Fishman Loudbox 100 Combo

After copious amounts of review reading, I took the plunge for the Loudbox 100, after trading in my Roland AC-60. The feature set for this little beast is superb. Great onboard effects. I'll use this for acoustic rock in small venues where it will serve as PA. I have no doubts whatsoever it's up to the job. I may load some backing tracks onto my Zoom H2, and use those as well, through the aux input on the back. The feedback control works well, and a decent condenser mic rounds out a wonderful full (and yes, LOUD if you want it) sound. Re: the feedback control: be aware that this is, in effect, a freq. filter, so your sound will change fairly dramatically as you sweep through the bands.

I've played both my Guild F-45ce, and Taylor 814ce through it, and it truly shines. It is a little colored, but crystal clear. It also pumps out wayyyyyy more low end than you're going to believe.

The Effects (Reverb / Chorus) are not extensive in types, or ability to fine-tune, but they're more than adequate for my purposes.

My style is mixed strum and fingerpicking. The format is alternative acoustic: Originals, Jazz, blues, and acoustic rock.

The amp is very quiet, which matters in small venues.

Just purchased, so too early to tell how reliable it will be. However, I live less than an hour away from the Fishman company, and have dealt directly with them before, so I have no worries, whatsoever, should an issue arise.

Fishman tends to vigorously support their products, unlike many manufacturer's in this space. If you have to deal with them directly, you'll likely to find them as responsive as any company you've ever called (or more...).

I'm a long time pro (40+ years performing). I also own a Strat, and Gretsch County Gentleman, and a Washburn HB-30 (ES-335 clone). Amps include a Vox AC-30, a Peavey Valveking, Crate Palomino. Plus a bunch of PA and recording gear.

As for comparisons to other amps - I'm a 'way too busy' guy at the moment, and didn't have time to A-B a bunch of amps. I knew that my Roland AC-60 was no longer meeting my needs, so just read a bunch, online on all manner of acoustic amps (including this site), and took a gamble on the Loudbox, based on very positive reviews, small footprint and lightweight, considerable power (volume), and nearness of the manufacturer (should I need support).


Base on my initial experience, I would replace the Loudbox, if it were stolen or destroyed. It's not a cheap amp, but it truly delivers on its promise of clean, nice, loud acoustic guitar sounds.

Bought this about 6 months ago. Continually impressed with it. I play a lot of finger-style samba-ish stuff on a nylon string acoustic, and this amp really shines in bringing out the volume and true wood tones of the instrument. I also play a big hollow-body archtop (jazzbox) through it while playing with a drummer and bassist and it gets a very nice tone out a fender jaguar I played through it too (though the tone settings are way different of course). The XLR input for vocals is great, and you can control reverb levels on both, though you can't have different reverbs on each channel. It gets a very nice warm vocal sound too. Great for practicing your singing, it gives you a good idea what you sound like amplified and is fantastic for small clubs or house parties/jam sessions. It's worked fine in medium sized clubs too, as the direct outs make life easy for soundmen who want to put you through the PA. Not many bells and whistles as far as tone, just a very tru acoustic tone comes shining through, perfect if that's the tone you want. It's very versatile for it's size, and does pack a punch (though I put it on a chair or something when playing with the band - granted we're not a terribly loud band). The tweeter controls are dandy, and the aux input worked well for my ipod. For a little while I was using it as my speaker system for my ipod until I realized during Strawberry Fields that it doesn't play in stereo. Oh well. I use this for practice, and for all my gigs, which are never in huge rooms, but like I said, it plugs into a PA effortlessly.

I play my classical guitar through it with a fishman piezo pickup, and I only had to fiddle with the knobs for a short while before I got a great tone -- warm and woody -- that suited me. Despite the anti-feedback controls I do get feedback once in a while, depending on the room it can be worse -- but I know my classical is prone to feedback, so... probably not the amp's fault!
When I play my jazz box with a humbucker, I have to turn up the high end and mids to give it some bite, but it is very clear-sounding, picks up the low-end of my guitar great, and hardly feeds back. When it does feedback it is very easy feedback to control, that's due to the fact it's an archtop with floating pickup.
Nice reverb sounds. Overall i would love to also have a tube boutique amp for my archtop, but I'm not made of money, and this amp is so versatile. It is great with acoustic guitars, and is very clear when using my electrics too. I could use it to mic up a horn player on stage, or whatever, and it sounds great -- it doesn't color the natural tone of guitar or voice whatever, just amplifies it! Very warm tone for solid state.

