Amp

peanuts56

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I am interested in a good amp. I have two high end tenors, a Kamaka and a Kanilea. I have an old Gorilla amp but I've never been able to get a decent sound on my two ukes.
Any suggestions? I would probably not want to spend more than $200. I live fairly close to a Guitar Center and also a Sam Ash.
 
That's a bit of a contradiction

I am interested in a good amp. I have two high end tenors, a Kamaka and a Kanilea. I have an old Gorilla amp but I've never been able to get a decent sound on my two ukes.
Any suggestions? I would probably not want to spend more than $200. I live fairly close to a Guitar Center and also a Sam Ash.

That's a bit of a contradiction having a couple of $1000 ukuleles and wanting to use a $200 Amp, isn't it??? Choosing an Amp is first about accessing what size venue you are going to be playing in. Is it going to be in your front room or a 50,000 seat amphitheater? I just own a Roland AC-33 which is suitable for small venues only. It was designed with acoustic instruments in mind and works well for a ukulele but even it costs more than $200.

-- Gary
 
Best bet is to take one or both of your ukes to Guitar Center and try out some of the amps they have in the acoustic room. I'm not sure you will find anything under $200 but you will get a chance to hear them in person and see which one you like. If you find one you like you can look for a used model to save some money.

John
 
As Gary mentioned above, you need to decide what your goals for the amp are. In my case, I also only play small venues, but I need two channels for both vocals and ukulele. I have a Roland AC 60 and the smaller Roland Cube Street, which can function on battery power. I love them both, but the Cube Street will set you back around $300.
Bradford
 
Give yourself a $300 budget and you'll have more choices.


9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video
 
I will say the same thing I always say about amps, buy the best you can. No sense having great sounding tenors sound like crap because you have a crappy sounding amp. You can find the Fishman Loudbox Mini for $329.00 new , this is as good as it get for under $600, the Roland AC33 is excellent as well. Like Bill 1 said check for used to save money, ebay and reverb will have them at close to $200.00
 
What pickups are in the ukes to be amplified? are they active or passive?

When using a piezo pickup with amps made for an electric guitar will generally sound bad compared to specifically named/labeled "Acoustic" amps, because the acoustic amps have different circuitry inside than those made for electric guitars with magnetic pickups, instead of the piezo pickups in a nylon-type string instrument.
 
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Kustom PA-50. Around a hundred bucks.
 
I use either a Marshall AS-50R (delightful acoustic stage)

Or..

If I want portability - the Roland AC-33 - an astoundingly good acoustic amp
 
If I were buying today I would get the new Bose S1.
A few years ago I found a used L1 at a great price.
I have a Crate Limo when I need battery, but if it dies, it a S1 for me.
If you want a could sound you need a good amp.
 
There's the Honeytone Mini amp for like 25 USD at music and arts, probably even cheaper somewhere else, it's probably not what you're looking for, but for the size, cost and general apparent quality, it's actually much better than you'd expect. It can't handle much bass, but it's ukulele, so there isn't much bass anyhow. You probably don't want to buy this since you sound serious, but for a little kid or even someone who isn't super picky about sound quality from the amp, it's a reasonable buy. It can clip onto your waist and run off of batteries or an ac adapter, so it's definitely interesting.
 
You didn't say what kind of pick-ups you have in your ukes. If they are piezos then they mainly pick up the sound of the strings rather than the sound of the wood. The best amp in the world won't make a piezo-based pickup sound like its coming from a high-end instrument.

I'm not saying that you should use a junk amp. Get a good one, if you can afford it. But save some money to buy a good mike & mike stand -- mic'd is the best way to get your Kamaka to amp-up like it really IS a Kamaka.
 
You didn't say what kind of pick-ups you have in your ukes. If they are piezos then they mainly pick up the sound of the strings rather than the sound of the wood. The best amp in the world won't make a piezo-based pickup sound like its coming from a high-end instrument.

I'm not saying that you should use a junk amp. Get a good one, if you can afford it. But save some money to buy a good mike & mike stand -- mic'd is the best way to get your Kamaka to amp-up like it really IS a Kamaka.

You and I are friends but I am gonna have to call you out on the piezo bashing. LR Baggs 5.0 are piezo and Andrew at HMS as well as a number of experts with a lot of experience consider this about the best pick up on the market. I own 5 ukes with LR Baggs 5.0 pick ups, all high end customs and they sound great. Misi is another highly regarded piezo pick up, I own two high end customs with Misi and they sound great.

