Acoustic Image Clarus

I'ts a Clarus 1 series III, made in 2006. Its has one channel with no effects, and gives 250W at 8 OHM. 2 speakon outputs can push it down to 500W at 2 OHM (depending on your speakers).
Send-Return which you can plug to an effect loop, and has a seperate volume knob. Excellent and important feature, especially helpful in connecting reverb effects.
Notch/Low Cut filters are not useful for me, but as explained in the manual they become more helpful when connecting an acoustic guitar which produces lots of feedback that this filter can block.
Mute button is a nice and useful feature also.
Sometimes i wish it had its own reverb effect (like the CLARUS 2R) but then again, its best to make your own adjusment and preferences.

This amp is DRY, doesnt gets overdrived no matter what you do, excellent choice for playing jazz guitar.
You can actually play all types of chords, even the most tensioned ones, in the lowest set (6-5-4-3) and you will not hear muddy and blured sound. Simple PURE and extremly ACCURATE.
I play jazz, and its perfect for it. I was a tube fan for 10 years untill i discovered this beauty 2 years ago and thats it. I plug it to a .
My setup (as for now...)is Gibson ES137 Custom--->OD3--->ND1 NOVA Delay --->CLARUS--->Raezers Edge 12" Stealth speaker.
LXP1 is connected in the Send/Return loop ("opens" the sound), and i get a fresh, natural, accurate and clean sound.
This amp brings the true sound of the guitar, without distorting it or mess with it. Hollow body and semi hollow guitar will sound like its supposed to be.

Nothing, and its been traveling here and there...

Where i come from, we dont have this quality products, so i needed to but it from USA and to be sent overhere.
I was buying this amp from acoustic image and talked directly with Rick, which helped me alot. He shipped the AMP overseas in ten days, and didnt charge too much for all the trouble. Very helpful and kind.

Playing for 14 years and syill havent heard anything like that. Beats the Polytone in any catagory, and no comparison to other solid state.
I spent 5 month in searching untill i found this amp, thanks to some friend who also owned it, and if it gets lost I WILL buy another one without even thinking about it.
Very light, reliable, simple, easy to operate, dry, clean, cool look and sounds like heaven. What else could i wish for?

2007 Clarus 1, series III. No reverb. Preamp, notch/cut filter, effects loop, and class D power amp. All in a small package.

I'm largely a jazz-oriented guitarist, although I dabble in bass a bit. (A friend of mine has been using this head occasionally for his rock band, in addition).

This is, of course, a transparent solid-state head that is designed to accurately reproduce the tone of any instrument plugged into it. It is not designed to produce any sort of overdrive, nor will it respond like a tube amp in terms of dynamics. If you want a tube amp, buy one. (I have several, and appreciate them for their sonic virtues. However, they also weigh a ton!)

The effects loop is a work of beauty. I use it with a cheap digitech digiverb pedal. I do have a TC electronic g-major, but I opt for the digitech pedal out of a desire for simplicity. The loop is parallel, so you can max out the reverb on the digitech unit, and feed a little bit of it back into your amp for color. Parallel loops are not standard kit on many high end tube amps (CAE, Rivera), so this is a nice feature that means that you don't have to add a line mixer or loop box. (ie: radial bigshot mix). It is also buffered beautifully. I can use it with a wide range of effects, at widely differing gain levels.

As for power levels, the amp provides hundreds of watts into a variety of speaker loads. On one of my Ear Candy 1x10 cabs - (sporting a 96db eminence gamma speaker) - I get plenty of volume for rooms and cafes.

However, in larger rooms or with a loud band, you are going to need a bit more volume. To that end, you can run a) higher sensitivity speakers, or b) more speakers.

In addition to the 1x10s, I have two Ear Candy 2x12s, each outfitted with speakers that offer > 101db sensitivity. I just subbed in for a guitarist in a worship service last night, and let me say that a 2x12 cab running EVM12Ls puts out an AWFUL lot of volume using the clarus. And clean, too! (It is much easier to amplify distorted sounds, which is why you can peel paint of the walls with even a moderately priced rock amplifier). I did not need to take the amp up above 25% of its power before people were glaring.

One great thing about the clarus is that it sounds good at low volumes. Great for recording. You'll have to push it pretty hard to encounter break-up. But I have (as opposed to some reviewers) managed to hit this point with just an electric guitar. It happened at about 7.5 on the master, running into the 1x10.


What else....I LOVE the fact that it has speakon jacks. Thank god. I wish more guitar manufacturers would shift to these.

I would like a presence knob. -1 points for that.

The clarus is a clean machine. It has a very VERY warm tone, for a solid state amp. My jazz guitars sound great through it. My solidbodies sound great through it. It will accurately reproduce the sounds of acoustic and electric basses. (in fact, my friend had to radically eq his ibanez SDGR bass when using it, since the amp showed the ibanez for what it was.. a metal-oriented bass with a tinny, metallic sound)

However, I have to take issue with people who say that the clarus sounds like a tube amp. It does not.

