Genz Benz Shenandoah Jr Combo

2 channel - 3 input 35 watt. Each channel has 1/4" unbalanced line input and channel 1 also has XLR balanced mike input with phantom power. The 2 inputs on channel 1 are mixed in a 1:1 ratio. Both channels mixed together and pass through a 3 band equalizer with a sweepable midrange freq. control. Each channel contains individual send controls to on-board 15 program digital effects (Alesis). Channel signals are summed together, mixed with digital effects return and passed => internal 35 watt power amp. Back panel contains XLR balanced output with ground lift switch, unbalanced line output, and 1/4" speaker jack. Whew! This info is from the owner's manual. Amp can be tilted back. Speaker is 10". Effects are reverbs consisting of 2 halls, 3 rooms, 3 plates, and chorus,flange, 2 delays, chorus with plate,chorus with room reverb, bypass, rotary spkr. There is a level control for each channel and for master. I bought this baby new, I suspect it was manufactured within the past year. I love this genzy-benzy amp. The features I discovered after I bought it. My purchase was based on tone, tone, did I say tone?

Yeah, just the facts ma'am, nothing but the facts. Well tone is SOOO subjective and here is my not so humble opinion about that. I compared to the Fender acoustictroll - I found this amp , the current version, to be harsh, brittle, without any tolerance for grandma bacal, who had to go right to the ear doctor after listening to this poor excuse of an acoustic amp. I had owned an earlier version, and dumped it for the same reason. I did give it another try but no No NO. The Fishman loudbox also failed my tone test, though not so miserably. Not harsh, but kinda dull, missing frequencies, overcompensating for other frequencies, a big Big BIG disappointment. The Roland amps, both small and large, had a soulless sound, kind of good for witch doctors maybe but not humans. I tried a Crate, a Marsahll, and thought no way jose, I might as well use my electric guitar amp (old old Roland jazz chorus 120 which has WARM tone not like the shrill BITE THIS newer ones). And then, god smiled on me in the form of this genzy-benzy amp. It has WARM, rounded tone, and after 5 minutes I was sold. I used this beatup derelict of a guitar, Art & Lutherie cheapo, which has fantastic resonance, and a very decent built-in pickup. I have since purchased a Taylor 714CE custom run with cedar top (I AM NOW ADDICTED TO CEDAR TOP ACOUSTICS), koa back and sides, Taylor expression system. The l'il guy, genzy-benzy is very happy to serve up tasty treats for either of these guitars. I also purchased an audiotechnica AT2020 mike and mike stand to play my Martin D-28 through the Shenandoah Jr. Good move, as this also sounds pretty cool. I use a another audiotechnica mike for vocals, and this sounds ok, at least to grandma bacal, who even took out her false teeth at one of my concerts to grin her approval and clack the dentures in her own particular way of saying "GOOD JOB JOHNNNNIEEEE". Yeah this l'il amp stands head and shoulders above the pack. The only real competition is from the SWR blonde series. These SWR amps also have decent tone, but not the multiple inputs. The SWR amp I liked was very cool for acoustic guitar but had no mike input (HULLLOOO MR. SWR ANYBODDDYYY HOOOOMMME?). I am thinking of emailing Mr. Fishman to forget his pride and ask Mr. Genzy-Benzy for some lessons on how to make a decent amp. Ditto for Mr. Fender-Spender, but these old farts are too set in their ways, too proud of their tradition of mediocrity. So as the wise saying goes "Let sleeping dogs sleep."

Just started playing, gigging with it. No problems so far, comes with 3 year warranty. Obviously MR. GENZY-BENZY stands behind is creations.

Well I email Mr. Genzy-Benzy with a MAD magazine approach. I don't think he has much of a sense of humour, this guy. He probably is too busy with his soldering iron and spending time with all kinds of kooks like me is SOOO tiresome for this old man. He picture is in a few ads and I can tell his has an indoor tan, has forgotten what being outside is all about. He did reply promptly to my ravings, asked to be taken off my 'distribution" list. I snarled back at him that I didn't have a distribution list, that humour was The American Way, that I loved his amp, but didn't like him 1 little bit. He seems to be way to dull in his personality, but I forgive him. He makes a great amp, so he is allowed to be ornery, cold-hearted (at least with me), and not too swift at understanding the vagaries of the English Language. I have blocked his email address. I don't like being contacted by people with limited or no sense of humour. But I thought I should be a bigger person, write up the review his amp deserves, in spite of my dislike for his troll-like personality.

