Hi all.

I have acquired the means to purchase a smaller amp. Practice, house jamming with friends, and maybe small venue gigging is my purpose.

I've heard good things from Stick players on the Fishman Loudbox 100. But these are hard to come by in Saskatchewan. I haven't been able to try one yet.

One music store in Regina can order it. I wont be obligated to purchase it, so this is most likely what I'll do.

Just wanted to hear any opinions on this amp before I have them order one. Thanks.

Brian Baggett
Fort Qu'Appelle, SK

I own one of these and I love it. It's the ultimate Stick practice amp. Two channels, very nice sounding effects, and a wonderful overall acoustic style sound for Stick.

It lacks in the bottom end. I could never use it with my band. As far as performing outside the house, I've used it at small open mics and it's done the job. It's not going to fill a very large room on its own though.

For the most part, I still use my main rig to gig and to practice at home. I use the Fishman if I want to go play in another room (out on the enclosed back porch, outside, etc). I've also been known to use the Fishman to record Stick parts in tunes where I'm looking for more of an acoustic-accompaniment sound.

The worst experience I had with mine was playing with a drummer. Everyone else playing near me could hear me fine, but the drummer could hardly hear me. Helps a little to elevate it by setting it on a chair. I was using my Stick purely in a bass role. Also pay attention to where you are playing, I find it's pretty sensitive to bad wiring or other poor electrical sources. A power conditioner may be a necessity. Under normal conditions it's pretty clean.

Out side of that, my guitar, NS, and Grand sound really nice through it.
I also use an AI Coda III with an extension cab for more volume, but often take the Fishman instead when I know volume isn't important. Despite the lack of volume, it's ability to spread sound is pretty good. I found the bass response bettter than it's next up 130W brother with the two smaller speakers.

Not Stick related, but I played a Godin A6 through it and the sound was pretty fantastic. I let a saxophonist mic his horn through it, worked really well.

Pretty much functions as a nice mini-PA, so if you do have a bigger amp, you might still have a use for it to amplify something else. I've run my loop station as a drum machine through it, makes some good drum sounds also.

Very useful info. Thanks guys.

I guess it would be nice to find a small amp that could put out much volume too. But I have a good sized. I'm mainly in need of something small to rehearse with guitarists and such.

B

Appears Fishman has a new 8" speaker amp in the 120W range:
http://www.fishman.com/articles/announc ... box-artist

AHHHH! Perfect timing. My faithful Loudbox 100 finally cashed in its chips a couple of weeks ago. This Artist looks even better than the Loudbox. Thanks, Steve!

Matt,

I contacted Fishman about a bad DI jack on my Loudbox 100. They told me that if I shipped the head of the unit to them, they would repair it for a flat fee of $50 + shipping. I haven't shipped the head unit out yet (it attaches to the cabinet with 6 Allen screws), but I will take advantage of this ASAP.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Take care,

Paul

I had a static noise issue with mine in the beginning, did just that. Was still under warranty. Swapped heads, no trouble since.

@Paul and Steve,

My Loudbox was actually purchased used, so I'm out of luck with warranty work. It simply won't power up. I tried new fuses myself, but no dice. It just kind of shut down one day on a gig (we were using it as a monitor). It served us well for a quite a while. I might take it to a shop in Austin that I've used before.