One of the major selling points of a tube amp is the way it responds to a) playing dynamics, and b) being driven past the point of linear operation. (ie: overdrive). When a tube amp overdrives, it reinforces the sound with relatively pleasing harmonic frequencies. Hence, the kind of warm tone that you get from pumping a guitar signal into a low-wattage amp. Blues players, among others, thrive on searing power-amp overdrive. There is also a place for it in modern jazz, where power amp clipping can be quite effective in moderation - particularly where the tube amp is dialed in to overdrive only when the strings are pushed hard. (You get a 'dirty clean', where low volume playing offers a clean sounds, turning to a warm, subtle overdrive as the player increases the strength of his picking).

This amp simply cannot venture into that territory. Overdriving it does not result in the same sort of warm overdrive, and the responsiveness to playing dynamics is not the same as offered by a tube amp. (Hint: It is not a tube amp!)

What it does provide is incredibly warm, clean sounds at high volumes. It won't give you the sort of spanky, shimmering, cutting clean of a fender twin or bogner shiva, but it really does an astonishing job of reproducing the sound of the instrument. For mainstream jazz guys who use archtops, this amp is probably a godsend. It also sounds great with strats and solidbodies, provided you aren't after breakup.

This is, for instance, the only amp I have ever found that can make my rainsong jumbo - (graphite construction, fishman preamp) - sound warm. It sounds tinny on most PA systems. With the clarus, it is full and rich. Plus you can play any instrument through it. (Try playing bass through a fender twin!)

It also responds well to pedals. My pedal board is largely overdries, eqs, modulation effects, and a compressor. The clarus does a wonderful job with these effects. The overdrives in particular result in a very warm tone. (Although, as mentioned, you cannot get power amp distortion out of the amp. boost pedals that are designed to push tube amps will be of no use here).

I don't tend to use the onboard eq, to be honest. I typically eq outside with a pedal. And I have never used the line out. The filter/notch is also highly useful. I tend to use it to get rid of bass frequencies that can cause feedback.

Utterly dependable. We have played 30 performances on it, with a variety of guitar and bass cabs.

I have emailed Rick at AI several times for technical details, and he has always gotten back to me promptly.

I have never tried to obtain a repair, however. Hence I will abstain from rating this

I have been playing on and off for years. (more off than on lately!) All of my gear is reliable, pro-level kit. Jackson USA electrics, a hofner verythin, rainsong and carillo acoustics, CAE/Suhr OD-100, VHT and Mesa amps/poweramps. Lots of effects, including diamond and TC electronic.

The acoustic image clarus is a top-notch piece of gear for professionals. It is not a tube amp substitute, but rather a transparent solid-state amp with incredible fidelity and warmth. It weighs 5lbs - (which is probably 60 less than a rivera knucklehead reverb. Try lugging that around public transit!) Add a 99 dollar reverb pedal, and you are set for jazz guitar tones. (or shell out on a Room-mate tube reverb, if you want to make it even better)

If stolen, I would replace it immediately. It is so handy for rehearsals, pounding around town, and for small gigs. Pair it with a good cab.

I have the 2R version of this amp. It has all the features I need, including a good reverb. It is a great size, and also has a microphone input.

I use this amp with a Raezer's Edge cabinet and the sound is excellent. Very warm. Sounds great with my various archtops and with a 335. The amp sounds great with "flat" settings; it's hard to get a bad tone..

Built like a tank. No problems so far.

I've never used customer support.

I have been playing for over 30 years and have lots of high end gear. This is my primary amp. If it were lost or stolen I would most likely get a new one; however, I also would check out some other brands, such as Jazzkat.

The amp was made in 2006. The Clarus 1, played through either of the Raezor's Edge Stealth 12ER or the Raezor's Edge NY8 cabinets that I use, is the best sounding archtop jazz guitar head I've ever heard - better than my Polytone, better than my Gibson Goldtone 15R. The Clarus 1 has a 3 band EQ, a notch select filter, and that's it - and it's wonderful. One Channel, 400 watts.

I'm giving this head a 10 because it does everything I wanted it to do. It's got almost no features, but the features that it has a dead-on perfect.

I've used this head with a Martin CF-1 archtop, a Gibson L-5 with Benedetto pickups, a Fender Strat with Joe Barden pickups, and with a Yamaha Electric Piano - all to play jazz. The head is extremely quiet and will not distort at any volume. Perfect for jazz - extremely clean, robust tone.

I haven't had this amp long enough to know.

Haven't needed to repair this amp.

