Great Little Amplifier For Ukes

Paulrick

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Just wanted to pass this on in case anyone was in search of an amp. As a guitar player, I just picked up a blackstar fly battery powered amp to sit on the desk to hash out parts here or there.

I plugged my uke into it today just for fun and realized that the clean channel of the amp does a great job of amplifying the uke's tone w/o coloring it "too much". It is after all a guitar amp but I was pleasantly surprised.

Not bad for $60 USD, battery powered portability, built in delay & the thing is TINY!
 
That Blackstar Fly has been mentioned a bit here on UU, and also their Fly Bass with two boxes tweaked for bass, which I use with my bass uke when performing in hospital rooms where we're not allowed to carry anything and be very compact. I added a strap and Velcroed them together.

Wearble Fly 3.jpg
 
Just wanted to pass this on in case anyone was in search of an amp. As a guitar player, I just picked up a blackstar fly battery powered amp to sit on the desk to hash out parts here or there.

I plugged my uke into it today just for fun and realized that the clean channel of the amp does a great job of amplifying the uke's tone w/o coloring it "too much". It is after all a guitar amp but I was pleasantly surprised.

Not bad for $60 USD, battery powered portability, built in delay & the thing is TINY!
I hear that often and I wonder why an amp would be specific to a guitar?
 
I would think the reference is for an electric guitar amp as opposed to an acoustic guitar amp. While effects such as overdrive is not totally foreign with a ukulele, it is probably more of an exception even with acoustic guitars.

John
 
That Blackstar Fly has been mentioned a bit here on UU, and also their Fly Bass with two boxes tweaked for bass, which I use with my bass uke when performing in hospital rooms where we're not allowed to carry anything and be very compact. I added a strap and Velcroed them together.

Clever mod. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
I hear that often and I wonder why an amp would be specific to a guitar?

Guitar amps are "voiced" to enhance and shape the sound of what is basically not much more than a slab of wood with strings. Accoustic guitar amps are more "clean" and uncolored like a PA so you can more closely capture the natural sound of the instrument. Try playing a Fender Strat on an acoustic amp or plug one straight in to the board on a PA and you will see what I mean.
 
I hear that often and I wonder why an amp would be specific to a guitar?

Generally the guitar-specific amps have some inherent distortion. My wife picked up an Orange Micro Crush (based on aesthetics) for her uke and it has entirely too much grind to it, even at low volumes. Sounds great with one of my guitars plugged into it though. :cool:

Seriously thinking about picking up one of the Fly 3 amps and 'trading' with her. They have such a sweet clean sound, where the Orange is definitely more of a rocker.
 
Guitar amps are "voiced" to enhance and shape the sound of what is basically not much more than a slab of wood with strings. Accoustic guitar amps are more "clean" and uncolored like a PA so you can more closely capture the natural sound of the instrument. Try playing a Fender Strat on an acoustic amp or plug one straight in to the board on a PA and you will see what I mean.

Generally the guitar-specific amps have some inherent distortion. My wife picked up an Orange Micro Crush (based on aesthetics) for her uke and it has entirely too much grind to it, even at low volumes. Sounds great with one of my guitars plugged into it though. :cool:

Seriously thinking about picking up one of the Fly 3 amps and 'trading' with her. They have such a sweet clean sound, where the Orange is definitely more of a rocker.

I understand quite well the difference between an amp with affects compared to an PA amp that does not. What it is that I don't understand is why people seem to automatically assume that all ukulele players prefer to capture the natural sound of their ukulele and only guitar players want to get "dirty."
 
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I understand quite well the difference between an amp with affects compared to an PA amp that does not. What it is that I don't understand is why people seem to automatically assume that all ukulele players prefer to capture the natural sound of their ukulele and only guitar players want to get "dirty."

A steel string uke with magnetic pickups would sound great. But a tradition ukulele is similar to a classical guitar and there are not a lot of classical guitar players out there using distortion. Even steel string acoustic guitars can't produce anything similar to a Les Paul.

John
 
Since playing uke myself, I've come to dislike any kind of 'crunchy' sound on a naturally acoustic instrument.

IMHO, distortion is for 'other people' to use. I try to avoid listening to it, unless it is somehow related to music originated by Eddie Van Halen.

Each is welcome to their own preferences. :)
 
Just wanted to pass this on in case anyone was in search of an amp. As a guitar player, I just picked up a blackstar fly battery powered amp to sit on the desk to hash out parts here or there.

I plugged my uke into it today just for fun and realized that the clean channel of the amp does a great job of amplifying the uke's tone w/o coloring it "too much". It is after all a guitar amp but I was pleasantly surprised.

Not bad for $60 USD, battery powered portability, built in delay & the thing is TINY!

:agree: I got one last year. Incredible punch for 3W. Love it. I'm gonna go for the slave amp too. Only thing is, I got the cream version and you can't get that in cream, only as part of a set.
 
I picked one up and love it! It's a great little amp for $60.
 
:agree: I got one last year. Incredible punch for 3W. Love it. I'm gonna go for the slave amp too. Only thing is, I got the cream version and you can't get that in cream, only as part of a set.

I got the pair for $85, including A/C charger, while on sale. Bought it for my Classical guitar originally, but now I almost exclusively use it with my Ukes. A lot of sound from such a little thing. I prefer it to my pignose. It does eat up the batteries with the slave, so I keep mine plugged in most of the time.
 
Just wanted to pass this on in case anyone was in search of an amp. As a guitar player, I just picked up a blackstar fly battery powered amp to sit on the desk to hash out parts here or there.

I plugged my uke into it today just for fun and realized that the clean channel of the amp does a great job of amplifying the uke's tone w/o coloring it "too much". It is after all a guitar amp but I was pleasantly surprised.

Not bad for $60 USD, battery powered portability, built in delay & the thing is TINY!

Better off with the guitar or the bass version?
 
I also have the fly amp with the slave and the a/c adapter. Big, clean punch for such a micro amp. Mine is the guitar version.
 
I kinda want to buy a mainland tenor neck, bolt it to the fly 3 and wire it up..... would that guaranty feedback loop or prevent it?
 
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