portable amps

[free math]

i want a little amplifier/speaker to run a microphone into. it doesn't have to be top quality, just have halfway decent response and range. most importantly is that it would be light and small enough to carry in a backpack. i don't know anything about electronics (i'm a musician, dammit!!) so any perspectives are appreciated.

[kp*]

i want a little amplifier/speaker to run a microphone into. it doesn't have to be top quality, just have halfway decent response and range. most importantly is that it would be light and small enough to carry in a backpack. i don't know anything about electronics (i'm a musician, dammit!!) so any perspectives are appreciated.

?

http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... arentId=33

?

these roland cubes for guitar are awesome and i have a keyboard amp that is pretty solid... this looks to fit the bill, but i haven't heard it.

[the_semen_incident]

If you are able to get wall power, you can get good results with even semi-non-crappy PC speakers... Anything that isn't yellowed, beige plastic junk from 1997 should be good... I jacked some newish Gateway speakers during the end of my last year (or the previous) of highschool, and I've used them for nearly all my live stuff. They can get quite loud and I still haven't blown them! Since I record everything direct-to-soundcard, I use them for recording as well. They are "crisp" enough to produce a nice, clean signal, and make some really nice mic feedback, if that's hat you're into.

Karaoke mic + high-gain distortion + cheap speakers = BLISS

[free math]

so it looks like a keyboard amp might be what i want? i'm told they are more lightweight and have a more even frequency response than a guitar amp. but are they generally expensive and/or hard to find used? i want a mono speaker, and something that could conceivably be mic'ed for a PA. i'm not sure why, but i can't imagine computer speakers sounding the way i want, but i'll give that a try.

[kp*]

so it looks like a keyboard amp might be what i want? i'm told they are more lightweight and have a more even frequency response than a guitar amp. but are they generally expensive and/or hard to find used? i want a mono speaker, and something that could conceivably be mic'ed for a PA. i'm not sure why, but i can't imagine computer speakers sounding the way i want, but i'll give that a try.

What makes a guitar amp good is pretty much what makes it bad for everything else. Guitar amps are super mid humpy and optimized for the frequency response of a guitar, the opposite is also true, a guitar through something more hi-fi, either di or even a bass amp is not (in a traditional sense) really desirable.

You are looking for something more ulti-purpose and with a more neutral EQ profile, more hi-fi and with mic/line inputs, so really a keyboard amp, which is really just a portable PA, would fit the bill nicely.

When i do gigs w/o a PA i use a keyboard amp, if i am doing more than just guitar work... (for guitar only gigs, i just use my silverface fenner champ)


Any of the roland puppies will do... I use one and it is essentially a poweramp+speaker+mixer combo (mine will take 4 stereo ins, line plus one is mic input). Though i only use one of the channels and go out my tapco mixer since i need to have that where i can reach it. With that set up, if i am using guitar, i use a DI box and an A/B box.

works great, & is portable. YMMV.

-kp--

[Jason Brogan]

I'm a guitarist looking for a portable, battery-powered amp that may be used when traveling as taking my current amp is too expensive. I'm currently torn between the Fender Amp Can and the Roland Mobile Cube, which is apparently a significant improvement over previous Cube models. The Mobile Cube is stereo and would also allow for the playing of electronic devices such as a radio, which is occasionally used.

Any suggestions?

[kp*]

I didn't like the amp can at all.

If it is just for the guitar, think about:

Fender Pro Jr.
Vox DA5
.... or wait a couple months and get the try new Vox AC4tv, which looks like it will be awesome.

http://www.voxamps.com/us/modernclassic/ac4tv/

I really want to get my hands on one of those.

Roland Cube/MobileCube/Microcube/Streetcube might be better if you anticipate using more than guitar. Some models i think have line and/or mic inputs.

Right now, if it is just for guitar, I am using a small handmade .5 watt amp and a speaker or my silverface fender champ or i'll just go direct if i need more bass.

But i think the Roland cubes and the Vox stuff is pretty sweet. Danelectro has a new V shaped portable amp as well, but i have no idea bout that.

[tristan]

You might check out the Peavey Solo. It's not made anymore, or rather, there is an amp currently being made called the Peavey Solo, but it doesn't have the feature of running off of batteries like the older ones. It can run off of batteries at 10w, or AC power at 15w. It has two separately controlled inputs (one of which can be either 1/4" or XLR). I just got one off of eBay from someone local for a total of $20.00.

