Are those mini portable battery amps any good?

mm stan

mm stan

Mystery Man
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Aloha All,
I just purchased a ukulele with a pick-up and was wondering if these
small portable battery amps are any good? If so, what would be a good
brand and one with a good price..any advice would be appriciated....
Just wondering, if the cheaper one eats up the battery more faster than
the expensive ones like in some other electronics...
Many thanks in Advance!!!! MM Stan..
 
I've a Roland Mobile Cube that I use as the sound system for my computer. At the same time, whenever I feel like it, and leaving it in place, I plug in my uke and Shure Sm58 and pretend I'm on stage. I love it. Instead of a mic-uke setup, you can alternatively plug in two ukes and jam with a friend, or play back your webcam recorded progression and jam over that.
 
I use a Pignose for my Harmonica and I just bought a eleuke so, I'm gonna plug that in.

LIne6 Pod will be put in place after I test drive the Pignose on its own.
 
Roland Cubes are popular for a reason. They're really good.

So what ukulele did you get that you'll be plugging in?
 
Yeah, Mini amps work.
They will make the uke sound louder through the speakers.
I've had good experience with the Fender mini tone master.
If you want to go with the MOST portable amp, search "amp u plug n play" on google.
It's a very small battery amp that you can plug directly into the uke (no cables). It's not a huge amplification, but makes your uke about twice as loud. It also has headphone output and mp3 input.

If you can invest a bit more money, get a Roland Microcube.
It's a proper amp and will give much better sound and output than the others.
And they can also take batteries.
 
Aloha Sam,
I got me one of those backpacker ukes from New Zealand, Captain Ukuleles. Go to Whetu's Posting
and you can see pictures of it. Another UU'er just posted he bought one too, and his one arrived
already. The Luthier Bevan, is quite a nice chap and builds them sorta custom if you can wait.
very reasonable prices, mines with pick-up and shipping was $154.00. He uses quality woods
too. Go to Captain Ukuleles....check him out..I was wondering how he can manage to sell them
so reasonable, just hope the prices don't go too high with all new business from the UU members.
I'll check out roland cubes too, I hope they're not too expensive and thanks for your opinion on the
matter. BTW- I also am at a stage where I need to upgrade my herd and expand my ukulele
experience. I do so everytime I plataeu out, and feel the same old same old playing.
Anyways Until Next time, "Keep strumming them strings" Ukuleles are Foreva's... Uke Onn!!
MM stan...
 
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hate to admit it, but I just got one of those little Honeytone amps... to go with my gorgeous new eleuke from Mim's! WOO HOO!

It's surprisingly and amazingly loud for its size and price.
 
Honey Danelectro runs about $20.00. I got one with my uke that I bought on the UU classifieds. I think it is pretty good. High end? Well, no. But I can get pretty good volume out it.

Check for them on youtube.
 
Aloha Uke5417,
Thanks for your opinion too, Was it quite expensive or what...and I like you can leave it in place too.
Did you buy yours online?????I appriciate it very much!!! MM stan
Aloha SuzukHammer,
I'll check up on the pignose too, with Line6 pod too.. let me know how that combination turns out for you.
I appriciate it very mush!! MM Stan..
Aloha Kissing,
the amp and play plug must be kinda small and portable if you say jus plug it in, no cables..
gotta check it out. and I like it has an headphone jack too.. Many thanks too! very much appricated...
MM Stan.. Keep strumming them strings...Uke On!!!
BTW is the honeytone and honeydanelectro the same brand....not bad for twenty bucks....
 
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If you want a super duper cheap, very lgithweight battery amp, then the Danelectro HoneyTone is a good choice for aroind $20. Pretty good disyortion sound, and decent almost clean "clean" sound. Really not bad for the money. The other cheapo beltclip sorts of mini-amps I've treid cannot produce a clean sound of any sort with any volume to speak of.