Yeah what else to say? Mr. Genzy-Benzy must have some competition somewhere, but it is not from Mr. Fishman or Mr. Fender. Those 2 guys have peed on themselves. No I haven't tried Ultrasound, many other higher end acoustic amps. I live in Vancouver Canada, which is like the black hole of musical gear. We don't get the 50 or more excellent boutique acoustic guitars that you find in the higher end USA guitar stores. We just get the 3 or 4 brands you see everywhere. This is one expensive city, perhaps the most beautiful city in North America with respect to geography, and one of the worst cities in the world for people like myself who like the good things in life - especially music. So, compared to the other mainstream pretenders, Mr. Genzy-Benzy has a TKO over the miserable mangy vindictive losers of acoustic guitar manufacturers. No question about it. The l'il guy - the Shenandoah Jr. is the world champion of mainstream acoustic guitar amps, Q.E.D.

I'm not going to list the specific features, because that is available to you on GenzBenz.com The features are very good though.

The amp sounds amazing. Since you get frequency controls, the low button creates amazing bass and oomph to the sound. The amp projects very well, and is truly amazing. It has a fantastic sound that is great for any style of playing.

I've had it for a month, and it seems reliable so far, but since I've had it for only a month, im giving it a no opinion.

I've sent Genz Benz emails before and JEFF GENZLER, the OWNER responds!

I've been playing since I was 8 years old, and this Amp is the best sounding acoustic amp ive ever heard. It has built in effects, frequency control, and a tilt back design. I was luck enough to get this amp for 300 BRAND NEW, but even if you have to pay 400, its still worth it.

2005 Shen Jr. Features already pretty well laid out above.

I'm using a Boss GT8 with a Taylor T5. Amazing sounds & versatile enough for the electric side. The GT8 is a modeling pedal with speaker sims so basically the Shen acts like a p.a. & is surprisingly good with distortion & electric sounds.

Don't know, seems like it will be reliable.

Great support already. Had to call & order a cover & email was from owner of company.

I a/b's this amp with a marshall ar50, a roland ac60 & a fishman loudbox. This was hands down the best of the lot. Even a customer strolling by mentioned that it blew the marshall off the floor.
Amazingly loud for the wattage, thought I may need a Shen 100, but this thing really projects. The tilt back is nice but not really enough to make much of a difference in my opinion. Direct out sends a finished sound to the p.a. & they really did a nice job. Maybe the effects could be better, but I use outboard pedal anyway. I would purchase another in a heartbeat, thinking of buying one anyway for stereo applications as it is so light & portable. Can't beat this amp!

Probably bought at the end of 2003, I got it in spring 2004. Has the brown and gray color scheme, not the blonde and black. I'd say there's quite alot of features when you consider that it's an acoustic amp. See other reviews for details. It was the 2 channels and Phantom Power that sold me (see below).

I am using a '93 Martin HD-28, and I decided I wanted to be amplified. Then came the question of what pickup and amp to get. I opted for a K&K Pure Western with a K&K Silver Bullet mic. Now, that's basically their Trinity system, except I don't use the dedicated preamp/blender. Why? Because I *thought* I was saving money my not buying a preamp in the first place. I saw that the Sehnandoah Jr.. had phantom power, so I thought that I could just plug the mic into the XLR input. I was wrong. You still need the small preamp for the Silver Bullet mic, so I went ahead and bought it. Now the difference is that I have a Trinity systemwith no EQ.

Fine, all is not lost because I decided that the Shen Jr. was the perfect amp to act as an EQ/blender because it has 2 channels. I use 1 for the undersaddle transducers and 1 for the mic. The EQ is shared, but so what? I'm only plugging 1 guitar into it, and I wanted the overall sound to be excellent, and it is. Now the mic LOVES to feedback, so I end up dialing out the lows quite a bit, and the mic is really only useful for very low volumes. That's too bad because it adds deoth and woodiness to the sound. But who cares? I got the amp for a great price, and can't complain. The transducers are pretty great sounding on their own.

I don't play out much, and it's been a slow year since I got the amp. I do think that the 35 watts of power is *just enough*. There are days where I think it would be drowned out in many circumstances, but for small venues the guitar is pretty loud, and the amp easily matches the volume, so it's not bad and the sound is quite natural. I don't use the effects much at all but it's nice that they're there.

I tried playing my electrics through this amp when I didn't have my tube amp handy, and I was able to dial in a pretty excellent tone (albeit transistor). The cool thing about this amp is it's nice and small. The Shen 100 is quite big & heavy and crosses the line into unusable except for the most dedicated acoustic guitarists. In case you can't tell, I'm primarily an electric player, and know very little about acoustic, except to say that I like the sound of my HD-28 better than every guitar out there (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean).

The insides are a *little* flimsy looking. There shouldn't be any problems as long I don't throw it accross the room. When I bought it off ebay, it was 6 months old, and the newer brown tolex and gray metal grille look awesome.

