Cheese Grits
08-29-2010, 06:44 PM
I recently picked up a Roland AC-33 amp, and I've had a couple opportunities to futz around with it now. I'm going to try to post my thoughts as I have them and then combine them all into a more comprehensive review.
So far, I've tried the following through the amp: (1) Epiphone Dot, (2) Epiphone Masterbuilt AJ-500R acoustic/electric with peizo pickup; (3) Martin DM with Sunrise magnetic pickup through LR Baggs PADI into the amp; and (4) Sennheiser e609 into the vocal channel for vocals.
First thing I want to note is that the reverb sounds really fantastic. I tend to prefer the "ambiance" settings to the "reverb" settings, but they both sound pretty lush. The ambiance sounds more like a spring reverb to my ears, or maybe an echo-y room. The reverb settings sound more like a digital reverb. A pretty nice one, but still.
The chorus is cool for what it is, and the presets are certainly ok, but I'm not into chorus. If you like chorus, it sounds good I suppose.
Volume is certainly just fine for a house party plugged in. I could fill my downstairs with sound this morning, and I had the volume settings at about half way.
The thing I have really noticed is that the vocals and acoustic sounds from this little amp are very natural to my ears. It doesn't have a rocking thump on the low end, but it otherwise sounds very hi-fi. It manages to do that while also producing some very nice clean tones for the Epi Dot. The only thing I would note is that, with the dot, you have to watch how hard you drive the amp because the speakers get a little bit distorted in the highs (and not in a pleasant way) if you turn up the volume and really attack the strings.
I need to set up a video camera and see if I can get a reasonable room sound. I really need to try this with a room full of people. This is going to be a work in progress, but I think that's the video people would really like to see. My big question before buying this amp was about the apparent volume from the perspective of someone in the back of a reasonably crowded room. That seems to be the question the Internet is not answering very well at the moment.
So, I need to pull together a set and schedule a house show for myself.
There is fun to be had, I tell ya! :)
So far, I've tried the following through the amp: (1) Epiphone Dot, (2) Epiphone Masterbuilt AJ-500R acoustic/electric with peizo pickup; (3) Martin DM with Sunrise magnetic pickup through LR Baggs PADI into the amp; and (4) Sennheiser e609 into the vocal channel for vocals.
First thing I want to note is that the reverb sounds really fantastic. I tend to prefer the "ambiance" settings to the "reverb" settings, but they both sound pretty lush. The ambiance sounds more like a spring reverb to my ears, or maybe an echo-y room. The reverb settings sound more like a digital reverb. A pretty nice one, but still.
The chorus is cool for what it is, and the presets are certainly ok, but I'm not into chorus. If you like chorus, it sounds good I suppose.
Volume is certainly just fine for a house party plugged in. I could fill my downstairs with sound this morning, and I had the volume settings at about half way.
The thing I have really noticed is that the vocals and acoustic sounds from this little amp are very natural to my ears. It doesn't have a rocking thump on the low end, but it otherwise sounds very hi-fi. It manages to do that while also producing some very nice clean tones for the Epi Dot. The only thing I would note is that, with the dot, you have to watch how hard you drive the amp because the speakers get a little bit distorted in the highs (and not in a pleasant way) if you turn up the volume and really attack the strings.
I need to set up a video camera and see if I can get a reasonable room sound. I really need to try this with a room full of people. This is going to be a work in progress, but I think that's the video people would really like to see. My big question before buying this amp was about the apparent volume from the perspective of someone in the back of a reasonably crowded room. That seems to be the question the Internet is not answering very well at the moment.
So, I need to pull together a set and schedule a house show for myself.
There is fun to be had, I tell ya! :)