Hi Regos, thank you for such a fine true demo. I just bought a Fender acoustasonic 40 last week. I have never played through the Fishman, however, I have made a very interesting discovery about the Fender amp. I used a gibson hummingbird with the original lr baggs volume control only pickup that came with gibsons in 2013. I have fooled with pedals, without pedals etc.....the amp sounds great, but for the heck of it, I stuck an old Dean Markley Promag in the sound hole and ran it straight to the amp. I could not believe what I heard. That Fender acoustasonic 40 unfolded sounded like a 2000.00 amp, just simply beautiful ! Blows my mind because I was fixing to send it back to trade it for the Fishman and throw a few more bucks at it. I am keeping the Fender acoustasonic 40 now with a question of my pickup system. Thanks to your review, I was trying to mellow the Fender out like you did. Thanks again, I hope this helps someone.
I've never tried the Fishman Loudbox Mini, but I do have the Fender Acoustasonic 40. The guitar I use with it is a Fender California series Redondo Player with a Fishman preamp/tuner. To my ear, the Fender amp perfectly matches the sound of my acoustic with all the equalizer settings straight up at 12 o'clock. In this demo, when all the equalizer settings were at 12, the Fishman sounded rather dull and muffled. (It's hard to duplicate the exact sound one is hearing live via a recording... so many variables). I considered the Fishman Loudbox Mini when I was looking for an acoustic amp, but after listening to this and several similar videos, I decided to go with the Fender and so far, I've very pleased with it.
I agree that in this demo, the Fishman sounded better, but when the eq of the Fender was adjusted, seemed to me that the treble should have been raised and perhaps the mids a bit too. The two did not sound like they were matched eq-wise as intended. Could have also been highly influenced by the guitar as well. I see it is an Alvarez which usually come with elixir coated strings (if they were stock or stock replacement). For me, elixir are a bit too mellow and need some treble boost to suit my taste. I would like to try the Fender in a music store where I could tweak the eq more to my liking. Tase is a very personal thing. BUT hey, nice demo Rigos! Thanks.
Hi IM4 Tone - This is an Ibanez with D'Addario Phosphor Bronze, my favorite strings for their warmth. I believe this sounds a bit high pitched due to the piezo pickup on board. This has a built in Ibanez preamp. Not the best sounding guitar plugged in, sounds much better in the room. One thing I noticed is that the Fender was a trouble EQing. It just simply sounded very "electric" sounding. Even though I played with the settings, and perhaps because of the Piezo pickup in this guitar, it couldn't get to sound better. Maybe using a preamp like the TC Electronic Body Rez?
It is a Hall reverb. Specs below. Fender Acoustasonic 40 amplifier 2 Channel Combo Amp Features 40 watts of output power Two 6.5 inch Special Design full-range speakers with whizzer cones for enhanced high-frequency -response Two channels, each with combination XLR and 1/4 inch inputs for choice of instrument or microphone Three-band equalizer controls for each channel Digital hall reverb with level control for each channel
The only time I liked the Fender better than the Fishman was when you were finger picking the low strings. I do agree that Fishman's sound better when using an Acoustic guitar. The Fender sounded muffled. have a Fishman Loudbox Artist that I use for small gigs and as a monitor when I use my big PA system and I love it. You did a very nice and fair comparison.
I'm also considering one of the two. Your video was very helpful and informative. It seems like the Fender falls just a little bit short at this price point but louder. The Fishman seems to have a more natural warm sound to it.
Thanks for posting this. I am familiar with the Fishman sound and they do the best reproducing a true acoustic sound. I've never heard the Fender Acoustic amps and am tempted by the lower price. I love the Fender clean electric sound in their electric amps. I've played through a Blues Jr. and Blues Deluxe, a Twin Reverb, and a few others and they sound great. But I agree with you, they do not match the tone of the Fishman acoustic amps. Would love to see you test the Acoustic amp and/or another model of Fender like the Acoustic Jr. 100 watt or the new model of the Acoustasonic 100.
At last, someone who adjusts the EQ when comparing amps. The sound you get when you play through an amp with flat EQ is totally arbitrary -- the real test of an amp is how good you can get it to sound when you adjust the EQ. Thank you, very good review! Liked and subscribed.
If anyone wants the 100w version of the Fishman used in great shape, I am listing mine on Reverb today for low $200's - more power than the Fishman here and same great quality. Fishman Loudbox100.
I have not found the Fishman to be lacking in volume, and the tone is much fuller and richer. I have great confidence when performing with the Fishman. Never had that with the Fender
He didn't eq the Fender right (as you can see when he showed the panel). If you AB these two amps in person (as I recently have) the Fender is actually more natural sounding and musical.
