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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I'm doing a bunch of very small intimate gigs soon, where my Bose L1 rig is total overkill. So, as my recording studio is currently decommisioned I thought I could use my Genelec monitors. But, as they are pretty expensive and not really designed for live work I went shopping for an acoustic amp or small powered speaker. I'd almost pulled out the dough for a Mackie SRM150 (very cool!) when I stumbled across an AAD Acoustic Cub 100 by Phil Jones. Phil Jones is a renowned Brit Hi-fi speaker designer living in the US. His range of AAD bass amps are getting rave reveiws apparently. I tried the Cub alongside Ashdown, Fishman and AER amps and it absolutely wiped the floor with all of them. I've never heard such a huge, accurate, room-filling sound come from something as small and light as this (it weighs about the same as an Ovation acoustic in an Ovation case) The downside is the amp is very basic, just a single channel with 3 band EQ. No notch filters, reverb or any other bells 'n' whistles. The sound however is simply stunning. Cost me around $500. For once an American-made product that costs about the same over here as it does in the US
http://www.aadsound.com/AG-100.htm |
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October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | thanks for the heads up on this, paul. i've been considering compact amps as of late. looks great! |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Does it come with that blonde with the nice cans?? |
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October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | Originally posted by cliff:
Does it come with that blonde with the nice cans?? i wonder, brah? |
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October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | click on the reviews link and you will see an article entitled, "audio jones". note that the writer tested an ovation vxt with this unit. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Good information. Wonder how it compares soundwise to a Roland AC30 or AC60 which appear generally similar in size and weight. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Find a dealer with a bunch of amps and use your ears. That's what I did. The AC60 is almost twice the weight and half the output. The Roland acoustic amps are excellent, but I didn't get the chance to A/B with the Phil Jones. |
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September 2007
Posts: 108
| I've recently picked up an acoustasonic jr by Fender.
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2213200010
Its a great amp and you can even plug in a mic fo vocals and do smaller venues with no PA at all. just show up plug in and play.
Good sound with lots of bottom end. there about $500 or so. |
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September 2003
Posts: 815
Location: Colorado | Leave it to Cliff...
I'll have to check one of these out. |
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January 2007
Posts: 146
Location: Japan | I'm using a Bose PAS on Saturdays and an Acoustic Image Coda R on Fridays in another location.
To tell the truth, I like the sound of the Coda better, but the Bose has much better coverage and output.
I also like the Acoustic Image so well that I've got too many of them!
It's a great unit anyway and has a mic input on one channel and a standard jack on the other, digital effects and I can carry it on my shoulder in the carry bag it came with.
I used two of them tonight at a jam session and ran a bass into one and my electric into the other; both sounded great.
However, my normal setup with the Coda R is vocal mic in one channel and my Adamas into the other. |
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Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I just looked at the weight! Wow that's fantastic. The blonde aint' bad either. |
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September 2005
Posts: 98
Location: SF Bay area, California | I saw Peppino D'Agostino last weekend, the 2nd time I've seen him in a 'house concert'. I believe this is the amp model he uses: http://www.aer-amps.de/Sites/sites_ENG/productpages/compact60.htm
This weekend it was augmented with a PA, since we were outdoors.
He said the neck on his Seagull is 'classical width'. I measured 40mm across the strings, I've never made that measurement on my O's. They are in storage now :-(
M^2 |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The only comparison guitar immediately available to me at the moment in my office is a Les Paul Standard with a 60's slim taper neck. The strings measure 36mm at the nut with the neck width at 1-11/16". This is probably very consistent with most standard Ovamas models, so the 40mm string width would be consistent with a neck closer to 1-3/4" or 1-7/8" in width. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I'm very familiar with the Compact 60, it's a great amp and one that I've recommended many times on this board. I was considering an AER when I was out looking at the weekend. I A/B'd the Compact 60 against the Phil Jones Cub. With both amps set to maximum output and EQ set flat for my needs the Phil Jones won hands down. Louder, cleaner, less coloured. (And it was around half the price of the AER) Best analogy I can come come up with is it was like comparing an Adamas to say, a Balladeer.
I've since found out that part of the reason for the lack of weight in the AAD Cub is that instead of a bulky conventional mains transformer it uses a digital switching power supply. The other advantage of this is that the amp will work worldwide on any mains voltage from 100V to 250V. That's a major advantage for musicians who tour internationally. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I've located an AAD Cub amp here in Denver and will be checking it out tomorrow. I'm thinking it might be a nice compact unit to use as a personal monitor, not that I'm in the market for yet another amp, but it is hard to ignore tips from folks who really know their stuff. Thanks for the info, Temp. |
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January 2007
Posts: 146
Location: Japan | After posting my recommendation I went back and read the whole thread and realized my mistake.
The Phil Jones and AER stuff all sounds interesting to me and although I've seen both brands, never had the opportunity to try either one.
Does anyone here know how these two brands offerings compare with Acoustic Image CodaR for a stand alone pa system?
Happy as I am with the CodaR I'm always interested in better/lighter/louder/smaller! |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Picked up the ADD Cub last evening but was running late and didn't have time to play with it at rehearsal. The well-padded carrying bag is a very nice bonus. The whole package looks and feels no different than a gig bag. Carried into the house over my shoulder, I walked right past SWMBO who never gave it a second glance. That alone increases its value significiantly. I'll give it a thorough test this weekend. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The AAD Cub in use as recommended by Temp. Note the really small size of this wonderful amp. I use it as a powered monitor off to the side of the band. I installed a threaded mic holder on the bottom of the amp and am experimenting with various amp stands. The guitar is the Tak EF75.
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Brad, did you get it from Gary over at GuitarX? |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Stephen . . . yes. Although he has closed his shop, he is continuing his business as an Internet only enterprise and was gracious to do business with in his living room. |
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Acoustic Amp recommendation