Playing Through Fishman Tower PA

T

tomthebaptist

Guest
Has anyone on the forum played their uke through the Fishman 220A Tower PA? If so, what kind of results did you get? How did you like it? Did you play plugged in direct, or did you play through mic? Would be interested in any feedback.

Thanks,

tom
 
Do you own one or are you looking to get one, Tom? Ric

Hi Ric, I very recently bought one used.... but haven't had chance to play ukulele plugged in. It sounds great through mic. I'm thinking of buying an under-saddle pickup for my ukulele.
 
I have owned the Fishman SoloAmp 220 tower PA for nearly 2 years and use it for all of my solo uke gigs. I think it works perfectly for that application. I run an eleuke directly and also mic up a fluke sometimes. Both sound clean and crisp. Great balance between uke and vocals and I love the on board reverb options. Position the tower correctly behind you and a bit off to the side and there is no need for monitors and no feed back. Well worth the price!!! Good luck with it and feel free to PM with ant questions!
 
I've also used the SoloAmp exclusively for the past few years. Plug my Pono tenor directly into it. Very clean and surprisingly powerful. Would never consider going back to the more conventional PA. Plus its very portable. I bring all my stuff into gigs in one trip.

Bill
 
Joe Souza had one at his display at the Winter NAMM Show two years ago and his ukuleles sounded very natural through it. My local musician friend, Alan Land, uses his with a baritone acoustic guitar and it also produces a natural tone through it. If your instrument has a passive pickup, get an L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. To use with it. Ric
 
just spent 20 minutes looking at these online, I wasn't familiar with them before. Looks like an excellent package and something I'll hope to own someday.
 
I haven't used that specific amp but it's the right general type if you're looking for "ukulele, natural just loud" - if you're looking for a big increase in compression, sustain, etc. when playing plugged in you might be happier with an acoustic guitar amp (the main difference between an acoustic guitar amp and a PA amp is primarily that the preamp of the acoustic guitar amp is designed to provide some compression - usually pretty adjustable through a gain control - plus often numerous other effects you might never use. Oh, if you do go with an acoustic guitar amp I'd look for one with a 10" or smaller speaker - for some reason 12" speakers tend to be kind of "woofey" or "thuddy" with small AE instruments (I've noticed it with both ukes and mandolins). With good EQ you can EQ that out but it seems less necessary with 10" and smaller speakers - even multiple ones. I have a 2X10 that sounds great with uke and mandolin and a couple of 1X12 cabs that sound thuddy - even when both cabs are driven from the same amp.

But, for "loud acoustic uke" a PA amp is probably the best way to go.

John
 
Joe Souza had one at his display at the Winter NAMM Show two years ago and his ukuleles sounded very natural through it. My local musician friend, Alan Land, uses his with a baritone acoustic guitar and it also produces a natural tone through it. If your instrument has a passive pickup, get an L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. To use with it. Ric

At your suggestion, I installed an L.R. Baggs Under-saddle passive pickup on my Pono Tenor, and ran it through Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. --- amazing sound! I also, played a dulcimer with Baggs under saddle pickup.... the sound was amazing too. And mountain dulcimers are extremely difficult to amp and get a decent sound. Both the Ukulele
and dulcimer sound great! I'm going to have fun with this unit.... Have my guitar recital coming up, and plan to use the Tower to amplify my students.

thanks, all for your input.

Tom
 
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