Loudbox 100 vs. UltraSound ds4/dsx vs. Genz-Benz Shen60/80 LT

[unclerufus]

I know this is subject that has been beaten to death, but I haven't had the chance to play all of these much less a&b any of them. I have been away from gigging out for about 12 years and will be starting from scratch with the exception of guitars. I have an Eastman 712 OM rw/es that I have installed a JJB pickup in and a Tak. ef349. I did have have the chance to play the Eastman through one of the GB 80 LT's and it sounded great. I just don't have a shop near here that has the US or Fishman 100s. I did get a chance back in Dec. to play a Martin OM through one of the LB's and it sounded very good, but that guitar had an active pickup in it. I've read a lot about the Fishman's and the Ultrasounds on here but not much about the Genz Benz. Does anyone have some input about them? I know that I can get a pretty good deal on one of the Shen 60LT's, but would it be better to go with the 80 in that configuration? I"m planning on playing wineries, coffee houses and such and want something compact and easy to get around with a good sound for fingerstyle solo and some vocals.

Sorry if I rambled too much.
Thanks in advance,
Doug

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by unclerufus

I know this is subject that has been beaten to death, but I haven't had the chance to play all of these much less a&b any of them. I have been away from gigging out for about 12 years and will be starting from scratch with the exception of guitars. I have an Eastman 712 OM rw/es that I have installed a JJB pickup in and a Tak. ef349. I did have have the chance to play the Eastman through one of the GB 80 LT's and it sounded great. I just don't have a shop near here that has the US or Fishman 100s. I did get a chance back in Dec. to play a Martin OM through one of the LB's and it sounded very good, but that guitar had an active pickup in it. I've read a lot about the Fishman's and the Ultrasounds on here but not much about the Genz Benz. Does anyone have some input about them? I know that I can get a pretty good deal on one of the Shen 60LT's, but would it be better to go with the 80 in that configuration? I"m planning on playing wineries, coffee houses and such and want something compact and easy to get around with a good sound for fingerstyle solo and some vocals.

Sorry if I rambled too much.
Thanks in advance,
Doug

I'm just speaking for myself, of course, but after using an Ultrasound DS-4 for a while, I switched to Genz Benz when I was looking to upgrade to a more powerful amp (I needed something that could compete better in the context of a band). The think the GB amps all sound great, so it's a matter of features, power and money. If you've got the cash, I'd recommend looking at the 150 LT, too. The 60 and the 80 are terrific amps, but the 150 is more flexible and has a nice 12" woofer that gives it a more forceful, full-bodied sound to my ears (especially for vocals). It's a only a little bigger than the other two and it only weighs 26 lbs. It can sit on the floor and has a tilt-back cabinet, plus a speaker pole mount on the bottom, so it can also go up on a speaker stand (and GB makes an extension cab for it as wel). Plenty of power and a nice, natural sound.

For a few hundred dollars more, there's also the Pro LT, which is the amp I ended up with, mostly because it was even more forceful, and I liked the sound of the tube-preamp that you can blend into the signal. It's considerably bigger and about 10 lbs heavier.

There's certainly nothing wrong with the Ultrasounds or the Fishman 100 (I tried the various Fishman amps and liked them all, although I liked the warmer sound of the GB amps more). Only your ears will tell you what's best for you, but I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with the GB amps, it only comes down to questions about particular feature sets and shades of taste in tone.

Louis