Wow great test, thinking of buying an acoustic amp. In my opinion the Fishman sounds a lot warmer, fuller an natural. The Fender sounds thin, with a lot of mids and high's
I do have an Acoustic amp review (the "Acoustic" brand). That was much better than the Fender, but on par with the Fishman in some senses. See my channel.
Great job with this comparison man. You spoke nice and easy and gave a good run through of each amp. Also thank you for recording the video at 60FPS, looks so much sharper. Liked and subbed
I will be getting the Fender to try it with a multi-effect pedal and electric guitar while also with a mic simultaneously to see how it handles this. Glad you commented on the loudness of these comparatively.
No other acoustic amp sounds better than a Fishman. I have the Fishman Mini, and I use it at home and on stage for solos and as a monitor and it's natural acoustic qualities are top tier. No other amp even comes close.
I own both amps, recently purchased the Fender Acoustasonic 40, have had the Fishman Loudbox Mini for around 8 months and absolutely love it! I currently fly between two locations in different states and wanted to have an amp at my other location. I also keep my Fender Redondo Player Acoustic-Electric, which is a great playing and sounding guitar, at the second location. BTW for the money the Redondo is a nice playing guitar which also sounds great amplified!! I didn't want to have two of the exact same amplifiers because I'll eventually be relocating to one place. The idea of having two amps with slightly different character was appealing to me. I had no difficulty dialing in a sound on the Fender that is just as aesthetically pleasing as the one on my Fishman. What I found was helpful was to alternate between the acoustic sound of my guitar and the amplified sound, tweaking the eq until I got the as close as reasonably possible. I must admit I was a little bit concerned after ordering the Fender based on this review/ demonstration, but once it arrived my experience with the Fender was quite different and I'm really glad I purchased it! I also purchased the Behringer Ultra Chorus UC200 and that definitely gave me the one piece missing from the Fender. For $25 at Sweetwater it was a no-brainer (where I purchased the Acoustasonic as well)!
I agree, I own both and I dialed in a sound on the Fender I like as much as my Fishman, and I love my Fishman!. I think the key is not to try to match the exact sound but to listen to the specific guitar and amp combination and find the sound that you like specific to that pairing!
That's EXACTLY what I said. When you look at his settings, it's like he purposefully cut the tone pots to yield a worse sound. Was this done on purpose? Is this some paid influencer by Fishman? Who knows these days. I actually AB's these two amps in a store a few days ago. The Fender was way better (and I'm a sound engineer w the ears that go w that). He was also wrong (2x) when he kept saying that the Fender has spring reverb. It doesn't. It has hall reverb, and a gorgeous one at that!
Good point on the cabinet work like to know how you like the wireless and which do you use 2-5-6 ghz. By the way love the sound the ovation makes I play the 12 string myself with a orange crush combo.
Good comparison of the two acoustic amps. What I took away from it: for indoor/home studio use, Fishman ALL THE WAY-for outdoors/busking, Fender gets it done no problem. Personally, I'm a homebody so the Fishman automatically speaks to my soul there:::wink:::wink::: ;-)
🔵 thank you ❕ I'm not really sure this is a fair shake comparison as the Fishman is obviously a higher quality and cost amp ; it's also supposed to have 20 watts more power than the Fender 40 /? a better comparison would have been these two amps as they are in the same price category >> 🔵 Fishman Loudbox Mini with Bluetooth 60W Amplifier 🔵 Marshall AS50D - 2x25w 2 Channel Acoustic Amp
oh I see 😁 I'm looking online virtual comparisons and reviews for the Marshall AS50D which I may buy new it seems to be my top choice acoustic amp for the same price as the Fishman mini which would be second choice I picked up a fender acoustasonic 15 new off Amazon for ~100$ it's not bad at all , a nice sounding little practice amp ❕
Nice demo. I felt right from the beginning what you summed up. I am looking for an amp to use in my home and to have intimate gigs too. Doyou think this Fishman Loadbox Mini will do the job?
Both are good amps I play a twelve string guitar as well so I'm really use to that thin crisp ring the fender puts out what you really have to stop and think about is the sound you as a player are looking to produce the build of your guitar dictates its tone and sound acoustic that is and now you have to figure out what you want to do with that sound and what equipment is going to achieve this goal for you both of these companies have been in the business for decades and they know what they're doing take a tip from mister Eddie don't knock it rock it try different things to see what sounds good and works for you and at the end of the show brother that's what counts.so if someone wants to compare and say what's better show me a list of credentials of long years playing and building like some of our greatest players out there have done.enjoy the video anyway I enjoy the sharp crisp tone of the fender and if I wanted to mellow out that high octave of the 12 string the fishman would work so there it is it's still all about what you want
My big question is how do each of them do when the volume is turned up beyond 9 o'clock? At that setting neither unit is being pushed very hard. I play a Martin TK1 ukulele with a LR Boggs 5.0 pickup. I play with-out a pick. My Fender Acoustisonic 40 has the clearest tone I've found using 10, 12 and 2 o'clock on bass, mid, treble. But I need more through-put and the Fender starts sounding muddy before I get to 12 o'clock on volume. Wasn't enough to do a driveway gig in our neighborhood. I'm all in on a Fishman if the tone is as clear and if I can ramp up the overall volume without getting muddy. How does the tone sound with the volume at 12 o'clock or more? Any comments?
