Battery acoustic guitar amp

[Sam Spoons]

I'm looking for something to replace my Boss Microcube for using with an acoustic guitar and looper. It doesn't need to be gigable in the normal sense as I have various options for that job* at most it'll get used for a bit of low key busking and acoustic open mic nights.

I've had the Microcube for many years and it gets the job done but I wanted something better sounding so I bought a Minirig 3 a while ago and while it has potential the analogue aux input is frustratingly overloadable and the app is distinctly flakey.

I'm thinking of trying a Positive Grid Spark Mini** but I can't find on in any of the music shops locally. It's 10 watts which is an upgrade on the Microcube and, unusually, Positive Grid include a Max SPL of 90dB at 1 m which sounds pretty good especially out of 2 x 2" speakers. It's very easy to find demos using electric guitars and distortion but has anybody tried one with an acoustic guitar?

Any other suggestions, preferably with built in Li-Ion batteries rather than AA's.

* Bose S1 Pro, AER Compact 60 II and various PA kit.

** #1 son has a Spark 40 which I intend to try next week and I did discuss the Spark Go on here before deciding it would not be loud enough.

[adrian_k]

I’ve been really happy with my Boss Street II, but my use case is slightly different, I need something flexible, I’ve done small gigs with it (ac gtr + vox), keyboard amp, electric guitar amp for (quiet) pub jam sessions, Bluetooth speaker for listening sessions, I’ve even used it as a makeshift monitor for a tracking session. I power it with an electric drill battery through a 12V converter, easily lasts 6 or so hours on the 10W setting.

[Sam Spoons]

Looks good but I'm definitely looking for something smaller

[Wonks]

Hopefully you’ll find a Fishman loudbox mini charge to try out locally. I have the original non-battery non-bluetooth amp and whilst not perfect (I generally find it too bassy with the controls set flat) you can get a good sound out of it and it is definitely loud.

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-B ... Combo/2B1G

It’s also been used for putting keyboards and bass through quite happily.

At approx 12”H x 13”W x 9.5” deep it is compact.

I’ve only compared mine directly with a mate’s Blackstar Sonnet 120, which did sound more natural, but at the time was over twice the price.

So I think the battery version is certainly worth trying out, if only to give us your thoughts against the competition.

[Sam Spoons]

Will do if I can find one locally

[ef37a]

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/acoustic-gui ... XMQAvD_BwE

I had thought to get my son one of the above in the new year for use with a classical acoustic when busking but in talking to him he said he would not bother with an amp. He has found that if you have some PA kit people want to come and talk to you about it! That is in Le Havre, YMMD!

Dave.

[Jimmy B]

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/acoustic-gui ... XMQAvD_BwE

I had thought to get my son one of the above in the new year for use with a classical acoustic when busking but in talking to him he said he would not bother with an amp. He has found that if you have some PA kit people want to come and talk to you about it! That is in Le Havre, YMMD!

Dave.

This looks like very good value and I can see a use for it (even if I don't strictly need it) for setting up a loop in a looper to then play over with just an acoustic guitar, at an all-acoustic gig. Has anyone tried this particular unit?
I only have experience of the Roland Cube Street EX, which is very good indeed at 5x the price and 2x the size, and therefore hard to justify as I don't really need it. Does an acoustic amplifier at this price still sound like the guitar that is playing into it?

[ef37a]

"Does an acoustic amplifier at this price still sound like the guitar that is playing into it?"

Good question Jim! I might still get one after the madness is over. If the reproduction is poor it will almost all be down to the speaker and I have a few 'hi fi' drive units about the place and might try a transplant.

Dave.

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, that is super cheap, given that I'm looking to replace the Microcube it's probably a bit bigger than I would like as I have the AER and the Bose S1, both bigger still. Ideally I would prefer something smaller than the Microcube in this instance but could live with a similar sized box.

[Drew Stephenson]

Yes, that is super cheap, given that I'm looking to replace the Microcube it's probably a bit bigger than I would like as I have the AER and the Bose S1, both bigger still. Ideally I would prefer something smaller than the Microcube in this instance but could live with a similar sized box.

Yamaha THR5?

[tea for two]

I'm looking for something to replace my Boss Microcube for using with an acoustic guitar and looper.

I wanted something better sounding

Any other suggestions, preferably with built in Li-Ion batteries rather than AA's.

Not quite as elegant as going straight into a portable amp preehaps an Acoustic Guitar pedal with built in
Li-ion battery charges from standard micro usb port then to portable amp.
Might possibly give a better sounding more pleasing tone than Acoustic going straight into portable amp.
Badged as Lekato, M-Vave they are approx £44. I keep meaning to pick up one for my Electro Acoustic as I had a similar butt for Electric.

[Sam Spoons]

Yamaha THR5?

I tried the TR5 a few years ago and didn't like it for acoustic guitar. I tried #1 son's Spark 40 last night next to the Microcube and, despite 40 watts and a claimed 117dB SPL I didn't think it was any louder then the MC which doesn't bode well for the Spark Mini (it did sound nicer than the MC though).

Not quite as elegant as going straight into a portable amp preehaps an Acoustic Guitar pedal with built in
Li-ion battery charges from standard micro usb port then to portable amp.
Might possibly give a better sounding more pleasing tone than Acoustic going straight into portable amp.
Badged as Lekato, M-Vave they are approx £44. I keep meaning to pick up one for my Electro Acoustic as I had a similar but for Electric.

