|
|
Joined: June 2011 Posts: 4
Location: Perth, Western Australia | I'm looking at buying a Roland AC60 acoustic amp. Do any members have any views on the quality or otherwise of this amp for projecting the tone of an acoustic guitar (Ovation Adamus)?? |
|
|
|
Joined: December 2006 Posts: 6992
Location: Jet City | In the interest of saving time, just do a search fir ac60 posts from me.
It's a good rig, go for it.
I've also updated your status, so feel free to post in the rest of the site |
|
|
|
Joined: October 2005 Posts: 4026
Location: Utah | Steveeva, welcome aboard!
My daughter plays in an acoustic duo. Her partner has the AC60, my daughter has the Crate 60W Gunnison acoustic amp. We tested every amp in the local stores before buying the Crate, including the AC60. As sound tech for the girls, I have played with the AC60 a fair amount.
The AC60 is an excellent amp, with a nice tone and decent effects (reverb, chorus). For me one of the very nicest features is the small size, light weight, and the carrying case with shoulder strap. For hauling out to gigs the AC60 is a very friendly size/weight for an old guy like me.
The AC60 has a line out feature, allowing you to send a signal out to the house PA or mixing board. Thus you can control your sound if the venue doesn't have a good sound tech. You can use the AC60 as a personal stage monitor. It has a tilt-back stand on the bottom, a very nice feature to sonically decouple it from the stage floor and to improve projection out into the room.
So why didn't we get the AC60 for my daughter? The AC60 is not as loud as other amps of similar wattage. The physical design reduces the volume. The tone is nice, just not as loud as others. It is loud enough for a medium sized room, and even loud enough for a typical bar gig. In hindsight I think it is loud enough for most acoustic gig scenarios.
The tone is a bit less lively than the Crate. That is a subjective analysis, lots of better musicians than I on this forum prefer the Roland. Listen to a bunch of amps to decide for yourself.
The Roland seems to have a narrower more directional projection zone than the Crate. If you play in very wide rooms it could be a factor, but for most situations I don't think it is a big deal.
When you test amps, turn the volume up to test for speaker distortion. We found that the 30W and lower amps had significantly lower capability speakers. They distorted well before full power, making them much less able than they should have been. The lower wattage amps also have smaller speakers and smaller cabinets, so the tone suffers. In my opinion the higher wattage amps sound much better even if you don't need the extra power. |
|
|
|
Joined: June 2011 Posts: 4
Location: Perth, Western Australia | Thanks guys. |
|
|
|
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | i have a genz benz shen jr I can let you have at a good price
IMHO one of the best acoustic amps out there |
|
|
|
Joined: June 2007 Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | Freight might be a bit exi to Oz Al
Welcome Steve
AJ |
|
|