Have had no problems. It's been very dependable, it seems very well built, like a tank. I can't stand borrowing other people's amps any more, I've become very attached to its sound, and its size and portability too (though it is quite heavy for being so small -- very dense!)

Have no experience with customer support, knock on wood!

For what it is, it does everything it sets out to do very well. I forget how much I paid, but it was roughly $600. It's not cheap, but you will quickly appreciate how well-built and intelligently designed it is. A lot of important details are there, and no extraneous bells and whistles to murk up what it does best : accurately amplify the acoustic properties of your instrument or voice. It's very clear, very low hiss sound. I am continually impressed by this box, have played at least 10 gigs with it and missed it terribly when I didn't bring it with me. If you play acoustic instruments or even want to be a mini-PA system of guitar and vocals, this will be a good one to have around... it's not only an amp for acoustic guitars, that's for sure. It will get a lot of jobs done. I tried out a little comparable Roland which was even smaller, and sounded great -- but the volume simply wasn't there for me. Fender acoustic amps didn't do much for me, but these things are subjective. There are other excellent comparable amps out there, I am sure tons of them are great, but all I can say is I've had no buyer's remorse and am continually impressed by this little beast! If you're looking at some cheap-o acoustic amp you might be well-served saving up for this, or the next size up of the loudbox, or some other comparable acoustic amp like the SWR blondes. You'll hear the difference, of course, and the quality is so much better.

I play the flute (for over a decade, as well bass and piccolo) and an Akai EWI 4000s using this amp. For the flutes I use a Neumann KMS 105 microphone.
This amp is equipped with two separated channel stripes. One is suited for Microphones
offering XLR-input with 48V phantom power. Both have a symmetric jack input, -10db pad. 3 band-eq, anti-feedback, phase-shift and effect level. Furthermore each channel offers symmetric effect send and return jacks and a XLR di-out. So I use to run the flute microphone through one channel and the EWI through the other using the -10db pad.

The anti-feedback is based on a notch filter but for me it just doesn't work. I tried with many microphones like Shure SM58, Beta58 some AKG condenser no effect at all for me. So that's not the reason buying that amp. The phase-shift is more effective ;) Still I don't have to worry much about feedbacks - the amp is amazingly stable even if positioned "close" to the mic at high volumes.

The EQ works as expected I don't use it much beside a slight increase of the mids that helps articulation.

The internal Effect processor offers 2 quite nice halls, 2 Plate Reverb simulations and a chorus.

The mute knob is muting everything including the mix-di output and can be controlled via a foot switch. Why Fishman chosed this function for the foot switch I have absolutely no idea. For me an effects-on/off or a per-channel-mute would make much more sense to me.

FInally there is an aux-in which is practically to use the amp as an monitor on stage.

Sound quality is clear reason for getting this amp. It just sounds great in my humble opinion. I tried a large variety of amps including AER Compact 60 and Alpha, the other Fishmans much more. Loudbox 100 is it. It's much more resistent to feedbacks that the AERs. And like them keeps natural sounding even on high levels of volume. No distortions - you can clearly tell the difference between different microphones and microphone positions. It sounds very transparent and natural. Also the build in effects are well suited for flute except the two plates that sound a bit to technical for my personal taste. The Chorus is very decent in sound but very nice. It's one of my favorites.

I play the amp for almost a year now with around two or three gigs per week. So far no problems. Just recently It fucked up. Now I have a shortcut that blows out the fuse as soon as I switched on - inacceptable and quite nasty esp. if that happend during a gig. I'll try to get that fixed.

I got it from thomann.de so support is not a problem I can say from experience.

For me as a flute player this is the amp to go. So far I didn't see a better competitor. At least as sound quality in conjunction with price matter.

i have had this amp since march 2007 and had a power amp problem of some sort so i called fishman to see what to do and they gave me an rma# to send it back. i dealt with a man named derek and he answered every e-mail i sent within 1-2 hours and was very helpful. since the amp is still under warranty the only cost i paid was shipping to them and it took a week to get there. they repaired it shipped it back, at no charge. i got it back in about 3 weeks from the day i sent it to getting it back. works perfect. fishman stands behind their product. the rest of my review is below this one.

Features have ben detailed below, but the main feature I bought this amp for is that it has two dedicated Direct Outputs PRE Amplifier for both channels of the amp. I looked at many other models that the Direct Out was post eq, level, effects ect...This is a great feaute as the way that I use it is for a stage monitor. I plug in My guitar and a vocal microphone and have the sound guy take the true Direct out from the back of the amp to the PA. This way I am assured every gig to have a monitor setup that I am used to and comfortable with. You can also send a combined channel Direct Out post effects and levels to the sound guy if you want to...but for me it was the option of getting a clean signal to the sound guy as if the amp were not even there.

Clean, crisp. Since I am using an undersaddle pick up out my Taylor and a vocal microphone I was nervous that it would not be able to handle a loud voice, but I was wrong! It sounds great and there is no break up even at loud volumes. I have played small coffehouses or house parties with just this amp! For Vocal and guitar...

So far so good...I have played around 20 shows with it and have not had any problems...I have owned the amp for about 8 months...

Was great. before I bought the amp I called in and got someone right away who answered all of my questions accurately. I called back a second time and left a voice mail, and was actually called back with an hour! Go figure...

I have been playing for 20 years...this is the only acoustic amp I own, I would replace it in an instant!!! I compared it to the Roland and the TC Helicon...THe overall loudness and clarity was much better with Fishman...

i give it a 9 because i play pedal steel besides acoustic guitar and i dont know how the 8" speaker will handle the steel yet. i believe it was made in 2006. you have already read the features from the other reviews so i wont go into it. this amp has plenty of power for the music i play and will fill a big room or church.

i play finger style, rhythm and single string picking mainly c&w and mostly gospel and we get pretty loud sometimes. i also do gigs by myself and this amp is just what i have been hunting. i play a blue ridge gospel acoustic gutar with a shadow epiphonic 6 pickup. this amp sounds fabulous, sounds like you are playing through a high quality pa. this amp will get bright or mellow. one review said this amp laked power. he is either deaf or will be if he keeps this amp volume cranked very long. if more power than 100 watts is needed then go through the house system.

i only have had this amp about a month so i dont know how reliable it will be but it seems to very well constructed.

havent dealt with fishman yet, but i am sure they are a reputible company or they wouldnt be in business very long.

ive been playing for 45 years so i know what sounds good. i am sure there are other good sounding amps out there and ive played on several of them but in my opinion this is the best acoustic amp i have ever heard. i had a roland ac chorus for 1 day and sent it back because it is usless for active pickups with any volume. for the money you cant beat this loudbox. fishman "loudbox 100". says what it means and means what it says. teriffic amp. buy it you will not be sorry. thanks fishman for this great product.

Ok, no specs list, just what I like.
I plugged my bourgeois guitar (with a Fishman Ellipse) in and loved the sound immediately.
Effects are good and usable.
The two channels are great, I played with another guitarist and the sound was very clear and good.
Mute switch with pedal (optionnal) is handy.
It is very feedback resistant.
The difference with the Roland AC60 is impressive in power and sound quality (even if the chorus is better)and I don't like the medium part of the sound on the AC60.

The sound is very neutral. This is good if you have a good guitar and want to find the sound of your guitar back even amplified. If you have to make big corrections to the sound maybe it'll not fit the bill. But EQ works well. I would have liked a parametric medium, but the freq are very good choosen.

I can't tell, but, I know other people playing them, they are reliable. The construction is solid (metal grid in front of the speaker).
A small cover would be a nice thing to have.

Would buy another one.

I tried, AC60, AER60, Schertler, Ashdown and they were not so good and for some much more expensive

8-inch speaker plus tweeter, 2 channels, each with 3-band EQ, FX loop, XLR DI, FX level. Channel 1 has tuner-out, Channel 2 has 1/4" and mic input w/24v phantom power; mix DI output, stereo aux input with level control, master mute switch - very handy for unplugging your instrument and avoiding 'pops'; plus a tweeter level-control. I would give the feature list a 10, but my wish-list would include availability of using Chorus with Reverb and separate effects i/o options for each channel. It would also be nice to see an auto-feedback circuit similar to the Roland AC-60.

I've played through several different acoustic amps: Marshall, AER, Roland, Fender and the other Fishman Loudbox models. The Loudbox 100 sounds great - it really brings out the transparent sound of the instrument, and at the same time is full and very loud for such a small, lightweight amp. It easily handles larger venues and is as loud as amps twice its size. I considered the Roland AC-60, but even with the volume at '10', the Roland was quieter than the Loudbox 100 at '5'. And the Loudbox is clearer and fuller sounding as well. Despite the limited feedback circuit, the amp is fairly feedback-resistant due to its small size. I play a Sadowsky Nylon and there are not many amps that are well-suited for an electric nylon. In comparison, the AER Alpha I tried was fairly bright, which is why the Loudbox tweeter-control is handy, not to mention much cheaper than most AER's for a comparable amp in sound and size.

I haven't had the amp long, but it seems well-built: the cabinet is made of wood and metal, with a tough, punched-metal screen over the speakers and recessed knobs.

No opinion.

I've been playing for over 30 years, working as a studio musician and live performance. I play jazz, rock, classical, blues, R&B and own several acoustics and electrics and use amps made by Mesa-Boogie, Polytone, Marshall, Tech 21 (and now Fishman) and have been a gear-junkie for many years. I normally would not think of Fishman as a company that makes great amps, but in this case, I think they have a winner. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely choose the same amp as a replacement. Check this one out - you finally don't have to choose between small size and volume, not to mention great tone.

Everyone else has detailed the features well. I agree that not being able to select a channel for effects is a down-side. Also, the chorus is not as present in the mix as the reverb even if you turn it up, but I don't plan on using the chorus. Other than that, the amp has all you need in a very small package.

Great sound quality for such a small amp. I bought this amp to use as a stage monitor (then DI-out to the mixing board). Half of our gigs are acoustic and half are with bass and drums. The amp is more than enough power for the acoustic gigs, and just enough to get up and over the bass/ drums for stage monitoring purposes (but not enough for front of house). The sound quality could not be better. The first gig I used it, my whole band commented on how good the sound was, as did the soundguy and two of the other musicians we were playing with that night. I'm very, very picky regarding tone, but this amp 100% satisified me. I tried the AER Compact60 and, in my opinion, this amp is only just a shade less impressive. For the difference in price, this is the better purchase.

Haven't had it too long, but it seems well-built.

Haven't dealt with them.

Buy one without a second though. It IS that good. One of the purchases I've ever made in amps, guitars, etc.

2006 two channel amp with 5 usable acoustic effects, 100 watts and post direct outs. A very light 23 pounds. I wish you could seperate effects for each channel but unfortunately your only able to pick one for both channels. This is too bad since the plate reverb works great for vocals while the hall reverb works great for guitar. I use the amp as monitor and go to powered speakers and powered sub. The amp would not be loud enough to play for any crowd. But lets be realistic, most 100 watt amps are not gonna give you the snot to get across noisy people. A crowd at church, maybe. The only amp Ive ever seen really work for a noisy crowd is the 90 pound Genz Benz 200.

Very little color like the AER compact 60 I once owned. Not colored like the Fenders, Crates, Rolands, marshalls, Ultrasound ( a warm coloring only), If your guitar doesn sound great you may want one of the colored amps. As usual with high volumes, you really start losing nuances but every acoustic amp has done that to me with one exception..AER.Overall a very pure acoustic tone which mirrors your guitar,pickup, and/or condenser mic. Miking with condenser is tricky.You will notice feedback issues which are not cured by the feedback gizmo on the amp. When Miking you really cannot go above 55-60 % power w/o harsh squeals.This is a typical problem with all amps Ive discovered. Still, I love mixing a miked sound on one channel and direct 1/4" on the other for a fatter tone. AER wins the only 10 award for sound but this amp misses by a hair and is hundreds less.

Seems very solid yet light.

