Behringer ACX Ultracoustic Combo

Bought the ACX late last year from a local dealer for 300 bucks. It plays acoustic instruments remarkably well if you know how to set the sound controls. 2 channels, one is suited for pre amped pickup systems, the other suited for a mike input. Digital effects with 99 presets and footswitching. The instrument channel has gain, 4 eq knobs, feedback notches and master out. The mike channel has similar controls although the eq controls are slightly different. There is a 'warmth' emulation circuit is not like the warmth most amp afficianados are interested in. There are bunches of line outputs, stereo effects send/return, tuner send and more.

This amp seems to be made to provide an all-in-one PA for coffee shops and even larger settings. What is missing from this amp is a mute button for the speaker. It would be nice to be able to record with this amp at night when my wife is asleep. Miked or line out to another PA, it really does enhance the sound of my guitar.

The feedback controls are mysterious circuits from Behringer, supposed to aid in canceling or notching out the freqency dictated by the feedback controls. I tried getting a better explanation about these controls from Behringer tech support and they could only give me a vague description of what these circuits do. I wish the feedback knobs were graduated in terms of Hertz, instead of a generic 1-10 scaling.

While it is cool that the effects are sent out in stereo through the woofers, I wish that the piezo was in stereo pair instead of the single one. I only noticed this after listening to Steely Dan through the cd in's on this strange animal of an amp. Steely Dan sounded remarkably good through the cd in's I must add.

This amp is heavy enough for me to wish it were lighter. I'm seriously considering adding handles to the sides of this thing to ease my roadies' back complaints. It has some awesome kick stands for leaning back in combo style. It seems solid in construction.

Ok, like I said, you need to know how to adjust this amp to make it sound good for your instrument. Right now, I play a Gibson Blues King with a Fishman preamped bridge piezo. Plugged into the instrument channel, my acoustic gets more character and projects much of the nuances available on an acoustic.

If you are having trouble with the sound of this amp, start with these settings: Gain 5, Low 5, Mid 5, Hi 5, Attack 1-2, Feedback1 1, Feedback2 1, Warmth 5. Respect the attack control. It can make your guitar seem ear piercing and harsh. Bring up the gain and the Low a little if you are still not completely satisfied with your instrument's tone.

The 'warmth' is not warmth in the sense of tube overdrive. Instead, it adds a sparkle to the upper frequencies and allows my higher pitched strings to project much better than they would otherwise. Soloing around the B and E strings is very nice with the warmth set on 6 for my guitar.

The digital effects are well done sonicly and they are just icing on the cake after its all said and done. I've just taken to playing with one of the reverb-delay effects lately and not even changing effects.

There is a noticeable delay/drop out when switching between the 4 presets. That has probably squelched some excitement over the effects. They are well done, but not something you want to play around with ultimately.

Sonicly, this amp really impressed me when I played Steely Dan Aja through the CD ins. Wish I could make it sound like that with my own axe!

Have had problems with the kick stand legs. I had to finally take it apart and reconnect the bolts. No problems with the electronics.

I emailed them to find out about the feedback controls. It took a couple mails, but someone eventually tried to help me. I'm guessing they need a qualified german translator to really get an answer, so you get the picture.

This amp has really improved my acoustic sound. I play in a band through a PA and this amp has really added to our overall sound. I do turn up the Low on it if the band is really playing loud. I usually don't turn the master up past 6. This is generally where I encounter typical feedback hum. I've got a feedback blocker but almost never use it with this amp. It gets enough volume without it.

I have barely used the mike input. I imagine I could get some solo acoustic gigs around town with a mike for vocal, my guitar plugged into this amp and a CD player for set break.

2x60watts stereo. seems to be made Dec. 2002. Two channels, mic, and more effects than I probably will ever need. footswitch for 4 programmable effects included. and so many I/Os. This amp includes all I need.