I think the problem with the sound of the MC is that it's really designed for electric guitar*, plus the limited power and small speaker mean it distorts even on clean sounds if you wind it up a bit. Maybe I'm looking for the impossible but I just want a small amp that sounds clean and is loud enough to hear the guitar coming through the amp when I'm playing it, ATM the sound from the amp is barely audible over the sound of the guitar.

I'll revisit the MiniRig 3 with a booster pedal as it goes plenty loud enough with recorded music but I'm trying to avoid an extra pedal, my mini setup at present is guitar into looper into Microcube (or S1 Pro where necessary), if that works I'll look into those pedals

* I'm never sure whether the MC 'acoustic' model is a model of an acoustic guitar amp or an acoustic simulator...

[Sam Spoons]

I bought one of these off ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313544104268 which is now repackaged ready for return, it's loud and has potential but viciously bright into a small speaker (8" in a cheap, broken, Fender practice combo) but ok for electric guitar into my V30 cab. Then I tried my son's Spark 40 again, still work in progress (will try into the aux in to bypass the DSP in the morning) but it may work out in which case I'll try a Spark Mini. But I tried theMiniRig 3 again and it is the best of the lot so far, plenty of volume and a nice sound. If only it wasn't so *'ing frustrating to use via the aux in I might have to try to steal my Bose Revolve back of Mrs S...

I've also been looking at the ZT Lunchbox Junior, now discontinued but their support got back to me today and sent a link to some refurbed LBJs for a pretty good price, at least until you add shipping from the US, VAT and duty which adds another 50% to the base price. Also I did have a listen to the bigger Lunchbox a few years ago and it was pretty bright so maybe the ZT is a pass...

[shufflebeat]

…Acoustic Guitar pedal with built in
Li-ion battery charges from standard micro usb port then to portable amp.
Might possibly give a better sounding more pleasing tone than Acoustic going straight into portable amp.
Badged as Lekato…

Do you mean one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/LEKATO-Acoustic ... B0BGRCYP87

Don’t need - may buy anyway (doh!)

[tea for two]

That's the one. At that price why not lol. They're rebadged as Lekato, M-Vave. A well known auction site has them.
I really dig battery operated Guitar pedals.

[Sam Spoons]

That looks interesting, now if only it had a looper with decent memory (5 mins would do) and access to two button operation. I'd be happy with IR loading, delay and looping.

[Sam Spoons]

Yesterday I found a used ZT Lunchbox Junior in the UK on Reverb, made an offer of £160 which has been accepted. It doesn't have an internal battery but I can live with that and it may be possible to mod it if there's space in the box. Referring to looks on the other thread, the Spark Mini is much nicer looking but if #1 sons Spark 40 is a good representation, clean and jazzy is not its natural habitat, the ZT LBs OTOH are designed to do clean. No digital processing (which I don't need), smaller than the Microcube, 12VDC power option with 35 watts RMS and 117dB SPL max so it ticks most of the boxes... I'll let you know how it works out.

[Sam Spoons]

The ZT Lunchbox Junior arrived this morning and I think it's going to be great. Tried it first with the Les Paul, decent volume and a lovely jazzy tone, really nice. Works well with an acoustic and looper too, not at all harsh (unlike the Micro Cube). I've just got to get a suitable battery pack to run it now, just waiting for a reply from ZT tech support WRT acceptable voltage range, there is an optional car cable so, assuming that is just a straight cable, it should be good running from anything between about 10 and 14 VDC. My main worry is of damaging it with too high a voltage as a freshly charged 12V Li-Ion battery pack can potentially put out as much as 14.4V.

While I was waiting for the ZT to arrive I put in what I though was a cheeky offer for a Spark Mini on ebay* which was accepted I'm picking it up on Saturday so will have the opportunity to compare the two and decide which does the job best. Does anybody want to buy a good condition Roland Micro Cube?

* As neither Positive Grid or ZT have any dealers within a sensible drive of Manchester I have been unable to try before I buy and was concerned that neither would be up to the job.

[Folderol]

Pictures... or it didn't happen

[Sam Spoons]

[ef37a]

Re battery power for the Lunchbox amp Sam? The rear view shows a 12V input so, as you say, the optional cable must be 'straight through'. I would not worry about over-voltage since a car battery sits at over 14V with the engine idling and so it must surely be safe on that? I think most cigar sockets are only live with the ignition on and so you would have to have the engine running anyway.

What you DON'T want to do is connect a rough arsed 'Halfords' charger to it ! I destroyed a nice sealed lead acid battery that way. They don't like the ripple up 'em.

Dave.

[Folderol]

The ZT really is a nice compact little beastie, isn't it?

[Sam Spoons]

It's tiny* but sounds (and weighs) much bigger, really impressed so far.

I have a couple of USB battery packs which can supply 12V, but neither seem to like the LBJ (it's gonna have to be called "Lyndon" innit...) and shut down after a few seconds. It only draws about 125mA quiescent and not much more at moderate volume so I'm definitely not overloading the PSU. I now have it running of a Li-Ion bike light battery pack through a DC-DC Boost board, 7.7V in, 12.0 out. I don't know how long before it runs the 4 fairly small Li-Ion batteries down but it definitely bodes...

* But not at all tinny .

[adrian_k]

Thanks for the update - very interesting:)

I think some years ago I auditioned the ZT acoustic amp, found it a bit harsh at the time and ended up with the Phil Jones cub. Sorry, completely OT, both are mains powered.

I power my Boss amp with a Makita drill battery with a 12V step down, works well.

[Sam Spoons]

I must admit to wondering about a carbon fibre wrap to match the similarly tiny guitar...