Re: New Member - Central Alberta Canada
gpoorman wrote:
I'm familiar with the Helix. It's a fine unit for sure. But I would never suggest to a beginner looking for a "newbie/practice amp" that he should start by dropping another four figures on a front end which will still leave him looking for an amp or PA.
The Stick has growing pains for sure as far as gear and a beginner needs to get their fingers working and figure out where they want to go. I think the Fishman is probably even a little on the pricy side for what he's asking.
Peter Gilbert put us all to shame before he passed away. - he pretty much used that small Powerwerks PA. I have a couple of videos of him performing with it in Ypsi. Considering the vast amount of expensive gear he owned, that says a lot of how good those little guys are. He used a couple different effects boxes to EQ it for live performances, and had some small device that was cheap that he used at the seminars. Straight in with no effects a Stick does not sound bad.
I’d also add the Bose S1 that I use most often. Has a treble, bass, and reverb on it, and a nice angle tilt if needed. With the Bluetooth one can run their iPhones through it just like the Powerwerks. That one can be had in the $500-600 range new. With a comparable Fishman one is paying more for additional effects and the fantastic amount of inputs and outputs they have.
I no longer have any Fishmans as oddly I have hard to control feedback issues with the latest acoustic guitar I have. Only worked good as. Stick amp for me.
At Oz’s a couple of Stick newbies bought one of those small Roland battery operated micro amps like I had used on that Godin guitar I once used at Interlochen. Lacks bass, but the thinner strings sound good on both sides of the Stick. There’s a couple other offerings Roland makes that can also work under the $600 price tag.
Reverb is a great place to find used amps, I refuse to ever touch EBay. I’ve sold two instruments there, and have also received good advice and help from people that I refused low offers from.