Tried it with an old Washburn Woodstock Studio, Fender Strat, and Flamencoguitar via mic. I am very pleased, even electric-guitar sounds clear and bright. There is a little noise at some settings, but certainly not more than I had with other amps, too.

It is nicelooking, easy to handle, well manufacured... with all the oportunities it offers, I doubt any other acoustic amp can beat it, especially if you look at the price.

Great features! This amp has more than most acoustic amps, and more than most of us need!

I was concerned with the sound before buying it. I purchased it from eBay so did not have the chance to try it out. I have tried out several other acoustic amps in the music store, but was unimpressed with most, especially the Fenders. I know that even if an amp sounds good in the store, when you get it home you can be disappointed (I was with my Fender DSP 90). But, this things sings! The acoustic sounds are rich and ringing. The feedback controls work great. The effects and the tube type sound are icing on the cake. AND, my electric guitars sound great through this thing also. Maybe I was just lucky, but this amp will provide all that I need for my acoustic and electric guitars!

It is built solidly, and I have had no problems with it yet. Based upon other reviews, I will have to wait and see.

I have not had to use customer support. Based upon other reviews Behringer is not very good. If they have someone reading their reviews (which they should), they had better learn to improve their service rating.

I have been playing off and on for over 30 years. I play mainly vintage rock and Christian music. I have had Fender amps, an Ampeg and a Vox. This Ultracoustic has replaced them all.

I was very excited when I saw this amp advertised!! I thought it would easily repace my Crate 125D. Read on.

This is the best looking, feature filled, but worst sounding acoustic guitar amp I've ever heard. And I've been at this for over 30 years!
This amp looked so good in the magazine, that I almost ordered it without listening to it. But a local store got some in and I took my Talor 414 KCE into the store to try it out. Well, I thought the amp was broken or defective because it sounded so bad. They brought out another one, same sound. Thin, thin, thin is all I can say! Other than I was so very disappointed... as I really WANTED this amp to be "the one". My Crate 125D, with it's own limitations, sounds a hundred times better than this rig. And I'm truly disappointed in Behringer! They do and can make quality products!!! I am almost sure that they will come out with "version II" of this amp within 12 months. And then they will have given it the "guts" it needs. And when they do, I will buy it... even if it's a $100 more.

Again.... too bad. It's the perfect box, features designed for a "single acoustic act" like I do. It's only lacking one thing... the "sound".

This amp can do just about everything, it has more effects than one would(or should)ever need. It also has more I/O's than I'll ever use.(cd / drum machine etc.) I can't possibly explain all the detailed features in this segment.(see Behringer website) The effects section is confusing to put it mildly, you have to dial in (from 1-99) what effect you want, (chorus/delay etc.)with one knob, and then tweak the depth with another, I prefer maybe, 6-8 effects selected by one knob. This amp has 92 too many.

Stunning, is the first word that comes to mind. This thing is a Pinto in a Mercedes body. I play a Taylor 414CE with a Fishman Prefix,and just flat can't get anything out of this amp that sounds close to good. I've tried countless combinations of effects and clean and effects to no avail. It sounds thin and hollow up and down. Maybe mine has a wire crossed or something, but it ain't right. As we speak, it's being boxed back up for shipment back to American Musical Supply.(I also returned a Behringer Gx210 combo last month for sounding like crap)

I will not have this long enough to worry about it.

Get This! The Behringer US office happens to be less than a mile from my house in Edmonds, Wa. I stopped by to get a catalog from them, and they seemed like super nice folks, In fact if any Behringer people are monitoring this site, maybe they could stop by my house for coffee, and tell me if my hearings gone south or something.( If that happens, I'll bump this rating to 10)

In the user's manual, Uli Behringer devotes an entire page trumping the time and effort put forth (He even cites individual engineers names)researching acoustic instruments nuances, prior to marketing this amplifier. It just boggles the mind that something that has so many features, and looks the part(it is beautiful!)can sound like nails on a blackboard. But I guess Yugo had engineers too. Like I said before, maybe I got a bad one, but two... I dunno. ...Unpluged in Seattle....

