Category Archives: Amps

GEAR 530 • Fishman Loudbox Artist – Overview

Acoustic, Amps, Gear, , , , ,

This video is meant to explore the features of the Fishman Loudbox Artist, a great affordable acoustic combo amp. The amp has an EQ section well tuned for acoustic guitar and some great effects as well. Features like master volume, mute button, and both “mix” and individual channel direct outs make it a practical companion for gigs both large and small. This amp is a great choice for acoustic guitar players (and players of other instruments) doing fingerstyle, jazz, blues, or any type of singer-songwriter stuff.

You may also like:

Slack Key Improv on a Taylor 414ce-NR through a Fishman Loudbox Artist

Taylor Guitar through a Fishman Loudbox Artist

GEAR 531 • Taylor Guitar through a Fishman Loudbox Artist

Acoustic, Amps, Gear, , , , , , , , , ,

This video is meant to explore some of the different EQ and effects settings on the Fishman Loudbox Artist. This is meant to serve as a sound demo for what the Loudbox sounds like with a steel string guitar (a Rosewood/Spruce Taylor with the ES1 system). I close miked the amp to get a truer representation of the echo / reverb effects, but you get an even more open sound when you hear it from across the room. (Also note, close-miking results in a slightly more bass heavy sound due to the proximity effect. I rolled off some of the lows slightly to compensate some.) Overall, the EQ and effects on this amp are well tuned to acoustic guitar, and the overall feature set is practical and useful.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, Gotoh 510 tuners, strings are Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) into a Fishman Loudbox Artist amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

Demo Guide:

Introduction 0:00
Reverb 1, Phase In 0:15
Phase button Out 0:38
Low 0:56
Mid 1:13
High 1:41
Tweeter Control 2:21
Reverb 1 (adj Time knob) 2:57
Reverb 1 + Chorus 1 (adj Depth knob) 3:07
Reverb 1 + Chorus 2 (adj Depth) 3:41
Reverb 1 + Chorus 1 (Chorus on/off) 4:21
Reverb 1 + Flanger (adj Depth) 4:54
Slap Echo (adj Depth knob… = echo time) 5:29
Reverb 1 + Slap Echo (adj Depth) 6:06
Reverb 1 (adj Time) 6:37
Reverb 2 (adj Time) 6:59
Delay (adj Time) 7:36
Delay (longer delay time / ambient delay) 8:35
Echo (adj Time) 9:19
Echo + Chorus 1 (mild chorus – nice setting!) 9:42

You may also like:

Slack Key Improv on a Taylor 414ce-NR through a Fishman Loudbox Artist

Fishman Loudbox Artist – Review / Overview

GEAR 532 • Taylor 414ce-NR through a Fishman Loudbox Artist

Amps, Fingerstyle, Gear, Open Tunings, Slack Key, , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is a video featuring a couple of relatively recent purchases for me – a Taylor 414ce-NR (nylon string, rosewood/sitka) and a Fishman Loudbox Artist. This is meant to serve as a sound demo for what the Loudbox sounds like with a nylon string guitar and what the Taylor nylon pick-up (ES-N, not the ES2) sounds like. I close miked the amp to get a truer representation, but you get a little bit more open sound when you hear it from across the room.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce nylon string) into a Fishman Loudbox Artist amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone. Reverb is from the amp, not an added effect.

You may also like:

Tranquility – fingerstyle on nylon string guitar

Pua Lililehua – Slack Key Guitar

GEAR 301 • Roland Cube Street Amp

Amps, Gear, , ,

I have owned both the Roland Cube Street and the Roland Micro Cube and can say that these are great portable amps with a lot of good sounds for not a lot of money.  You can find Micro Cubes used for under $100 and they are great for people that want a small, affordable practice amp.  The Micro Cubes are loud enough for home practice and some  jams / rehearsals (though it won’t compete with a drummer).  If you need a mic channel and might want to do some (very) small gigs, the Cube Street is basically like the micro cube with an extra channel and an extra speaker.  The Cube Street is a little bit louder than the Micro Cube (noticeably louder, but not twice as loud) though not quite as portable.

My demo below looks at the Cube Street and focuses on the guitar channel, which is similar to the Micro Cube’s.  It starts with a basic overview of the features (part I), then moves to a demo with electric guitar (part II), and finally a demo with acoustic guitar (part III).  You can watch all three below: