AER Compact 60

The AER Compact 60 is a 19-pound clean amplifier designed for reproduction of acoustic instruments. It works well with my Koll DL guitars and my fingerstyle playing. This design has been in production for a while. I'm reviewing a "Rev 2" version which was probably manufactured in early 2008.

The Compact 60 has two channels. Channel one has a three-band equalizer, a sensitivity switch and a contour switch. Channel two has a combo input jack (mic w/ phantom power and 1/4") and a two-band EQ. Each channel has a clip indicator.

There's a built-in FX processor with four programs: warm hall, bright hall, chorus/reverb and flanger. Rear-panel jacks accomodate an external FX unit while the top-panel effects pan control determines the mix of internal and external effects on each channel. At the extremes of the pan control the internal FX are routed to channel one and the external FX to channel two, or vice versa. When the pan control is centered, the internal and external FX are applied equally to both channels. You can plug in a standard two-button footswitch (with stereo plug) to individually cancel the internal and external FX.

Note that the external FX loop is a parallel loop. If you run a digital effect unit in the loop, you'll want to be sure that it has the capability to kill the dry signal. Otherwise the latency of the dry signal through the external processor will combine with the direct signal inside the Compact 60 and create a comb filter effect which will make your instrument sound "hollow" or "metallic", depending upon the magnitude of the latency.

Additional rear-panel jacks accomodate a tuner and headphones. A 1/4" line-out jack taps the signal path after the master volume control, while an XLR DI jack is post-EQ but pre-FX.

An IEC jack accepts a stardard detachable power cord. The combination jack/switch/fuseholder conveniently holds spare fuses.

The Compact 60 lives up to its name with a spatter-covered cabinet that measures 9 by 11 by 13 inches. Yes, that's less than a cubic foot. Our cats sniff everything new that ends up on the floor; I was a bit surprised to notice that the cats are bigger than this amp. A photo below shows the Compact 60 with a Peterson StroboFlip tuner sitting on top.

Since portability is such a big deal with this amp, AER includes a carrying bag that has three ample (at least relative to the size of the bag) pouches for carrying cords and other gig essentials. A cutout in the top of the bag allows access to the amp's handle. A strap lets your shoulder take some of the weight for longer carries. I carried the amp without strap for about a half-mile with only minor discomfort. Walks of several blocks from car (or bus) to gig should be no problem. Just to emphasize the point, the AER in its case weighs almost exactly what my Koll DL - which is not a heavy guitar - weighs in its hardshell case.

I play whatever comes to mind. No specific genre or artists. It's pretty much all improvisation. I use a lot of fingerpicking and voice leading.

The Compact 60 sounds good. It's warm like my Fender Jazz King but has a bit more detail at the 12:00 EQ settings. The tone controls are voiced well for for guitar. With sixty watts of clean power and a 96 dB/watt speaker sensitivity the amp can play plenty loud. A contour control on channel 1 emphasizes lows and highs to make the amp sound fuller at lower playing volumes.

Of course, no one can cheat the laws of physics. There's a reason for big speakers and high-powered amplifiers: the ability to reproduce deep low frequencies at high SPLs. You'll be disappointed if you expect to get a lot of low-end "thump" out of the Compact 60 at high volumes. I suspect (based upon a reading of the manual) that a built-in limiter will probably prevent damage to the speaker if you occasionally try to push the amp beyond its capabilities. For intimate solo gigs, though, the Compact 60 should deliver plenty of undistorted headroom.

I've owned this amp for seven months and have had no issues.

I don't expect that I'll need to contact AER for support.

I started playing many years ago, quit for about twenty years, and have been playing "seriously" for almost eight years since I started again.

This amp sounds great, but its strongest feature is the low weight and compact size.

I played a number of similar amps before buying the Compact 60, including a selection of Genz Benz acoustic amps, a couple of Acoustic Image amps, a Polytone and a Schertler.

The only feature that I would add to the Compact 60 is a pre/post switch and a ground lift switch for the DI.