I've been playing jazz guitar for 34 years, through all kinds of tube and solid state amps. This head is unbelievable - it's light (around 5 pounds) and powerfully loud when you want it to be, has unbelievable tone - it's a perfect head for my playing style. I've even becom a believer in the eccentric speaker cables used with this thing (one of which is supplied, and others of which can be obtained.)

Mine is a Clarus 1. No reverb. Hi and Lo inputs, pre-level and master, 4 band EQ. FX loop with mix control and notch filter are useful features to have on board, even though I don't use them at the moment.

Beautiful sound quality. Gorgeous clean tone. I use a Tele with Lollar pickups (Charlie Christian/neck + Special/bridge) and I play some jazz, funk, acid and pop with pedals for o/d, compression, auto filter etc. I set the EQ flat and that's that.

I run the amp through a Raezer's Edge Twin 8 cabinet... very loud and warm. Great combination, as many others have discovered.

Build quality is top notch. Small, compact, easy-to-lug design. Even comes with a spare fuse, how thoughtful! Manual is well written too.

Haven't needed it, but the website is very detailed with lots of information.

I'm extremely satisfied with this great amp in every sense. I'll probably never outgrow it. This amp through a RE cab is IT as far as I'm concerned... loud, warm, clean, clear, sounds great with flat EQ. Not expensive considering the sound quality - very good value.

I sound like myself through it - that's the bottom line!

My model is the Clarus IIR, which includes a mike channel and reverb. This is a solid state amp - my first solid state guitar amp.

The amp is surprisingly diverse and powerful. It sounds good on vocals (with a Neumann KMS 105, which is smooth and wonderful).

The amp sounds great for jazz, standards and country. In other words, tones that don't need tube overdrive. I use a cheap overdrive pedal, which is OK, for those sounds.

Main use is with an archtop, but a strat sounds surprisingly good and "tube-like". I've noticed a strong difference in chords with this amp- I couldn't say I was 100% happy with the tone until I added a Klotz patch cable. The cable difference was as significant as changing strings.

One limitation that I didn't anticipate was the sharing of vocal and guitar in the same amp. It's tricker to get the sounds of both right, mostly since both are going throught the same speaker. Vocals want a tweeter, and guitar sounds better without. With coax "PA" speaker, the guitar sounds less like an amped guitar, and more like an amplified acoustic guitar. This doesn't seem like a fault of the amp, though. It's just a reality of voice vs. guitar, and the guitar sounds we expect to hear.

It hasn't given me any reason to doubt it.

This amp covers an impressive amount of ground. For archtop jazz I think it's near perfect, and it's less than 10 lbs in it's gig bag.

Got a new Clarus 300IA in '02 for vintage acoustic German bass w/Underwood pickup. Hooked to a Raezer's Edge Bass 10 cab, it brings out everything that the bass could possibly deliver. No reverb, no notch filter. Don't need 'em, don't want 'em. I like the flexibility of the Clarus head (as opposed to a "combo") as I can hook it to different types of cab's. Tend always to set it "flat" - all controls at 12 o'clock, sometimes the volume and master volume get bumped to 1 o'clock. Will patch it into a PA system via the "Send" output or XLR-Out if I need more presence in a large room.

Recently upgraded from a 30 year old Underwood to a Shadow transducer pick-up. What was good only got better. The amp brings everything out of the instrument and maintains a natural sound. That's what I want for jazz: no effects, intended or unintended. Bass, mid's, and high's can be controlled perfectly. The amp runs perfectly silently. There is no distortion. Ever.

As long as the voltage provided by the electrical service is adequate, the amp will run perfectly. On two occasions out of the 400 or so gigs played through this head, the voltage provided was inadequate and the AI cut out. Both times, it was on an outdoor gig where the amps for the guitar, keyboard, sax, as well as the PA system all tapped off of a 100' 16 ga. extention cord. The cord couldn't deliver the necessary juice.

Response to my two or three technical inquiries have been immediate (email), courteous, professional, and effective. Each time, they came from the company president and chief engineer, Rick Jones.

25 years on the jazz scene in the NY metro area. Recently bought a new Clarus SL and relegated the 300IA to back-up status. The SL gives me an additional 50 watts into 4 ohms over the 300IA and, at 4 pounds, actually weighs 30% less than the 300IA. Audiophiles among the listeners say it offers perceptibly higher fidelity than the older model. I love both models. Yes, I'd consider myself a loyal AI player. I think it is this generation's Walter Woods. Actually, I sold my Walter Woods after I got the first Clarus.

I have the 2R, the dual channel model with built in reverb. Ultra compact, cigar box sized, also featuring notch and noise filters.

I use this with a variety of semi-hollow and solid body guitars, most frequently and es-335. I run it through an Ear Candy sovereign 112 cabinet. It really sounds great; i ditched years of heavy tube amps in favor of the Clarus. Although there is a noticeable difference between this and a tube amp (obviously), the soudn quality is great, silent and suprisingly warm and punchy. The built in reverb is superb.a

super reliable. However, the only thing i could anticipate being an issue is the unusual speaker cable jack, which is hard to find if lost or damaged. Also, you must be really careful to plug this in to the cab AFTER the power source is attached., or you could blow it out.