They do require some E100 but so do every other pick up on the market. I can do that with the tone controls on my amp or a DI pre amp box. None sound like a mic, that I agree 100%.
 
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You and I are friends but I am gonna have to call you out on the piezo bashing. LR Baggs 5.0 are piezo and Andrew at HMS as well as a number of experts with a lot of experience consider this about the best pick up on the market. I own 5 ukes with LR Baggs 5.0 pick ups, all high end customs and they sound great. Misi is another highly regarded piezo pick up, I own two high end customs with Misi and they sound great.

They do require some E100 but so do every other pick up on the market. I can do that with the tone controls on my amp or a DI pre amp box. None sound like a mic, that I agree 100%.
Hola compadre ----- All I know is what I have been taught by guitar players -- all of whom do gigs for a living. I also have learned a lot from acousticguitarforum.com. Except for Hawaii, pro guitarists far out-number pro-ukers.

Piezo pickup systems (which fit under the bridge) convert vibration induced pressure into electrical currents. The under-saddle piezo on a guitar is necessarily small. This is even more true for a uke. The under-saddle piezo is driven ~90% by string vibrations and ~10% by the topwood pressure. Thus, they may sound good & gooder, as technology advances, but they still do not sound closely to what a real acoustic instrument sounds like in a room. Mic'd comes waaay closer to actual faithful reproduction of an acoustic instrument's true, woody sound.

That is the reason why the latest technology is more & more seeking either to supplement piezos with internal mic's, or totally replace them with internal or contact mic's. The latest mic-based ones have almost totally eliminated the feedback issue.

The following are comparisons between piezo VS mic's AND comparisons between piezos & newer pickups that are either mic-based internal or contact mic's. . . .

Mic vs Pickup: Ukulele Tech Talk

MICROPHONE vs PICKUP (AKG 414b XLII vs LR Baggs M1 Active)

Pickup & Mic Comparison - K&K, L.R. Baggs, iSolo, Fishman -- IMO, iSolo wireless Mic wins!

2 mic-based pickups. Baggs wins IMO

Pickup vs. Mic = What sounds better?
 
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Hey Bellgamin, I know exactly what you are saying about piezo pick ups. Ukes seems to be a bit different and the piezo is not as "artificial" sounding because of the nylon strings compared to a steel string guitar. At least that is what I have found, EQing with a DI box helps a lot as with any pick up system.

It boils down to your intended use, I do open mics so plug and play with decent sound is what I am after. I am not looking for the absolute best recording studio grade sound. I have an iRig Stage clip on mic and a Myer Featherlite sound hole mic. Both sound great but both give me feedback problems on stage so are eliminated for live performances. No doubt about it, an internal mic/ combo type picks like the Baggs Anthem is amazing but nothing yet for ukes on that level that I am aware of.

Thanks for all the attached sound sample, I enjoyed them. Best of luck on your quest, keep me update bra :shaka:
 
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Both tenors have active pickups. I only want the amp for home use. When I do play in public I play through a pa system.
 
... I have an iRig Stage clip on mic and a Myer Featherlite sound hole mic. Both sound great but both give me feedback problems on stage so are eliminated for live performances. No doubt about it, an internal mic/ combo type picks like the Baggs Anthem is amazing but nothing yet for ukes on that level that I am aware of.
@ DownUpDave -- I plan to try the iSolo clip on mic in a few weeks -- I have overspent my uke budget for this month. I have an oversized Pono barry that *might* handle the Baggs Anthem. I'm going to email the Baggs folks to ask them about the smallest body where that pickup is feasible.

@peanuts56 -- For at-home, you could also consider using headphones.

You could also take your amp question to the Acoustic Guitar Forum's Acoustic Amplification section. Lots of info there from players as well as as some sound techs. What works well for a guitar also works well for a uke.
 
The new aNueNue Air Air pickup with mic & piezo has gotten great reviews and recommendations from users.
 
Pickup vs mic, it just depends on what you are doing. I do both. If I'm doing a coffee shop gig where I want to be all James Taylor acoustic about what I'm doing, then a mic is the thing. If I'm at the farmer's market or some street festival trying to get some attention, a pickup and a couple of effects pedals is more to my liking. So I don't think someone can tell someone else one is better than the other without know what that person wants to do with it. I'll say that I mic it more often than not, but that's just because I play more venues that using a mic is more effective. I'll still don't have a problem plugging in if it is warranted.
 
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