Brand new acoustic amplifier from Behringer. 60W/C stereo amp with both guitar an mic inputs (including phantom power) with separate controls for each channel. 99 digital effect presets with independent effect levels on each channel. Comes with footswitch to change among 4 progammable effects. Tube emulator circuit adds extra warmth. Rear outs/ins for just about anything! For the price, no other amp comes close to the features this puppy has.

I use an Ovation Celebrity 6 string with built-in electronics and a Guild 12-string with aftermarket Fishman transduer. Both sound wonderful through this amp, with or without effects. Some effects can be overwhelming -- keep the levels low. At the store there was some hiss, but at home it's silent. Must have had a poor ground at the store or something. Haven't tried cranking the master beyond 5 yet, so not sure about high volume distotion, but it's squeaky clean at lower volumes. The voice enhancer circuit is a nice touch too -- almost sounded like someone else was singing (grin).

Brand new, so no opinion yet. Seems solid.

Poor response to email inquiries, but I contacted the Canadian distributor on the telephone and the fellow I spoke with was courteous and exceptionally helpful. Two points lost for email problem though.

Been playing for 24 years, but this is my first acoustic amp. I have a baby Marshall for my electric guitar (Dillion - an awesome player). Given my limited experience, I'd have to say that this is a lot of amp for the money. If it were stolen I'd collect the insurance money and buy another. Compare it to other acoustic amps in its category -- looks like a deal to me!

This is a 2002 Acoustic Amp. Designed by Behringer in Germany and built in China (What isn't nowadays). This amp has two channels. 1 dedicated for instruments and 1 for microphone or other instrument. It has a built in effects processor with 99 editable presets. You can preset 4 of them and access with either onboard buttons or footswitch (supplied). It has every feature you could want with an acoustic amp. I just got this last month, so I am still experimenting with it. I use this amp as a bedroom amp, no gigging. It is a 2 X 60 Watt stereo amp with 2 8" speakers and a tweeter cone. It has a tuner output connection that mutes the output, so you can hook a tuner for quick on-stage tuning. It is solid state and has many many featues including effects loop, warmth control, MIDI control, 2 feedback controls/channel.

I use this guitar with a Hohner EA65CEQ and a Kramer Condor. This amp sounds fantastic with both of them. I fingerpick and also strum. It has some noise, but most amps have a slight amount of noise. My amp is pretty quiet compared to some. With the 99 preset effects you have a pretty awsome collection of sounds. Chorus, Delay, several Reverbs, Flanger, Tremolo, Rotary Speaker, and a Bypass mode that just gives you a sweet unprocessed output.

This amp arrived in great shape from American Musical Supply. Behringer gave me a 1 year warranty and AMS added another year to it. It is double boxed and has styrofoam bracing around the amp. Even UPS couldn't damage it. Like I said I don't gig, but for me it will last a long time. If you read reviews on AMS there are some of these amps that people had trouble with. However AMS just let them send them back and exchanged it for a new one. Mine arrived working perfectly. Maybe I am lucky, or maybe the only people that wrote into AMS were the people that had problems.

AMS is great at customer support. I asked Behringer a question about upgrading my Vamp2 and they responede fairly quickly. I haven't had any problems with any of my Behringer equipment, so I don't know how they would be.

I have been playing for 30 years on and off (more off than on). I have 8 guitars and two other amps (Behringer GX2212, and a Crate Stealth-50. If this amp were stolen I would cry a river of tears, find the bastard and kill him. I would by this amp again in a heartbeat. I did compare features when I bought this amp, there was no other amp that could match it for the price. It has everything you could want in an acoustic amp. I know it doesn't matter, but it is the best looking acoustic amp I have seen. I just wish it had a front on/off switch (how petty is that?). For the money I don't think you could find a better deal out there.