Never had to worry about it. So far so good.

I have been playing for 16 years, and like I said, have used every vintage tube amp under the sun. I chose this setup because I needed something that wouldn't dislodge my spine every time i picked it up, as well as be temperamental in different weather conditions. This was just the thing.

This one is an older model, I bought it about 3 years ago from Lemur music. It comes in a very nice Rok-Sak bag, and includes a speakon cable and nice heavy duty power cable. This amp is 100 watts rms@ 8 ohms, 200 @ 4 and 300 @ 2 ohms, manufacturers ratings. The amp has one channel, two inputs, effects loop, input impedance switch xlr direct out, and a dual voltage switch for international use. I use this amp primarily for upright jazz gigs, with an old carved German bass, and Underwood pickup, through an Avatar 1-12. It never fails to get a killer tone, and positive comments on the sound from other bassists, and band members. It is plenty loud, at 100 watts, with the 8 ohm Avatar cabinet- tweeter turned off. I have used this head with a single 15 4 ohm folded horn, in a large club, with a big r&b band, and the soundman said grudgingly, it was as loud in the back of the room as it was on stage. I loved hearing that. I haven't used two 4 ohm cabs yet, to get the full power rating, but I bet it smokes. I have also flown to Vegas, and put the head in the accesory compartment of my gig bag, carried it on the plane and put it in the overhead! I love Southwest Airlines! How's that for convenient? I'd like more power, and Acoustic Image has just released a much more powerful head. They also have a tiny, new switching amp, 350 watts, and it weighs like 3 lbs. Wow, technology!

This amp produces a clear, well defined tone. Although it is not very powerful, it is a high quality amplifier. It isn't for very loud rock and roll gigs, but it gets loud with bigger cabinets. The knobs are simple and work effectively, no fancy eq here, just the basics. It works great with either electric or upright, but it was designed with string bassists in mind.

No problems so far, looks like a well engineered amp.

I haven't needed it so far.

I have a lot of amps and cabinets, and this amp fills a void in the aresenal, a light, great sounding, reasonably priced rig for upright bass. If it were stolen, or lost, I'd get the new focus head, with more power. I wanted a Walter Woods, but who wants to spend 1 or 2000 dollars, and wait a year? This amp isn't just a poor man's alternative, it's in a category of its' own.

This is a Clarus 1R series II head. I enjoy Straight ahead, fusion, Bossa Nova, funk and blues. Up to this point all the reviews have been on the straight ahead and amplified upright bass sound. Considering my interest, I need an amp that can address other venues as well.

The standard features on this amp (go to website for details) are sufficient for my purposes.

I play various guitars, from Jazz archtops, semi-acoustics (335 / variations of), Les Paul types, Strats and etc. The straight ahead tone speaks for itself, so I need not re-address that point. Other reviews will substantiate that.

What blew me away is how good it sounded with a strat and a 335, in a blues fusion type setting. The amp EQ'd "flat" is fairly dark. The mid control also imparts quite a bit of effect on the upper mids and lower highs. I'm currently running the amp through a Raezer Stealth 12 cabinet. By reducing the bass and mids while increasing the treble, one can dial in some pretty nice tones for a strat and 335. The one adjustment that made the biggest difference for me was setting the pre-amp gain at 11-12 o'clock. This immediatelely opened up the sound dramatically. It added more depth and width to the sound. More importantly, it added compression, sustain and snap to notes. I was truly amazed at how good my 335 and strat sounded.

Now for the icing on the cake. I added a Texas Two Step Od pedal (by Pedalworx), set at low compression, gain at 9-10 o'clock and the result was similar to Larry Carlton's vintage tone. Think Crusdader days..."So Far Away (old Carol King tune)." The OD tone was huge, smooth and still sounding like your guitar with nice sustain.

Throwing in a modified (by the Analogman) TS9/808 Silver pedal and plugging in a strat, you can easily dial in the SRV type of vibe.

The only mild drawback is the amp is still very clean sounding when the OD pedal(s) are not engaged. If you're comparing with a good tube amp, this will be evident. I'm in process of trying an OD at very low gain settings to see if it will add a bit of grit to the clean tone.

Aside from this, the clarus is capable of producing some very convincing, blues / fusions type tones, whether clean or overdriven with a good OD pedal.

I purchased the amp used and have not had any problems with it yet.

Have not nad a need to contact customer support yet

I've been playing for over 30 years and own tons of gear. This is definitely a keeper. I still love a good tube amp, but for a small light weight package, this can't be beat. It covers all the styles that I'm interested in and does it quite well.

The key message I want to share is, this amp is extremely versatile!