A.E.R. Alpha Combo

The AER Alpha 40Watt is a remarkable little amp, extremely compact, supplied with a nice fitting gig bag, very light, and portable and with sufficient volume for my needs. I play in a small jazz four piece (sometimes 5 piece), tenor sax, double bass, drums and acoustic guitar and piano. I use a little bug style pickup to amp my guitar, an Schertler Dynamic G pickup, which is attached to my 1940???s Selmer Maccaferri style guitar.

The sound I get from this set up is very good, only minor discolouration, but significantly better than my previous acoustic amp a Marshall AS50, a good amp none the less! I note I can only get about ?? volume or theirs about out of the AER amp before I have feedback issues and a little more by finding the correct distance and guitar position from the amp, this means that in my quartet/quintet setting guitar solos are audible but that???s about it, that???s probably a good thing in context to the bands style. Comping no problem. Recently I used my amp at a restaurant in my town and also the piano utilised my AER too no problems at all. Nice clean piano and guitar blend. However I???m still playing with the EQ settings to create the best realistic acoustic tone. An onboard feedback buster would have been great. Why did???nt they think of that? I could buy a separate feedback buster but that???s just one more thing I???d prefer not to carry around in gig situations. On my Yamaha Silent Classical guitar I can get a lot more volume out of the AER and it sounds fantastic through the AER. The onboard reverb is ok but not so useful for my gypsy jazz style of playing. I try and keep the reverb almost off.

Generally I prefer to play acoustically without any amplification at all which is why I use Maccaferri style guitars (they are loud guitars!), however I???ve come to think of amplification as a necessary evil. The guys in the band seem to prefer me to use an amp for better balance. Any way whilst this is an expensive amp the AER seems to be well built and typical of good German engineering. It???s small enough for me to ignore. I???ve heard mixed reports about this amp, bear in mind its only 40 watts so its not going to fill a stadium but if your playing smaller gigs like Bistros, Pubs, Coffee bars, small wedding functions, large rooms and the like it should be fine.

As I have stated on another review, I doubt there is any amp on the market that can truly replicate what your ear hears from an acoustic instrument via an electric amplifier. The AER comes pretty close. I see a lot of working pro???s using these little amps so they are popular albeit a little on the pricey side. I would no doubt replace it if it was damaged with the same amp, as mentioned already its nice and compact.


Present gear-Yamaha Silent Classical, Kenneth Roberts Classical and Gitane DG250M Gypsy Jazz.

Playing experience- 20+ years semi-pro, mainly Jazz/Big Band. Guitar, saxophone, and trombone in various line-ups, to many gigs to recall.

Good, clean acoustic sound reflected.

all those words that end in ible.

Not so hot.

Go buy one.

2 channel 40 watt amplifier. Both channels share the same eq and reverb. Channel 1 has a combi jack/XLR input and channel 2 a jack input. Also has a DI and line output and a fx send and return loop. Has built in reverb. I play in a lot of different kinds of venues and this little and very light amplifier (not many amps can be carried around on a shoulder strap) is great in every stituation. I've done big venues where it's been D.I.ed to the front of house PA system and it's been loud enough to complete against the monitor system on stage. Which sounds so much better than having your acoustic guitar sent back to you through the foldback, which at best is a horrible honky sound and at worse feedsback like hell. The more control guitarist have for their own sound rather than sound engineers the better I say!
The idea of the jack/XLR channel is so you can use a vocal mic through channel 1 and a guitar through channel 2. I was very dubious about this considering the global nature of the effects and the tone controls until I used the amp in this way recently at a very small solo gig (20-30 people) and it was brilliant. The guitar sounded great and the vocal sound was more than acceptable. I've used the amp in a band situation and it's been loud enough to compete with drums, bass and electric guitar. A neat feature the amp has is a mic adaptor on the bottom of the amp so you can screw a mic stand into the amplifier and use it as a amplifier stand, very handy. Personally I'd like to have had the controls on the front of the amp (rather than the top) so you can get to them more easily, but this a minor thing. Also came with a neat bag/cover (with shoulder strap!).

I'm using it with a Maton CW80 with a fishman rare earth pickup. I play everything from James Taylor finger picking stuff to jazz standards. The only real minius with the amp is that the D.I. output is noisy. When I've needed to be D.I.ed the engineer has used a regular D.I. box rather than the D.I. output on the back of the amp. The amp seems to have some sort of limiter built in, it's sightly noticible at higher volumes but not so much that it detracts from your playing.

Seems well made, I've had it 3 months, gigged a lot with it, no problems.

Never needed to deal with them

This is a good little amp. I'm still looking for the holy grail of amplified acoustic guitar sound, but this comes pretty close to it for me. Put this way, my Fishman Aura pedal is now surplus to requirements.

Made in 2005. Has a balanced and an unbalanced input. Has digital reverb. The features are very basic. Has an fx loop. Comes with a carrying case. For this kind of money, the focus is not on the bells and whistles. Did I mention it is very small?

I am using it with a Taylor DDM, which is like the 614 but with a short scale and a Baggs hex pickup. I got this amp mostly to play around with adding fx to the Taylor, which has an excellent sound unplugged. The amp is extremely uncolored. It is simply pure amplification, and it sounds very natural. It adds no character of its own. I think this is what I want in an acoustic amp. With a tube amp, I want it to display its personality in the most flamboyant manner, it is after all, forming a collaboration with the electric guitar. But an acoustic amp should be a devoted servant, and be as invisible as possible. Considering how well the Alpha performs this task, I cannot imagine what you get with the Acousticube III.

Seems exceptionally well engineered.

no contact

Been playing for 40 years. I mostly play electric, but still have an occasional hankering to play acoustic. I have owned the SWR Strawberry and California Blond amps, both of which are very good, although, I always thought the Strawberry brought something to the party the Big Brother did not have. Also had a couple of trace elliots. I like this as well as any of the other amps--and I don't dislike anything about the other amps. But this AER is really nice in terms of size and weight, so that is a major bonus. It is plenty loud for my purposes. Would not want to play a bass through it, but I would not hesitate with either SWR. For higher voiced instruments. the Alpha is terrific.

Brand new AER Alpha combo amp. 40 watts, which is plenty for what I play -- Jazz standards, solo guitar, with a D'Angelico archtop.
It has an 8" dual cone speaker, which sounds great. Features I wish it had were an on/off switch on the top panel, and numbers, instead of NO numbers, on the control dials. Comes with a really nice padded gig bag, since this thing is only 10 " square, and weighs about 14 lbs. Very basic, thankfully, and responsive control dials.

The sound of any piece of equipment is subjective. What will it be used for? I play solo guitar, low volume, with a spruce top archtop with built in Gibson '57 Classic pups. So for me, it is just right. Even though my archtop has built in pups and a tun a matic type bridge, you can really hear the woody sound thru this amp. The notes are very seperate and distinct, even with complex Jazz chords. Very even sound, very balanced. There is virtually no coloring to the sound, just a nice reproduction of what your guitar actually sounds like. If you have a crummy guitar, it may sound that way thru this amp, but a really nice guitar will sound really nice. Also, for such a small amp, it has a full sound. Very nice, and,as a surprise, the reverb on this little box sounds surprisingly full and lush. So, for me, the sound is just right - very clean and articulate.

Can't speak of the reliability issue too much, since I've had it about 5 weeks, but seems very well made. Really. This is German made, and it seems almost bulletproof. The cabinet is very well done, very nice fit and finish work. Seems to be an incredibly well made machine.

Have not dealt with the company thus far.

I've been playing music for over 33 years, and right now my D'angelico archtop and this amp are all that I use. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it right away. For a full, clean sound in a small package it simply cannot be beat. Love everything about except the fact that there are no numbers on the control dials, and I wish the on/off switch was on the top panel instead of the back of the amp. But, these are fairly small issues, and the amp really shines in the area that it is supposed to -- sound. it's shocking that such a nice sound can come from a ten inch square box.

I bought this amp new a few months ago for acoustic folk rock and country music. It has a guitar channel with reverb and a mike channel, effects loop, headphone jack, line out, DI out, footswitch for effects. It has plenty of equalization features. Plenty of power and easily plugged into the PA if need be. Extremely compact, light and portable.

I use it with a early 90's Guild DC5 with Fishman blend electronics. It is quiet, versatile, and has the best amplified acoustic sound I've ever heard. I've owned or used just about every acoustic amplifier there is, it makes them all sound like shoeboxes.

No problems so far.

No contact.

I've been playing for 30 years and have owned many electric and acoustic guitars and amplifiers. If this were lost or stolen I would buy another one the next day. Have compared it with just about every acoustic amp out there, it is absolutely the best. Dont waste your time with anything else.

Input 1: XLR/6,3mm combi jack. XLR-jack with 24V phantom power.
line/mic switch:
line: impedance 1MOhm, unbalanced,
mic: impedance 600 Ohm, balanced, voice filter 300Hz
phantom power is always on!
gain control

Input 2: 6,3mm jack, impedance 2,2MOhm, unbalanced
pad switch: -10dBV
gain control
colour switch for input 2: mid-cut treble-boost filter

Parallel effect loop
input: -10dBV/10k, can be used as line-in for CD-player etc.
output: -10dBV

Built in effect: digital reverb with control knob

Phones output: 6,3mm

Line-out: 6,3mm post master, 0dBV

DI-OUt: XLR jack, -20dBV, unbalanced despite of XLR jack!

