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Gear advice

I've got a somewhat unique set of needs for my amplification solution (although I suspect many others on this site may have similar ones). I'm a multi-instrumentalist who plays accordion, mandolin, and bouzouki in one band, and trombone and electric guitar in another. We typically play in pretty small venues (bars), but occasionally in medium-sized clubs to a couple hundred people. I'm trying to find a solution that meets the following criteria:

light/portable (maybe under 35 pounds?)
able to handle a variety of instrument types with different gain/eq profiles
loud enough for a mid-sized club
moderately high fidelity (has to sound really good, but doesn't need to be audiophile level)
ideally under a grand

I'm not sure this actually exists, but any suggestions for amps and/or pre-amp/DI and amp combo options would be greatly appreciated! Thanks,

Fred

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Permalink Reply by Chip Kaye on May 6, 2010 at 5:42am

Hey Fred - have you considered a separate head/cab solution? If a combo isn't a requirement, separates might give you the most flexibility and can be lighter individually than 35 lbs. One component I'd suggest checking is the Acme Low B-1 cabinet. I own one and they are truly amazing. They are designed as a bass cab but are a very special 3-way design (i.e. woofer, tweeter *and* midrange). The EQ is super flat - so much so that they sound great as monitors. Acme is a one-man operation, so just call Andy and tell him what you're after (hope I don't sounds like a shill here! Just a very special product/design worth knowing about).

http://www.acmebass.com/

You could combine the B-1 with a super-light Class D bass head and have all the inputs/EQ options you need - check this out:

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=BX500

The pair would be less than a grand and have great sound and plenty of headroom for your needs I think. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Philbillie on June 2, 2010 at 3:02pm

The Fishman Loud Box is one of the best of the compact, high fidelity acoustic amps I have auditioned.
It's almost like a mini-PA, really.
On the less expensive side, I have been using a pair of Behringer Eurolive powered 12", two-way speakers both as a full PA with a Mackie 1402 mixer and just one as a single acoustic amp with a micro-sized behringer 4 channel mixer. If you use a POD or something like it for your electric, you are all set. You can put it up on a stand for coverage or lay it down like a monitor wedge for your own monitor. Under 500 for the set-up.

Good luck,
Phil
www.philbillie.com