See the video review of the Fishman SoloAmp

Fishman Transducers is among the world’s leading manufacturers of amplification products for acoustic stringed instruments. And although the company’s reputation has been built on its complete line of pickups, it has maintained a presence in the amplifier market since the introduction of the Acoustic Performer Pro in the early ’90s.

Although the company’s amplifiers, like the successful Loudbox series, are generally dedicated instrument amps, its latest amplifier offering, the SoloAmp, is ambitiously designed to be a self-contained PA that sounds as good for vocals as it does for a guitar—while delivering natural tones and enough projection and volume for a medium-size listening audience.

PORTABLE POWER

Since acoustic amplifiers became widely available in the 1980s, gigging guitarists have had to choose between the portability of a small amp or the more powerful sound of a PA, which requires hauling and hooking up several components. But Fishman created the SoloAmp with the idea that a best-of-both-worlds compromise between amplifier and PA was possible.

The successful union of small size, clarity, tone, and power is made possible by the SoloAmp’s line-array speaker configuration, which consists of six four-inch neodymium woofers and a one-inch neodymium soft dome tweeter arranged in a vertical configuration.

The slender speaker tower also houses a 220-watt Class-D power amp, a two-channel mixer with XLR and ¹/₄-inch inputs, EQ controls for high, mid, and low frequencies, as well as controls for gain, anti-feedback, and reverb level. There are also switches for phase reversal and a 10 dB pad. A separate section of the control panel features a Master Volume control, an Aux In for other audio sources, a Mute button, and Monitor control (more on this function later). Switches to select between four preset digital reverb programs and to activate phantom power complete the front panel.

A dozen jacks for sends, output, and input are arrayed on the back of the unit, including five XLR jacks that are used for two premaster outputs, one postmaster DI, and connections for the unit’s monitor function—which enables the player to chain two SoloAmps or interface the unit with other amps (the mix from another SoloAmp's Monitor amp can be easily controlled from the front panel).

EASY SETUP

TESTING, TESTING

The loft gig was a challenging acoustic setting due to high ceilings, various dividing walls, and an audience that spread out more to the side of the stage than directly in front of it. Although the SoloAmp alone capably covered the entire space during sound check, I elected to try out the unit’s Monitor output function by connecting it with a Fishman Loudbox 100.

In terms of volume, it was amazing how much sound the SoloAmp was able to pump out. Ultimately, I used very little of the Loudbox 100’s signal and the SoloAmp easily provided the coverage needed for the crowd of 80. The unit had great headroom, and it was never necessary to have the Master Volume turned up past the halfway mark.

Given the acoustic peculiarities of the room, I did find myself wishing for a little more EQ control, and attempts to tame some low-midrange woofiness left me wanting slightly more surgical control. Running the guitar through a DI box with parametric equalization capabilities lent a little more EQ flexibility in the complex acoustic environment. But on the whole, the SoloAmp’s tone was excellent.

Later that evening, fingerstyle guitarist and vocalist Kaki King played through the rig using an Adamas guitar and a Shure SM58 microphone for vocals. Once again, room coverage, volume, and tone were all impressive.

Back in the studio, I used the same Martin OM and a Taylor running straight into the SoloAmp, but I also plugged in a Røde NT5 condenser mic to see how the unit would handle a miked guitar. Using the mic by itself and sitting about three or four feet to the left and slightly behind the amp, I found it difficult to get to gig-level volume without encountering feedback—even when using the amp’s otherwise very effective feedback control, which worked like a charm for taming feedback generated by my guitar’s internal mic at the gig.

But when I combined the Røde’s signal with either of my guitar’s pickups, the results were nothing short of astonishing. By the time I made some minor EQ adjustments and added a touch of reverb, I succeeded in getting one of the most natural acoustic sounds I’ve ever encountered while playing through a portable system.

WRAP