Only dealt with them to ask about the phantom power (the mic had to use a certain amout; 9 V was too little, 48 was too much I think). They were perfectly cool by e-mail.

I've been playing 10 years, mostly electric. I own lots of expensive stuff, but got into building my own (bol-on) guitars because the $2000 Fenders didn't do it for me. I built an Allen tube amp from a kit, and have mixed & matched pickups and speakers pedals to tweak my tone. So I have lots of experience with the tone of guitar gear. I played my HD-28 and loved it, then in a moment of foolishness (I was poor at the time) I bought a D-18 instead because it was less expensive. After 36 hours, I changed my mind and had to have the HD-28 even though it cost more. I use DR Rare phosphor strings because they sound better than anythig else I've tried. So all this to say that the Genz Shen Jr. is a pretty excellent amp for my Martin. I wanted small and toneful, and that's what I got, for a good price to boot! I kind of wish that I could play a Fishman Loudbox, but it wouldn't work with my pickup/mic needs. It's like the amp and pickup system go hand in hand for me. I'd buy one again. the only other acoustic amp I had played was the Shen 100. I got the amp while waiting for the pickup to be installed on my guitar, so it's really the first experience I have with acoustic amplification. I'm plenty happy with it. I could see myself buying a matching powered extension cab to get more volume for large gigs, but I don't need to invest that kind of money right now!

This is a 2004 Genz Benz Shenandoah Jr combo amp. Some info about the amp: Really cool-blue-power-light (as opposed to your typical red-LED light), 35 watts, 2 Channels, solid state, 1x10 speaker with seperate Tweeter, AND also includes on-board Alesis effects. After 25 years of playing, I finally decided to buy a nice acoustic amp....But, not knowing alot about newer acoustic amps, I did alot of research, and playing, in MANY music stores. Found some that were awesome, but very pricey, and some that just sounded lousy. Finally I tried this amp, and it really brought my Ovation acoustic to life! The amp is 35 watts, and it delivers a NASTY PUNCH in the power department! Very loud amp!

I have 2 Ovation acoustic guitars (one 6-string, and one 12-string). It makes these guitars sing! It's extremely quiet, noise level is almost nonexistent, and does not distort at higher volumes. The effects are not the greatest, BUT, for the crystal clear sound & awesome tone it delivers, you simply can't ask for a better acoustic amp! For gigs, this amp is plenty loud, but can also be used with a PA if needed. Only thing I find to be a "drawback" is the controlability of the effects. You can not control the speed of the effects (like Chorus, Flange...etc), you can only control the volume/depth of an effect. But, I'm starting to nitpick now, because I can not find any other flaws with the amp. And honestly, I feel that the "HALL", and "REVERB" settings are the only ones really needed, and I must admit, they sound awesome on this amp! I believe an acoustic amp should embrace the tone of one's guitar, and the effects are simply icing on the cake. For me, having only a bit of "Room Reverb" or "Hall Reverb" to add some depth to the overall tone & sound of my guitar is really all that's needed for my own personal "acoustic" playing...And this little amp does it VERY WELL! I give it a big "thumbs-up" in the tone department, and for the price value.

Is it dependable? Not sure. I have only had it for a few months, so, I can't really give an honest answer here. However, I can tell you that it seems to be built extremely well.

Never dealt with them, and hope I never have to. hehe But, I hear this company is incredible in the "customer support" area.

If this little baby were stolen, I'd buy another one right away. I played a ton of acoustic amps before buying this amp. I played some really expensive amps, too, and this was not only a great value, BUT, sounded way better than some amps costing twice as much! To me, it offered the most realistic "true acoustic guitar tone", and it really brought out the best in my 2 Ovation guitars. I get compliments on my tone everywhere I play. Something you don't expect when you play a gig, but.....One thing I really love about this amp, is the fact that it has a handle on the bottom of the amp, and it flips-out, and it raises the front of the amp. (Handy little feature!). I also love the overall tone of the amp. Conclusion: If you're looking for a hell of an acoustic amp, and you don't want to break the bank, this amp is awesome. Please play one, and see for yourself. You'll really be impressed!

This is a 2004 Shenandoah Junior (Jr). It?s 35 watts with a 4 ohm 10" speaker. There are two channels. Channel 1 includes XLR (13.6V phantom power) and 1/4" inputs. Channel 2 only has a 1/4" input. Each channel has its own volume and effects level. Channels share bass, sweepable middle, treble, selector for 1 of 15 Alesis digital effects (chorus, flanger, plate reverbs, hall reverbs, etc.) plus bypass, and a master effects return level. On the back is the speaker output jack and two line out jacks (XLR with ground lift and 1/4"). It also has a handle on the bottom that can be used to tilt the amp. The user manual is available at the Genz Benz web site.

