In my seemingly never-ending quest for simple, good sounding stick amplification, I happened to try out an Acoustic AG120S acoustic guitar amp and was quite pleased. It has four line/XLR inputs and two separate 60 watt channels with effects. The 8" speakers produced surprising bass response. So far, it seems to be the best stick amp I've found, including the Bose L1 compact. Has anyone tried these out? Thoughts or opinions? TIA.

Judging by the number of views, and lack of replies, to my post it appears that no one has tried out this amp. After three trips to Guitar Center, and several hours of playing my stick through the amp, I took the plunge and bought one. It should be here next week. I'll post my thoughts after I play with the amp for a while.

I appreciate rhe thread. its on my list of amp to check out

Brett

Hey ggoldsmith. I did check out this amp yesterday. It has a great array for eq, a number of different effects options (19 in all, mostly reverb, some chorus, a flanger and combinations of reverb and chorus) and two separate channels (amen). The AG120s also has separation of effects levels for each channel, another feature not often found in these types of combo amps. Lastly, the amp features two inputs for each channel with a separate volume level for each input on each channel. Impressive in such a small amp.

This in theory made it my dream amp. I was a bit reticent about being able to deliver low end through a pair of 8" speakers, so I checked it out for myself down at the Hollywood Guitar Center, which is generally well stocked. I also learned that GC owns Acoustic - I did not know that.

I use light gauge strings on my 10 string Bari. My lowest bass-side string is a 106 for reference. My first order of business was to zero out the eq on both channels and crank the volume to 25%. As expected; clear and brilliant sound. I compared bright and dark reverb types and tried turning the low up on the bass side, a very nice resilient sound.

Lastly, I tried cranking up the volume to 50%. Sadly, the pasv-4 in the bass end, on all four pickup settings, was bottoming out the 8 inch speakers. I still played it for a good half hour though as the amp was boxed in a nice heavy case akin to a bass enclosure and a great tone at lower volumes.

I also tried the Marshall as50d
http://marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCode=AS50D

By comparison, it was $389, so $110 less than the acoustic. It has less control in channel 1, but offered a nice blending feature for balancing effect level against channels which is a unique way of offering dual effect levels. It did not have as much variety in the reverb offerings (on or off), but a decent reverb sound. And while the chorus had both level and rate, I never use chorus (so I am not the best judge of this). One did the have the option to turn it on or off for each channel though.

The Marshall speakers did not bottom out at louder volumes! Surprisingly round, rich low end and crisp (but not too) tones in the melody side. Were I to buy a single amp solution to play in smaller venues with a drummer and horn player, the Marshall would be my choice on tone and strength of low end alone.

Here is what I've found out so far about the AG120S:

The first amp produced a lot of white noise even with nothing plugged in. I sent it back and the amp I have now does not have that issue.

The AG120S produces an audible hum. It's not terrible but annoying. Sounds like 60 cycle hum from the fan. It's not noticeable after you begin playing but it seems like Acoustic should be able to isolate the fan electrically or provide some shielding to prevent this.

IMHO the AG120S sounds great. I play a ten string stick with a Stickup. I use an Electroharmonix LPB-2 dual channel tube preamp.

I turn the overdrive up on the melody side and boost the bass, leave the mids flat, and boost the treble a little bit on the amp and use echo and reverb. On the bass side I boost the bass, add a little mid range punch and cut the treble. The chorus/reverb on the amp sounds nice with the bass.

The amp has plenty of volume - more than the Bose L1 compact I think. It costs about $450 on Musician's Friend. So far I'm pretty encouraged. Hope this helps.

I am almost ashamed to admitt this in such august company, but I use an old Peavey 8 channel PA, equipped with a 9 band EQ and a Kustom wedge monitor with a 10 inch speaker and a small horn of some kind. This actually sounds better than it "sounds", if you know what I mean. This was all bought 2nd hand and the PA has to be at least 15 years old. If I really want some low end, I have a bass amp I could use in combination, but I find the PA and monitor supply enough for me now.
Even when playing with my trio!

Chopin Downey