Too bad the Line Out on the Fender is an XLR, since in most cases, I'd prefer a 1/4 inch since the other end would go into a DI Box, although I do have a PRO CO cable that has one of each on either end of its cable. I have a Crate Acoustic Amp, 30w, for a long time, but now is starting to act up on me. It was two distinct inputs, one clean, and one with FX, and a 1/4 in Line Out.
Great video, unfortunately with all that work I did not see your guitar setting and pick up type mentioned. Was the guitar pre amp wide open volume, tone setting etc. But honestly great content a a thumps up !
Fishman every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Like you said, if you need volume, simply mic out that better sound to a PA and get the benefit of stereo (important)...or get two Fishman's. They also sell the Loudbox Artist. Put the speakers further away from you and on foam pads. Hard wood (tables and floor) and untreated walls can and do add too much echo- I can hear it even when you are speaking. You can even mic out that Fishman to a pair of studio monitors like the JBL MK II 5" (best bargain monitors period) or the amazing Sceptre S6's (even better but ~4x the price.) These nearfield monitors are best used for home or stage. Throw in a quality looper pedal and a beat buddy and you'll be Rockin! Nice playing too!
Which would you prefer an open back cab or a closed back. Seems like all the acoustic amps are really closed back combos. I bought an open back Pyle PVAMP60 w/ OD & Reverb. The clean channel is neutral & very PA System-like. As long as I don't engage the OD, it sounds true to the acoustic guitar instrument that I use, which is the Applause Ovation AE128. What I prefer about the Pyle, it's an open back 1x8 and is an ambient room filling amp that isn't that directionally, punchy bass one gets with the closed back cabinet. The open back from reads & explanations has a looser bass that exits the rear of the speaker and fills the room with the bass that the speaker outputs. The front of the amp is going to fill the room with the mids & highs. I originally bought the Pyle as a practice amp for an electric guitar, but it was $ 75 as brand new, I really couldn't expect that level amp to be one of the classic names in amps for electric guitar. I also use a wireless system with the Ovation and that provides the benefits of amplified & being plugged in with the freedom of being unplugged. Downside is the batteries need to be charged on the wireless. Either way, I'm just not spending the money on an acoustic amp that I would for the electric amp. I'll pay for a tube amp, but acoustic electric amp is solid state, really clean circuitry that has no tone, acoustic amps should be dirt cheap. I think what drives the MSRP price, isn't so much the electronics of an acoustic amp, but rather the furniture level workmanship on the cabinetry. And some of these less expensive acoustic amps don't even come close to the Acus or higher priced acoustic amps.
The Fender had too much mid range...maybe it could be made fuller sounding with a good EQ pedal. And the Fender 15 watt version has chorus but this 40 watter does not...strange :(
Can you use an electric guitar through the Fender? The answer is a resounding YES! Tried mine yesterday with my Zoom 3Gn Multi-effects pedal and the electric guitar magic came through loud and clear. Distortion, delay, compression, reverb, amp models, it was all there and rendered accurately AND with very good volume! And I plugged in my mic in the 2nd port and sang while playing over the electric guitar tones - truly amazing for such a small inexpensive amp!! 😀. Tried the same with my higher watt Fishman and it was much weaker (apparently it's tuned for only acoustic).
But why not just buy and electric guitar amp if you're so much into electric guitar. By the way Fenders Acoustasonic 150 has a dedicated channel for electric guitars with differentsimulation on welknown amp model. I have that amp. And it's ok for it's versatility but it's certainly not in the leaque of the Fishman soundwise if the primarily goal for you is the acoustic tone.
@@jimmyhansen5842 Understood Jimmy and thanks. I ended up getting 2 different sizes of the Acoustasonic and both render the electric guitar with the multi-effects pedal tones just great while also offering the ability to do the vocals in the other channel. I have a feeling the Fishman is EQ'd more closely for acoustic only and that's why the Fenders met my needs better.
The Fishman Loudbox Mini you're reviewing in this video does not have Bluetooth. Yes, the amp is available with Bluetooth at an extra cost, but the amp in this review does not have Bluetooth.