This amp offers a solid selection of features for the price, the most important being its sound. It would be nice if it could accommodate a direct acoustic guitar pickup signal rather than requiring a pre-amp. I think the SWR and Kustom amps (and maybe others) include this feature. It would also be nice if the power cord could detach since there's no good place to stow it. And center detents on the EQ controls would be helpful. Finally, an effects loop and a second speaker output jack would be nice. But Genz Benz had to make some choices to provide a product of this quality for this low a price, and given how this amp sounds, they made the right choices.

I have run a number of different instruments into this amp and it makes everything sound great including a Martin OM with Fishman Prefix system, a Carvin AC40F bass, a Hamer Artist, and a Santa Cruz OM/PW with K&K Pure Western pickup running through a Pick Up The World Power Plug pre-amp.

The acoustic guitars sound full and warm with very little trace of undersaddle quack. I usually run the EQ flat or sometimes slightly attenuate the mid at its highest frequency setting and/or some of the treble. I may also back off slightly on the bass depending on the room. In comparison to other amps, I?d venture to say that the Fender and Marshall amps sound more shimmery, the SWR amps sound more midrangy and nasal, and the Crate and Peavey amps sound less transparent. The Carvin AG100 actually comes pretty close to the Shenandoah, but it only sounded good with a bass by tweaking the master graphic EQ (which comprises the sound of other instruments running through it) and it doesn?t provide phantom power. I have not tried AER, Kustom, Centaur, or Ultrasound amps.

Running my Carvin bass into the Shenandoah sounds good enough that I sold my Peavey Microbass. And the Hamer sounds incredible. With the EQ flat, the amp gives the Hamer a great, smokey jazz sound. Since this is an acoustic guitar amp, don?t expect any grind or distortion. But the clean sound is inspiring. Add the digital effects, and this amp is a lot of fun. I?ve also run a Shure 545SD microphone into the amp. I?m no singer, so it was just ?testing 1, 2, 3, 4?. Sounded fine. It sounded best with the mic set to high impedance run into a 1/4" input.

The first one I bought came with a bad digital effects module that made a crackling sound like a Geiger counter. I brought the amp back to the store and they immediately ordered a new one for me. And Genz Benz immediately shipped the new amp. There have been absolutely no problems with the new one.

The Genz Benz folks, especially Amy and Robert, have been tremendous. I exchanged several e-mails with them regarding authorized dealers (Amy) and technical questions (Robert). Responses were immediate, thorough, and courteous. The Genz Benz folks also replaced the original faulty amp as fast as possible. And if you take a look at the owners manual available from their web site, it is well written and thorough. All Genz Benz products come with a 3 year warranty.

For 25 years, I played electric blues/rock, usually a 335 through a Boogie. For the last 5 years, I have been almost exclusively flatpicking acoustic (check out David Grier to hear what flatpicking is all about). I?m partial to Santa Cruz guitars.

If the Shenandoah was stolen, I would definitely buy it again. There?s something reassuring about an amp that sounds great without needing much EQ adjustment. It indicates to me that the Genz Benz people really paid attention to optimizing the electronics and cabinet. It?s a crime that Genz Benz is not better known. I heard about them through a 2003 acoustic amp shootout by Teja Gerken in Acoustic Guitar magazine. To my ears, they make one of the best sounding, cost effective acoustic amps out there.

2003 Model Shenandoah Jr with 10 inch woofer, and compression bullet tweeter. 2 channels, 1 XLR input, 3 band EQ with sweepable mid-freq. 35 watts output, 15 Alesis DSP presets. Convenient tilt back feature, but I have it on an amp stand anyway.The effects are only adjustable for Level, but that makes it easier for novices like me.

I have used a Martin DC1E and Alvarez Yairi WY-1 with this amp with excellent results. Very natural sounds. Like your guitar, only louder and with effects if you so desire. I bought this amp and fell in love with it, and then got to thinking maybe the Shen 100 would be bigger and better, so I traded it.....big mistake! The Shen 100 has a cooling fan running all the time that was just very annoying. So, I got my Shen Jr back, and couldn't be happier. Then Shen 100 was not $250 better IMO. It may have been if it didn't have that fan running all the time. The Shen Jr is very quiet for normal listening volume, but can sure make some noise (good noise) if you crank it up.

I have had absolutely zero problems with this amp, but I have had it less than 1 year.

Warranty is for 3 years, pretty good I think. Haven't had to deal with customer support, hopefully won't have to. But i've heard good news about them.

I'v been playing just a couple years, and have owned Fender Accoustisonic Jr and believe me this amp smokes it bigtime! If this were lost or stolen I'd replace it immediately with the Shen Jr unless I came into lots of money, then I might opt for the big Shen 200, although I have not played that amp.