New to the forum and mandolin. I’m hoping to be buying my first mandolin this week and I think I’m settling on the Ashbury am60e (electro acoustic - made in China). I play guitar and thought it was about time I reached out and embraced another instrument. My question is… Does anyone have any thoughts on this instrument (or other electro acoustic mandos) and also, after years of plugging my electro acoustic guitar throgh the PA system, I thought it might be nice to have a proper amp so I’m looking at the Marshall as50d (I think that’s the model number!) so again, does anyone have anythoughts on this amp? And finally, do you think this amp will be suitable for both mandolin and guitar use?
Maybe you will find it hard to get response on this particular amplifier in this forum. For that, you might have better luck checking some studio forums.
I can’t help on this subject anyway, because I don’t know if some amps are better than others specifically for mandolins, since I play acoustic.
Maybe you will find it hard to get response on this particular amplifier in this forum. For that, you might have better luck checking some studio forums.
I can’t help on this subject anyway, because I don’t know if some amps are better than others specifically for mandolins, since I play acoustic.
I am a mandolin player and I gig with the Marshall acoustic combo you mentioned. Personally, I couldn’t be happier with it. I think it is an absolute bargain - very affordable.
It has line and DI out, so if it doesn’t have enough power by itself you can output into the PA as well. The anti-feedback measures work brilliantly.
I usually mic my mando into the XLR socket. I use a Shure PG81 condenser.
I have also used electro-acoustic guitars, and a Crafter electro-acoustic mando’, through the jack input to good effect.
The only thing I have yet to try through it is my fiddle - which I’ll probably play into a vocal mic.
I think you’d be very pleased with the Marshall. It gets very good marks here and at Mandolincafe.com as well. If you’re used to plugging into a PA, then you shouldn’t have any trouble at all. Acoustic combos are, if nothing else, self contained, single-cabinet PAs after all.
I prefer to choose an acoustic amp according to features, assuming it’s made by a reliable company like Marshall, Fender, Roland, etc. I like to look for the capability to tie in to the main PA for more power, flexable feedback control, multiple inputs for mic and line, and good treble reproduction. You’ll find all those in the Marshall.
Since all these acoustic combos on the market today are designed around guitars, the question really becomes: will it reproduce the highs of the mandolin faithfully? The Marshall gets excellent points there.
The hardest part of amplifying an acoustic-electric mandolin for me has always been in dealing with the piezo pickups. It’s much harder to get a pickup to give top acoustic response from a mandolin than from a guitar. It seems to me that many mandolin systems (such as the Fishman System One) are simply adapted from guitar technology, and poorly at that. By its nature, the mandolin does not seem to impart nearly as much energy to a piezo pickup as a guitar. So if you’re not going with a microphone as Buddhu does, I’d recommnd you look into a good pre-amp like the Baggs Para DI to give the extra input gain and control most AE mandolinists eventually desire.
Many thanks for you replys. I’m hoping to pick up the mandolin this weekend but I think I might need to hang on whilst Christmas now for the amp but it’s nice to hear from folks who have used it and like it. It kind of confirms what I’d been thinking though I will have to try it out first (only actually seen it on the interweb so far so I really need to kick one around for an hour or two!).
The mandolin is relatively cheap I suppose at £300 so I’m not expecting a Loar or even a Kentucky but I think it should be fit for purpose for a year or three.
I’ll pop back in and let you know how I get on, I knew about mandolin.org and the 'cafe but only stumbled upon this place by accident. I’m glad I did.
Hey speaking of amplifying a mando, what is a decent, cheap way to add a pickup to an F style? I just joined a little band, and I may need to add a pickup if playing into a mic doesn’t work well enough
For someone with your established skills, I’d go for a piezo bridge and carpenter jack. You would have no trouble fitting the feet to the top for yourself. Something along this line:
Either of these will benefit greatly from a good pre-amp (it’s really the secret to getting a natural sound without a microphone). Here is the hands-down favorite in ‘affordable’ pre-amps among the mando crowd:
I don’t know if the $300-ish range of these set-ups qualify as ‘cheap’ in your expectations, but remember that these are practically lifetime investments that can go from mandolin to mandolin and follow any player through years of upgrades and such.
As Tim says, a pre-amp really is a good idea. Makes a big difference. Another pre-amp option is the Fishman Pro-EQ II. On the few occasions I do use pickups I always go through the pre-amp first. When I’m not using it, our banjo player borrows it.
Another illustration of the versatility of that Marshall combo is the fact that mine takes care of both me and the banjo player. I mic into one channel while Phil takes his banjo pickup though the pre-amp and into the other channel on the Marshall.
One problem I have found with many piezo pickups for mandolins is the tendency to produce a percussive ‘thud’ when the E course is plucked. This can be eliminated with good EQ, but it is a feature of many pickups, especially, in my experience, the replacement bridge types. It was one of the main reasons I went with a mic in the end.
Unless you’re playing large gigs with a full drum kit etc, I think many mandolin players could do very well with a mic instead of a pickup. It’s mostly just a case of tweaking gain and thoughtful positioning of amps and microphones - oh, and good feedback filtering on the amplification.
I’m not sure why Rick and I both forgot this one, but there’s a third variation that shows up a lot. The lavalier microphone. These are the tiny mics you see on TV clipped to peoples clothing. They are normally electret condenser mics. They are tiny little things that clip to the edge of the soundhole. They have a very thin, short lead that goes to a control box/power supply that clips to your belt.
Personally, I don’t have any real experience with these - I only tried it once long ago - but they are quite popular among the bluegrass players on the Cafe. I gather they have the tonal advantages of a mic without the hassle of stands and such that you get with the hand-held types like Shure’s SM-57 (an unpowered dynamic mic) or their PG-81 condenser (the powered version Rick likes).
For me, it’s always come down to a balance betwen fidelity and convenience. I rate it this way:
Piezo bridge - Larger sacrifice of tone for extreme convenience and ease of use
Contact pickup - Better tone but noisier and a little more feedback prone
Dynamic mic - Very true tone, but more to carry and handle, more feedback problems
Condenser mic - Nearly perfect reproduction, but you really have to know your stuff to prevent problems.
This is a four man band called Shenanigans. No website or anything, but I’ll see what I can do to change that.
The leader plays the box and occasional octave mando. There’s a guitar player, bodhran/singer, and I’ll be playing whistles, mandolin, octave mando, maybe some flute and fiddle if I ever practice enough.
The band is almost starting from scratch really. The old whistle player quit outright, and the other two guys have such conflicting schedules that it seems unlikely that they’ll continue. The box player has some pretty firm replacements lined up, so hopefully we can relaunch the band.
Basically, 4 middle aged guys playing some old tunes with occasional paying gigs plus some nursing home stuff.
They have what is supposed to be a pretty good mic for me. The band has an amp/mixer and stack of speakers for playing out, and a smaller amp for rehearsing. I’ll let you know more when we actually start playing together: We may squeeze in one little session next week, but on Friday Charlene and I are off for a 9 day trip to China.
Sounds cool Paul! When you get back and have the chance, get us the details of your sound system and what’s being used like mics and such. In the meanwhile, have a great, safe trip!! Best to Charlene!