Foot switch:
tip: built in effect on/off
ring: external effect on/off

EQ: bass: +/- 8dB/100 Hz
middle: +/- 3dB/550 Hz
treble: +/- 11 dB/10 kHz

Master volume control

clip LED: Limiter when input too high

power: 40W

speaker: 8' twin cone speaker system

weight: 6,5kg !!!

Body: 3/8" adaptor for microphone stand

Bag


I am missing a serial effect loop, the middle-freq control is poor, only +/- 3dB.
The unbalanced DI-out is disappointing.
The weight is fantastic, it is really transportable in public transport.

Well, I can only agree with all other submissions, the sound is beautyful. The colour-filter is the nicest I heard, though I never use it.
The reverb is also good, I use it.

Never had any problems, looks very robust.

Never had to contact them.

I would buy it again, Its 40W output is very sufficient. It's transportable and it sounds good.
I compared it with Marshall AS-50, some Peavey keyboard-amps and some active boxes. It was the best.
I didn't compare it with the Roland AC-60.

See the review preceding this one for features.
You might think 40 watts is too little. Nope. I've used this in a church playing with 500 people singing, and the volume was only up to three or four. I used it as a monitor and ran it into the P.A. system. The P.A. system had problems and that channel was turned down, but the amp carried everything without problem.
Features I wish it had? On/off switch next to the controls, instead of in the back.

The Alpha is utterly, absolutely, the very best acoustic amp I have ever used. The sound is simply perfect, a revelation. THIS is what acoustic guitars are supposed to sound like. (Simply follow the directions for adjusting the gain/volume ratio to get the best sound--it takes less than a minute.)

I've been using an SWR California Blonde and thinking that was IT. That's 120 watts, and it weighs about 40 pounds. The Alpha is a cube about 10 inches square, has 40 watts, has a nice protective gig bag, and weighs only 15 pounds. BUT it sounds MUCH BETTER than the California Blonde. Remember though that it's an acoustic amp. If I want a really smooth, fat jazz tone from my Godin Multiac Jazz or my Les Paul Custom, I turn to the Blonde. But if I'm travelling, or if I want primarily the acoustic side of the Godin, or my J-200, etc., it's the Alpha. The Blonde is the Cadillac of acoustic guitar amps. The Alpha is the Rolls Royce (but an extremely TINY Rolls Royce).

Seems solid as a brick.

The VERY BEST. If you have an extremely expensive guitar, you need this amp to show it off at its best. If you have a cheap guitar, you'll be surprised at how great it can sound.

I've been playing for more than 35 years. I gig quite often. I primarily use a Godin Multiac Jazz, a Les Paul Custom, and a J-200 with K&K Sound Trinity Western pickup system. Also a bunch of other guitars.

This is the new acoustic amp from AER. i was switched onto this company after seeing Tommy Emmanuel using another one of their models on stage. This is a 40W RMS acoustic combo with an 8 twin cone speaker.

The Alpha has two inputs. Input one takes line/XLR mic with 24V phantom power and a has gain control. Input two has a line input, pad switch for -10dB and a gain control. The second input also has a colour switch, which activates a mid cut slight treble boost.

Global controls include a master volume, clipping led and bass, mid and treble tone controls. The Alpha also has effects send and return, line-out and DI/XLR out, headphone out and footswitch for the effects loop and internal digital reverb. The switchable effects loop is a handy option for people looking to use loop/delay pedals.

The unit is nice compact size 260mm by 265mm by 235mm, weighs 6.5kg and comes with a handy padded gig bag with shoulder strap.

I run this amp with a Maton EBG808 Artist guitar that has an internal mic and piezo combination. The Alpha is very transperant and work quite impressively as a personal monitor. Taking the sound out to a mixer is also impressive, the line out includes the effects, the DI does not.

I have found I can control feedback quite well, even in a small resonant room without a feedback buster. The tone controls are very effective and help to complement the onboard guitar controls. The contour control works well and allows me to dial in more of the onboard mic, without the tone becoming to dominated by the midrange.

I really like that this amp just gives you more of your guitar's own sound. Near maximum volumes the tone becomes a little "ampish" and it lacks power to be on a loud stage. But for smaller work, or small venues, this is ideal. Nice and clean and very transperant, really only limited bytthe quality of your guitar's picup system

No problems. Very solidly built.

Again no issues. Instructions very clear and made it easy to dial in a good tone in minutes.

I've been playing guitar for nearly 30 years, most of that on acoustic. However, I have only recently come back in the steel string fold and this amp sound great for my needs. I wanted something that give me a little more sound for small cafe and resturant gigs as well as help me tame the onboard mic on my guitar. I can see myself using this amp a lot.