Wanted: Fender Acoustasonic Review

F

Forte

New member
I was shopping around for a new amp and came upon the Fender Acoustasonic. Apparently they have three models in the series: Acoustasonic 30, Acoustasonic Jr., and Acoustasonic FX.
I'm an aspiring solo artist equipped with an acoustic and some vocals. I will probably play in small clubs, coffee houses, and bars and leaning towards the Acoustasonic Jr. - I think it would best suit my needs. The FX looks great but might be overkill, and at it's price, I don't think it can fit my budget. However, in the future I might decide to pair up with other musicians and don't want to be stuck with an amp that isn't poweful enough to compete with other intruments. Will the Jr. be able to cut it? Should I wait till I can afford the FX? Has anybody had experience with these amps? Can anybody suggest an alternative?

Thanks in advance.
 
i demoed quite a few acoustic amps before i chose....

came home with a marshall as50r..

it blew away the fenders, laney, crate, trace elliots and peavey that i tried.

the only other amp to even come close was the SWR california blonde, but it was $800 and the marshal was $379.

try one out if you can...:)
 
Take a look at the Carvin AG100D acoustic amp/pa, it can take a lot of abuse and hold together, has a vocal channel, acoustic instrument channel, and a third for whatever. They're around $400.
 
Talk to L.I. Slim

Who had one for quite a while. He's moved to a P.A. setup, but he could tell you quite a bit about the SFX. I played one a little and got some very nice acoustic sounds out of it.

If you're a solo acoustic artist, try shopping for a P.A. setup with smaller speaker cabs - 12" or so. Fender has a couple of portable PAs called the Passport. The one to look for is the P250 deluxe (or some such name). It distinguishes the system from the old PA250; it's a higher fidelity sound. Every P.A. is a compromise (the Passport reverb is a liitle cheesy), but this is a package you can take with you for about $850. 250 watts, and when you use something bigger, it makes a pretty good monitor system.
 
I have an Acoustisonic Jr. Frankly, it is a nice sounding studio or practice amp. It might hold up in a really small club, but it gets lost in a large place or if you are playing with other musicians. For some reason, that I really haven't researched, the thing just doesn't project.

IMHO the advice to look at the Fender Passport PAs is a good one. A friend of mine bought one and is extremely happy with it. He also bought a "Hot Spot" monitor that attaches to his mic stand, which he said is very helpful. He does small combo stuff so this PA fits nicely for him.
 
So you're saying a PA would be the way to go? Hmm... the Acoustasonic seemed more "acoustic friendly". Could I expect a similar sound? I've never really used a PA. What can you tell me as far as it's advantages over a regular amp?
 
My assumption is that you're doing acoustic music. That said, a PA will perform better than anything other than a specialty acoustic amp (like the Acoustisonic) because it's tuned not to color the sound as much as, say, an electric guitar amp. Acoustic pickups, and mics, suffer unless there's a pretty clean signal path. So you're looking for high fidelity.

Small speakers (under 15") tend to deliver this at low / medium volumes more easily than big ones, for a simple reason - not as much mass to move in the speaker cone. They're quick to respond. The tradeoff tends to be in the low end, where voices and acoustic guitars tend to do ok anyway. That's why a 12" cabinet performs so well for a solo acoustic act.

The reason I like the Passport is that it has an array of small drivers working together, a bit like the BOSE approach. Relatively high fidelity at relatively low volumes, but with enough punch to handle a crowded coffee shop. Just don't expect to fill a concert hall with it.

But even a more conventional PA, like a simple powered mixer and a set of speakers, can do wonders because it's versatile. You have a bunch of channels, basic EQ on each, and usually plain vanilla effects, and enough choices to meet almost any occasion.

One thing that will enhance your acoustic guitar sound, if you're plugging in, is a DI box. These change the impedance of the signal from high to low, like a microphone signal, and also generate a balanced signal for quiet cabling. The idea is to have a very short cable to the DI box and an XLR or TRS balanced mic cable to the mixer or amp from there.

DI boxes can also act as blenders if your instrument generates more than one signal. Blenders cost more. One of the best is the Raven Labs PMB-1, a preamp / blender with good EQ (do a google search) and another neat tube preamp / blender is made by ProSonus. Expect to pay about $250 - $300. But for a quick easy passive DI, I've had good luck with a $30 Carvin. I use a DOD passive resistance mixer ($40) as a blender and dump the signal into the Carvin DI, and it works fine; it's just that I have to depend on the board for EQ.
 
Ok, so I think I'm going to go with a PA - they're a little more expensive, but seem like they're worth it. Thanks a lot guys! :D
 
Just as a point of information -- what generally distinguishes the acoustic guitar amp from the standard electric guitar amp is the fact that the acoustic will have a horn (to reproduce the "sparkle" or "jangliness" of the acoustic), as well as not having an inherently bandwidth-limited amplifier section........

Much like a PA!
 
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