I'm probably not a great judge in terms of guitar amps considering that electric guitar isn't my main instrument, but it sounds pretty good to me. I've had fun with it so far, definitely worth twenty dollars. You can find other user reviews here.

If you're looking for one, be careful not to get confused with the more recent non-battery-powered one (which looks like this). There are a couple slightly-different looking battery-powered ones that I've seen, buy they all look relatively similar to this.

[danfan]

you should definitely check these out:
http://www.jr.com/acoustic-research/pe/AR_AV570/

they don't have the actual price listed until you put it in the cart but i believe they're around 250, and you get the stereo pair.
i've used them before and they have a decent frequency response (you can definitely get some bump out of them, 40hz to 30khz).

they're not very large either, you could easily fit one of them in a backpack or maybe the two in a medium sized messenger bag.

[free math]

what do you guys think about this one? only 2 watts but it seems to get fairly loud, although all the demos i saw were with guitars. think it would sound any good with a mic?
http://www.roland.com/products/en/Micro-CUBE/

[jkudler]

personally, i'd be sure to try and test it first. seems you might have to crank the gain a lot to get a mic going well, and then you could have feedback. mics output less gain than guitars.

-jesse

[free math]

forgot to mention, i'm going through a tube pre-amp with gain and output controls. (and i'm a total noob when it comes to gear.)

[jkudler]

ok, i was going to say, "unless you have an external preamp," but i somehow just assumed that was too much. you should be good, i guess. just make sure the mic isn't pointed towards the amp. what kind of mic is it?

-j.

[free math]

Electro-Voice Cobalt Co4 Instrument Microphone:
Element: Dynamic
Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Impedance, Low-Z balanced: 600 Ohms
Connector Type: 3-pin XLR
Open Circuit Voltage: 2.2 mV/Pascal
Audio Frequency Response: 50 - 18,000 Hz +/- 3 dB
Mic Type: Instrumental
Wired/Wireless: Wired

[Charon]

How about the smokey amps that are disguised as cigarette packets? They seem like a bit of joke when you see them the first time but I once heard one of my friends playing on one and they do work, to a degree (although I don't play guitar).
I'm also in the market for some kind of small portable amp, and I've been having a look at this one: http://www.voxamps.com/amplug/#page_specifications, it's a little headphone amp. I'd be using it for feedback with headphones, though, so that's probably a little different to what you might want it for......

[RFKorp]

I love my lil' smokey but I don't think it accomplishes Graham's need at all.

[free math]

i wound up getting the roland microcube. it's got a bunch of cheesy effects and vintage amp simulators, but on its basic setting it fills my needs. i'm working on a way of sealing off the mic inside my horn to avoid feedback. the amp seems to have some pretty good kick. i need a power adapter, but it runs on 6 AAs, the guy who sold it to me said he hadn't replaced them in two years.

[jkudler]

that sounds like a good setup.

it's possible taping it inside your horn could lead to *more* feedback, with the horn as a resonator, a la john butcher. think about when you cup your hands around a mic and it starts feeding back. but that could be a useful effect. do you have a volume pedal? or i guess you could just tweak the gain on the pre-amp.

have you seen nate wooley play amplified? i think he just uses a crappy mic and a little guitar amp, but i think he has a volume pedal to control the feedback and overdrive.

-jesse

[free math]

it's possible taping it inside your horn could lead to *more* feedback, with the horn as a resonator, a la john butcher. think about when you cup your hands around a mic and it starts feeding back.
-jesse

is it the placement you're asking about (not the "taping" or other fastening)? i'm keeping the mic as far in as i've always had it, but with insulation and a disc covering the bell, through which disc the mic is inserted -- my thought was that the bell funneling sound in towards the mic was the feedback source. so far this seems to have helped.

i've seen nate play, with a mic, but he was playing more open-air sounds, further from the mic, whereas i play my mic jammed as far in as it will go.

[jkudler]

yeah, if you have it way shoved in, now i am kind of questioning all my previous advice! um. . . my point was just that tubes/chambers/vessels can sometimes become resonators and *increase* feedback (cf some lucier pieces).

you might be right about the bell funneling sound in. although if it's cardioid, the feedback effect should be pretty directional. i don't know - now i feel bad giving you advice not being there to see exactly how it's set up. i think simply turning away from the amp should help a lot with a directional mic. i'm sure you'll figure it out. . .

-jesse