# Acoustic guitar amps with Mic



## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

A couple of friends and I are starting a trio. We'll have a singer, one acoustic and one electric or possibly bass. We got together for the first time last night and it went very well except we could not hear the vocals. I was playing my acoustic through a Fender Pro Junior with a LR Baggs Venue DI. It sounded OK but am looking for an acoustic amp for practices, preferably one with a microphone input to kill two birds with one stone. This will mostly just be for practices. Live we would use the house PA. I don't want to break the bank, under $400 would be good, under $300 better. It looks like in that price range the Acoustasonic is the way to go. Anything else I should look at? Loudbox appears just out of my price range for new and I can't find any used in the Vancouver area.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

May I suggest you look for something like a Behringer 1800 (four entries including a mic) clavier amp ?
Mine did well when I needed.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I had a stellar Traynor AM150 acoustic amp. Damn, I regret dealing that thing. Heavy, but worth the effort. I ran guitars, mandolins, fiddle, and vocals through it depending on need. Tilt back legs, lots of inputs and outputs, built in FX. If you can find a used one, snap it up.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Fishman loudbox or loudbox mini


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Agree about the Fishman Loudbox Mini. I know you mentioned about your budget but you only need another hundred for it. I have one and it works very well for vocals while rehearsing with an acoustic. And you can use it as a monitor when playing live. I know some guys who use it for gigs in small cafes. You won't regret it if you buy one.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Traynor or Fishman.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

After a year of dicking around trying to find something cheaper a friend finally went with the Fishman (40 watt I think) and he loves it. His son takes it to his old folks home gigs now.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Vocal application makes me think you might be better off looking for a powered monitor. They are more common than acoustic-specific guitar amps so you'll probably have more options. And something like that will do probably as good a job, the exception being it may lack a good hi-Z input the acoustic amp would have (a cheap acoustic DI would solve that problem).


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

If you can find an old Yorkville AM-series amp (predecessor to the Traynor AM-series), they tend to be undervalued. 

+1 on the powered monitor idea.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I like the monitor idea. I’m going to see if I can rent one at L&M to see how it works. There are a couple Yorkville ones on the Vancouver CL but I’d like to try it first.


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

One of my friends plays an Acoustisonic (30?) and it is nice. Good amount of volume, and the reverb is OK.

He also uses a Roland (Ac33?) and it is smaller, not quite as loud, but sounds superior in every way.

You can find the acoustisonic used all day for 300. I have seen a couple people at gigs using them just as vocal monitors fyi.

C


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

Mooh said:


> I had a stellar Traynor AM150 acoustic amp. Damn, I regret dealing that thing. Heavy, but worth the effort. I ran guitars, mandolins, fiddle, and vocals through it depending on need. Tilt back legs, lots of inputs and outputs, built in FX. If you can find a used one, snap it up.


Can't agree more with this....


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## TB2019 (Mar 14, 2019)

Traynor Amps


Better than I would expect.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I'd consider a powered p/a speaker (10" would be fine as would 12" - perhaps a ZLX 12) and a cheap 4 channel mixer. You'll be surprised how many needs this will meet and will fill a smaller room or even outdoors if required and is expandable just by adding another speaker.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

This went to a place I never expected. Went to the North Van L&M rental section. Told the guy what I was doing. Ended up with a Yorkville PGM8 mixer, a Bose L1 sound system, two SM58s, assorted stands and cables. It just gives us more options. I can play bass or acoustic and we have an extra mic for backup vocals. Overkill but we are just experimenting and this gives us options to see what instruments work. It sounds great in my downstairs studio but is way overkill  We’ll give it a try with all three of us tomorrow.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

That's a pretty versatile set-up. The L1s are great and the Yorkville mixers are pretty bomb-proof. If I were purchasing a system, I would look at the Senheiser mics over the Shures, but there aren't many gigs you couldn't pull off with that set-up.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Hey Kerry, you chose the way to get the most for your efforts and dollar.

I use the same mixer, mike, but use my powered studio monitors, because I own all that gear. It even works in a small thrown together gig if needed.


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## Bradley (Dec 10, 2009)

We use the Bose system exclusively in the band. www.thewardensmusic.com For my solo shows in small rooms I like the AER Compac 60. Dual channel grab and go.
One vox one acoustic guitar. Have fun!


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