This was truly an unfair comparison. You give a price range and then pick an amp at the bottom of it, and an amp at the top of it (being about twice the price as the lower one). To be fair you needed to compare a higher model of the Fender against the Fishman. The Fishman is great, but for the price the Fender 40 is (imo) amazing.
Dude, you really didn't EQ the Fender right. I cringed when I saw your settings. Not sure why you did it that way but the when you AB these two amps in the store, the Fender is more musical and natural. Also, you mistakingly said that the Fender has spring reverb. It doesn't. It also has hall reverb.
Picking they both sound good. The Fishman sounds better when strumming. I have the Fishman Loundbox Mini Charge and the battery didn't last long. It also now has a weird whistling sound. I bought the Fender Acoustic Junior Go, and so far, no problems. By the way, how do you get more volume from the 40watt Fender over the 60watt Fishman?
My opinion is the same after hearing the Fishman making your guitar sound like I bet it does acoustically - not the Fender for sure. I was considering both prior to seeing this vid and had already bought a Fishman for 225 just like in the range that you mentioned. It sounded best on other reviews also. Solid honest accurate review. (omg Stairway...ha!)
I am a die-hard Fender-guy ( however ) the Fishman is on another-level in terms of Quality Acoustic Amplification. The only one ( perhaps better ) is AER? oNe LovE from NYC
I was sold on the Fishman after the first comparison clip. Well done video and thanks for helping me decide on which to get. Also your video would be even better if you invest in a lapel mic for your audio. Keep up the great content!
When you look at his settings, it's like he purposefully cut the tone pots to yield a worse sound. Was this done on purpose? Is this some paid influencer by Fishman? Who knows these days? I actually AB's these two amps in a store a few days ago. The Fender was way better (and I'm a sound engineer w the ears that go w that). He was also wrong (2x) when he kept saying that the Fender has spring reverb. It doesn't. It has hall reverb, and a gorgeous one at that!
So the fishman obviously sounds more natural to the guitar in my opinion. There is also the Fender Acoustic 100, which I would suggest checking out too. I was really looking for something with clean and natural tones, rather than a bunch of sub par effects or some other silly features.
I just sold my Fender Blues Jr III since getting a Fishman Loudbox Performer. The Fishman is twice the amp compared to the Blues Jr III. The Blues Jr III is a great amp, but the Fishman just has more everything. The Blues Jr could be my choice if I played different kinds of music than I do, but for me, the Fishman is just more versatile.
G'Day ... Have to say you have good talents/skills... Thanks for demonstrating with a really nice guitar... BUT ... I would NOT know your guitar was so good (Tonewise) if you ONLY played through the Fishman Loudbox AMP ... In fact, in a Shop (?) I would walk on by and not consider it as a Purchase option... It was the Fender 40 Watt AMP that allowed the true Tones of your guitar to come through... and ONLY then did I consider the worthiness of your guitar... Of course, YOU know your own instrument and reproduction qualities through each AMP... With the 'Loudbox (?) your guitar was muddy... With the Fender 40 Watt the Tones had clarity whether strumming, using pick or fingers... Am fortunate to have four Acoustic/electric guitars and ALL are different Tones to each other, Diff woods, Spruce, Cedar, Mahogany tops and solid or laminated etc... Yours is LOOKING Spruce Top (?)... Do have one 100% Acoustic too... (and some 100% electric guitars)... and so... am thinking you did NOT use the Controls properly with the Fender Acoustasonic 40 Watt ... especially after you adjusted each AMP after first 'Demo'... Am not criticizing or demeaning you, just sharing what I HEARD in this Review demonstration... Also. my very first assessment of ANY Acoustic guitar has nothing to do with AMPs and so would have picked up the true tones of your guitar in a Shop anyway... Nice One ! FYI... Yes, I have a Fender Acoustasonic 40 watt AMP and a VOX Solid State and a Fender Valve Blues Junior... Each to it's purposes... (and For BEST sound I use 20' & 30' Jack Leads, to get AWAY from the AMP)... Cheers ! ...🤠...
I should have explained. I recorded myself once and ran the output through a ditto looper for the actual tests. I do a better job at explaining this in my fishman vs acoustic video.
Very poor demo/review. You seem to be deliberately making the fender sound less good. You have too much reverb on the fender and have deadened the mix and lowered the volume. Very poor effort!
You were supposed to audition the two with the settings set at neutral. Changing the settings is not giving the auditioner a fair view!! That said, the guitar is kinda bland with little or no acoustic qualities.
Just picked up a fender acoustasonic 40 for 90 bucks and i was getting an idea whT to expect, you picked the fishman. :) I havent plugged in my acoustic yet , but thanks for posting.