If you can be more spendy and dont mind extra weight and size, you might wanto to consider a VOX DA-5 - I think these blow th Roland Cubes out of the water. Lots of onboard FX, a great clean sound, and a great variety of disroted sounds. Also includes FX like reverb, delay, chorus, and lots of others. Can run on batteries or on AC wiht the included AC adapter. This is totally cool amp~!
 
I bought a Danelectro Honeytone last year and also picked up a AC adapter for home use. I'm totally happy with it, more than enough sound, and the portability matches the 'ukulele. I recommend them.
 
If you get the Honeytone, get the AC power adapter too... if you use the amp a lot, the adapter pays for itself in no-time!
 
Ahnko Honu said:
Aloha Ric, Mahalo for the thought. Mahalo again too for your indepth review of mini-amps, got my Honeytone after reading your concise writeup, it should be a sticky.
Click to expand...

Agreed about the sticky!!! A sticky that could give someone AAS (amp acquisition syndrome). Awaiting Ahnko H.'s response to this acronym...and yes, great to have A.H. back!!!

Picked up a Nifty Aqua colored Honeytone and a 1Spot adaptor...you gotta love the names of the control settings...

Possible to start yet another group...the Honeytone Lovers? Or a better name choice? Not joking here. They remind me of mini-Pignose amps...which I also like.

There's something about the Honeytone, even when it sounds cranked up, not even really great...that gives you "permission."

Seriously though, at manageable and more realistic volume levels...very nice indeed.
 
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Thanks for all the responses guys....
And I checked out musicians friend and I think I'm going with the el cheapo, but terrific
the the honeytone, 19.95 but they don't have an adaptor ...so still thinking..I don't want
to buy a ton of batteries, if you know what I mean lol!!!
 
I own three Roland cubes. The sound has been engineered really well on all three. I heartily recommend the MobileCube. It has four uke-friendly amp modeling settings: clean (jazzy), overdrive and distortion (for electric Ukes) and a true acoustic setting. (Most "acoustic" settings you see on amps are there to make electric guitars sound acoustic and sound lousy with real acoustic instruments. Not this one.) There are also stereo chorus, reverb and delay effects.

One of the true beauties of this amp is that it's a mini PA system with a separate mic mix in. The mike stand mount on the bottom makes it a nice little coffee shop PA for performances with a small crowd. And it works well as a utility amp for an iPod at picnics.
 
jkevinwolfe said:
I own three Roland cubes. The sound has been engineered really well on all three. I heartily recommend the MobileCube. It has four uke-friendly amp modeling settings: clean (jazzy), overdrive and distortion (for electric Ukes) and a true acoustic setting. (Most "acoustic" settings you see on amps are there to make electric guitars sound acoustic and sound lousy with real acoustic instruments. Not this one.) There are also stereo chorus, reverb and delay effects.

One of the true beauties of this amp is that it's a mini PA system with a separate mic mix in. The mike stand mount on the bottom makes it a nice little coffee shop PA for performances with a small crowd. And it works well as a utility amp for an iPod at picnics.
Click to expand...

And to follow up on the Rolands...the Micro great and will check out the Mobile...with 2 thumbs up for the 60 watt Cube as awesome acoustic guitar amp even if you don't use the effects...worth the money.
 
I would go for the Roland Cubes but I wanted one that was portable to carry on my
belt or in my jacket pocket. besides I have a Marshall DFX 15 MG series for home
use and that has everything except it does not take batteries. I was looking at that
headphone jack, but that has limited use. I've got alot of AC adapters for other
stuff at home, but not sure if any of them will work.HMMMMM anyways the hunt
still goes onnn!!!BTW- thanks ric for the awesome reviews on the amps, gotta
go back to there and check it out again...Also do you live in Honolulu too, I noticed
Ocean house that's why..or were you on vacation????But thanks again guys, and
if you come up with any other suggestions, let me know!!!!! MM Stan..
 
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