Amplifiers

[Nancy Edwards]

I recently bought the K&K Big Twin pick-up for my Lyon & Healy Prelude 38, thanks to the post from Talfryn writing about it.
Now I’m hoping to get some recommendations for acoustic amps. On the same thread, Talfryn was writing about the Yamaha THR5A, and somewhere someone was mentioning a Roland mobile Cube. Does anyone have any other comments about these amps or recommendations for others, preferably $200 or under? The only music store in my (small) town has closed, so I can’t just go to a store and try out different amps, so I’ll have to order one untried from a website -maybe Guitar Center? I’d like to have confidence in the amp I choose before ordering one so I hopefully won’t have to return it.
Thanks!

[taras]

The Roland mobile cube is quite small and wont give you much extra volume. It may be worth going a step up and getting the Roland street cube. Do you need it to be able to run off batteries? If not, try the Roland Cube 30. I use dusty strings pickups and they sound better through the Cube 30 however that amp can not run on batteries.

[talfryn]

Hello Nancy and Taras
Yes Nancy I bought the Yamaha THR5A, but tried a few of the portable amps under 200 euros. The two which stood out were the Yamaha and the Roland mobile cube, the others seemed very cheaply made.
To my taste the Yamaha had the best reproduction of the sound of my harp, the Roland was louder, but it didn’t give me the same impression as the Yamaha, the harp I am using is 30 string nylon and the nylon emulation on the Yamaha amp pretty much just amplifies the normal sound. For me, in this mode, the harp sounds the same just louder. My wife, who isn’t a musician also preferred the Yamaha. In the group I play with the mandolin player uses the Roland Mobile cube and it works very with his mandolin.
I also bought rechargeable aa batteries and a cheap charger from Amazon, it allows me to just take it out of my bag and plug it to the instrument, without having to find a mains plug. It works off the mains also, but when I am with others I just want to play music, not fiddle around connecting things. we have enough to do tuning our instrument we don’t need other distractions☹️

[Paul and Brenda]

We have bought stuff online from Sweetwater Music. They are responsive to emails and offer helpful advice.

[Brandden Lassells]

If you do not need a battery powered amp, my recommendation is for the AER amps, very high fidelity.

[emma-graham]

Personally I was unimpressed by the Roland cube series of amps. I couldn’t get a clean sound. I use the Roland AC33 acoustic amp for mains free amplification. It’s a little bit above your price range but I picked mine up on eBay. It is absolutely brilliant. I use it with both acoustic harps (concert grand and lever in combination with the Fishman SBT-HP pick up) and with my DHC 32 electric harp.
I agree with Brandden about the AER amps. I use the compact 60 when I need more power. It requires the mains but is fantastic. They make a battery operated version but it is very expensive. Both are quite a lot above your price range but again, I got mine on eBay so it’s worth keeping an eye open there.

[chas.thomason]

There is a slightly more powerful Yamaha THR10C amp which is very portable and has built in reverb and chorus effects which can give depth and a wider sound to your harp. They have a dedicated‘Acoustic’ setting too. They would be plenty loud enough to use in a small group setting and if you were playing in a larger venue you could put a microphone in front of the amp and get a much bigger sound.

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