the volume I want to play at, I will say that I believe the biggest determinant of whether it's worth the extra money, weight, bulk and footprint is how loud you usually play.

I think pretty much everyone who's used the Artist is more than impressed by the tone, and that tone holds up pretty well up to pretty substantial volume.

however, if you are going to play routinely in louder band and/or bigger room situations, that's where the extra watts and better division of labor between speakers will pay off in getting great tone up to even bigger volume levels.

for me the artist is the sweet spot because if I ever need big volume it's likely I'll be running the DI out into the house PA anyway - then I can send it back through the monitors if I need to fill the stage with more guitar than I can get comfortably from the loudbox (also at that point I may want to 'wash' the stage from multple angles instead of crank my stage amp way up just to make sure it's audible to other people on stage).

and it's still a really light convenient but powerful enough amp to bring wen I'm just doing the smaller gigs.

hope that helps.

[sublro]

Originally Posted by GregEL

Yeah, try 'em out. I went with the mini due to the size (and considerable price difference). The key in those amps is not to use too much gain and up the master. Also, spend some time with the mids, less for fingerstyle, a little more for strumming.

Good luck!

good points on settings. Fishman actually recommends in the doc that you run the master up past at least 2 o'clock or more for optimum gain structure. And my experience almost across the board with amplifying acoustic guitars is always some amount of "turn down the mids"

[Carbonius]

Originally Posted by chitz

I've only read one poor review on either one, and that was someone calling the Artist "low on power" "Good practice amp" But again, around here, folks love em.

Practice amp??? Yeah, I think I read the same review. The artist would have difficulty in a full out rock band, competing with drums, a 4x10 bass guitar cab and a 4x12 electric guitar cab. At that point you need one of those 300 watt Benz!!

Seriously though, I used to play bass in a rock/funk/punk/metal band. I had a bass amp that was 160 Wrms and it could keep up fine. I was usually playing it a max recommended volume (limit light lit up sometimes) but I was happy. So... 180 Wrms should meet pretty much any normal venue, drums and the rest included.

Originally Posted by GregEL

Yeah, try 'em out. I went with the mini due to the size (and considerable price difference). The key in those amps is not to use too much gain and up the master. Also, spend some time with the mids, less for fingerstyle, a little more for strumming.

Good luck!

I thought about the mini but ruled it out for my needs. I'm sure it would be loud enough for most of what I do. My thought was that the Artist and Performer offer more for controls and routing, which I like. Good point about the controls. I noticed that Fishman recommends 3 eq curves based just on volume in their manual.

I expect the Performer to sound more Hi-fi than the others, do to the 3 speaker configuration. I have an older JVC home stereo that has 120 Wrms speaker cabinets. Each cabinet has 3 speakers, bass, mid and treble. I have played guitar through it often at home and it sounds very nice and can go quite loud! It is not very practical to bring along to gigs though!

I hope one of my local stores gets a Performer in sometime. I tried the Artist and I liked it a lot.

[chitz]

Size & weight...
Artist: 13.5"H x 15.5W x 11.5" D - 25 lbs
Performer: 18.2" H x 15.8" W x 11.5" D - 29.4 lbs.

Performer is 5" taller, and 4 lbs heavier. roughly.

[CCoehick]

There is much more definition in the notes you play. What this meant for me was when I articulate strumming chords with some finger lifts and fancy-ness, it was more apparent in the mix than it had been with other amps.

Also, the kickstand is extremely useful when using the amp as a monitor because it rocks it back at just the right angle.

And it's hella loud too.

[Carbonius]

Originally Posted by CCoehick

There is much more definition in the notes you play. What this meant for me was when I articulate strumming chords with some finger lifts and fancy-ness, it was more apparent in the mix than it had been with other amps.

Also, the kickstand is extremely useful when using the amp as a monitor because it rocks it back at just the right angle.

And it's hella loud too.

Thanks for chiming in as one has first hand experience. When you say there was more definition, what are you comparing it to?? Are you saying it is more than the Artist??

[CCoehick]

To my ears, yes. I have owned the Loudbox Mini as well and I honestly think what sets the performer apart is that midrange driver.

There is a little finger movement that I do in this video: http://youtu.be/lgquQqRAyu0 right before the "yeah"'s pre-chorus that is more apparent on a Performer than an Artist.

For the record, I was just running through the house PA in this video and my high e wasn't registering as much as it should have been due to a saddle issue that was corrected after that show.

[8TrackJoe]

You could go with the Artist and then loop out of it to a powered speaker/PA or second amp if you needed more volume. Not ideal if you are after a one amp solution. I only mention this cause I've been experimenting with the DI/Mix out of my Artist into one of my other amps.

[6L6]

I've just completed an exhaustive test of all the Fishman Loudboxes, AER's, VOX's, etc.

After all of that testing, I just ordered a Fishman Performer. My acoustics are all equipped with K&K Pure Mini pups, and the Performer won the shootout for best tone.

Bill

[Carbonius]

Originally Posted by 6L6

I've just completed an exhaustive test of all the Fishman Loudboxes, AER's, VOX's, etc.

After all of that testing, I just ordered a Fishman Performer. My acoustics are all equipped with K&K Pure Mini pups, and the Performer won the shootout for best tone.

Bill

WOW!! That is quite a review. Especially as I am planning to stick a K&K in my Taylor. I was wondering about the AER line in comparison to Fishman. No one with 1,000 miles of me carries AER. Nice to hear from someone that has heard both. Thanks!

[TubeG]

what is the best way to setup to use the Send/ret feature on these amps?