Dont know

Ive tried dozens of acoustic amps. Most were extremely frustrating. Ive owned 6 different ones. Me thinks AER rules but your gonna pay alot of money for only slight sound improvement. The effects on this unit are all very usable. Whoo needs a flanger or jet deal.There are some Im sure but I dont. Considering this total package I think the Fishman rates higher then AER. Fishman is much lower priced, has good sounding effects but sounds just a little more boxy then AER or Genz Benz 100.The Genz Benz problem is the effects in my opinion. It is also a very good amp but about 20 more pounds then the Fishman.

More versatile with better sound than the expensive AER I used to own.
Great feedback controls on both channels. Good tone shaping and reverbs. Direct outs for each channel, mute button, volume control for the tweeter, plenty of power. It's got it all at less than 25 pounds.

Very clean, low noise - great for acoustic instruments. I run mics through a mini-mixer and into the AUX channel, leaving 2 channels free for guitar pickups. Direct-Out to PA sounds fantastic.

I bought 2, one for Church and one for home practice... no trouble with either.

No support has been necessary.

Playing over 40 years. This is the only acoustic amp I now own... play Bourgeois, Collings, Martin and Taylor guitars through it. I would replace it - it's just right for my needs. Replaced a Fishman Loudbox Performer to save weight in transport. This amp does it all for me!

2 Channel with bass, mid, treble on each channel. Gain on each channel. Nice feedback notch, XLR input on one channel with phantom power. reverbs & chorus but you can't use bother together.

Guitars used -Martin with I-Beam, Resonator with Shatton pickup, Ibanez 18ent
All my guitars sound great through this amp. The martin sounds great plugged straight in (which has been a big problem for me with other amps and why I was looking for a new one). I use a Fishman Premium preamp for the resonator and it sounds great too. Execellent clarity and definition.
The reverbs are good and the chorus is good also but you can't use both together which I don't like. But I prefer a pedal chorus anyway so no problem. Has a little hiss but much less than the other acoustic amps I've owned (Fender acoustasonic and Ibanez troubador). MUCH less hiss than those.
The important thing is that I feel it really sounds like an acoustic guitar compared with the other amps I've tried. Very natural sounding. It's nice to play through all the time.

Too early to tell but it seems really solid.

na

I've been playing guitar for 8 years. If this were lost or stolen I'd buy another immediately. I love the sound and how easy it is to dial in a good sound on different guitars. It's the first amp I've tried that makes my Martin sound right. It has plenty of power and volume for small gigs and for larger ones I'd use the DI out of the amp to the PA and the Loudbox would be my stage monitor - perfect. I think this is an excellent value for the money. It's a great size too - nice and small. Easy to carry it in one hand and your guitar in the other.

2006; new from Fishman; small 2 channel with effects.
1 volume control though gain on each channel helps .

Features

1/4? Input
48V Phantom Power
Input Gain with 10dB Pad and Clip Indicator
Shelving Bass and Treble
Effects Level
Resonant-style Midrange
Effects Level
Notch Filter (feedback control)
Phase Switch (feedback control)
Dedicated Effects Loop
1/4? Input
48V Phantom Power
Input Gain with 10dB Pad and Clip Indicator
Shelving Bass and Treble
Effects Level
Notch Filter (feedback control)
Phase Switch (feedback control)
Dedicated Effects Loop
1/4? Input & Balanced XLR Input
Auxiliary Stereo Input with Level Control
Digital Effects: Hall 1 & 2, Plate 1 & 2, Chorus, with Master Level
D.I. Output: Balanced XLR Outputs for Instrument Channel, Inst/Mic Channel, Main Mix
Tuner Output
Mute: Mutes Instrument and Inst/Mic Channels
Footswitch: Remote Mute Control
Dimensions: 16? x 13.5? x 11.5? (40.5cm x 34cm x 29cm)
Weight: 23 lbs

K&K Sound Pure Western Mini in Yamaha Jumbo, Yamaha LS10, Ibanez EWASENT, Guild GAD25 w. K&K Sound Pure Western Mini .
The hall reverbs are good, chorus is decent, plate reverbs are nice.
The sound is clean for such a small woofer. For this small and convenient; it's hard to beat with very good reproduction.

Can't say, but it's Fishman's reputation on it.

'9' At $350 it would be a steal. At $550 it's very good, versatile, small and light and angled front and friendly (kill button, marked well).