Good acoustic guitar amps for under a couple hundred bucks?

I recently got an acoustic-electric because I was sick of always miking my acoustic, and I really don't need something too fancy or expensive, just something to slightly amplify my signal for using at open mic nights etc. when there is a vocal mic. I probably only need 20 or 30 watts max since I use the PA if I play acoustic at any 'real' gig. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, as I am new to the realm of acoustic-electric gear. Thanks!:grin:

A Fishman loudbox mini is a great acoustic amp and it has a separate channel for a mic. It's 60 watts and is a little bit out of your price range of $200. It is $329 at Musician's friend but they have a 4th of July sale going on and you can get $50 off of purchases greater than $299 if you use the coupon code SAVEJULY4. Another amp to consider would be the Roland Cube monitor (CM30). This is kind of an all around unit that some people say works well with an acoustic. It has 3 channels so you can hook up a mic, guitar and whatever else you want. It is 30 watts and sells for $199. You can get $20 off of this one using the same coupon code. I am not an employee of MF, I just happened to have used a coupon code this evening to buy a foot pedal. I hope this helps.

Within your price range: Kustom Sienna 30/35.

FWIW, the best acoustic amp I’ve played thus far is the SR JAM 150 Plus WOOD, not cheap though.

Peavey makes a small acoustic amp for under $200. Ecoustic 208.

I've had good experiences with CRATE's line of acoustic amps. They come at several price points. There's a $250 one that's nice. (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/crate-ca30dg-taos-acoustic-amp) There are cheaper and more expensive models. I've used the 60W one.

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If there is a vocal mic an an open mic night surely you can plug your guitar into the PA also? I have never seen an open mic where you can't do that.

The Fishman Loudbox Mini at $299 is a remarkable gig worthy amp with all the connectivity that you'll ever need,

For less. the Crate stuff is very good.

This little 15 Cimmaron watt guy is really nice for $149.....

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Crate 15 link (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/crate-ca15-cimarron-1x8-12w-acoustic-combo-amp)

I gig a Fishman Loudbox 100 and I've tried all these.

I have one of these. Well under $200. 30 watts Lots of decent effects. Light weight. Has a microphone and guitar input.

When I first saw this thread, the first two brands that came to mind were Acoustic and Crate, because they fit the nothing "too fancy or expensive" parameters.

A few Christmases ago, my son-in-law decided he wanted to learn to play guitar. My daughter showed some interest in picking it up as well, as did at least one of their kids. He bought a Takamine acoustic/electric, and so I bought an Acoustic AG15 for them for Christmas. Simple little thing, but a pleasant surprise in the tone department. I like the slant back cab design, and the accessible front control panel. And just $100. Of course, rokdog49's AG30 takes it up a step, with some nice features and more wattage output, and would probably be a better option for jams sessions, open mic events, etc.

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Personally, I've used Crates for my acoustics at gigs, open mics, etc. My kids went in together a dozen years ago and bought me a Crate "Taxi" TX30, a 30 watt amp. It came in a taxi cab yellow tolex, and even had a taxi checkerboard trim on the front control panel. This also has the slant back cab design, though the control panel is not quite as accessible as the design of the Acoustic brand amps. It has a set of rubber feet on 3 different sides, so you can position it in either low or high angles, or as an upright speaker.

The Taxi is no longer in production, but it was a nice little amp, very solid and reliable, and served me well for 7+ years before I lost the amp to a house fire. If you can find one, it would suit your needs and then some. It is a battery powered amp, as in using a sealed lead-acid 12-volt battery as its internal power source. You can play a whole gig running a guitar and mic through this little amp, take it home and plug it in with the AC wall adapter that comes with it, and about 8 hours or so later you're good to go again. The adapter also allows you to plug in to an electrical outlet and power the amp that way. I always just ran off the battery power, then re-charged it. 8" speaker/woofer plus a tweeter, 2 channels for instrument and mic, or 2 instruments or 2 mics.

Four years ago (not long before the house fire) I bought another Crate to replace the Taxi. It is a TX50 "Limo" and is still in production. The same features as the Taxi, and a lot extra. 50 watts, digital effects, same cab design (slant design, low/high angle or upright) but with a pole mount option, which is how I most often use it. The Limo is also battery powered, and I use it much the way I did the Taxi.

The batteries last for years; in the 12 years that I've owned these 2 Crates, I've only had to replace the battery twice. And one of those times it was my fault. I failed to re-charge the battery after a gig. Thought I had plugged it in, turns out I didn't. It drained the battery down too far and damaged it. I bought another 12-volt replacement battery locally for $20, put it in myself, and it's still going strong.

Here's a shot of both of my Crates set up in the living room, the Taxi on the left and the Limo on a speaker stand on the right.

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Here's a close-up of the Taxi. That's "Mini Me" sitting atop the amp. My sister-in-law gave me that Jerry Garcia doll to use at gigs. I get "You look like Jerry Garcia" a lot, given the length of my hair and beard, and the amount of gray in them. :oops: :grin:

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/Crate_Taxi_Mini_Me.jpg

Just wanted to add some food for thought. The Pathfinder 15r which is designed to be played with an electric guitar, works extremely well with my Taylor 310 ce. In fact, so much so that I plug into it at home a lot. My AG 30 is always at church, so when I want to go electric at home I use the Pathfinder. It costs around $100 and you might be surprised at how many here use one for the same thing. Oh and it's pretty dang loud!

I'll second that, rokdog49. At two different venues I play regularly, there is a small house system. The vocals and maybe one other guitar are going through the house system, but there aren't enough channels for all the vocals and/or two guitars. More times than I can count, I've done such gigs playing my Breedlove acoustic/electric going through my Vox Pathfinder 15R. My Limo (see above) is relatively lightweight and portable, but the PF15R even more so. As you said, it works extremely well.

Sweetwater Music has a clearance section on eBay. I got a new Roland AC-33 for $180 because a forklift nicked a corner and broke a small piece of the wood enclosure off. It was cosmetic, repaired very easily and had the full warrantee.

I'd rather have a full range speaker, though most of those are more than your budget. They don't have effects but are much more versatile...use it as a monitor or small PA too.

I have one of these (Acoustic AG-30). Well under $200. 30 watts Lots of decent effects. Light weight. Has a microphone and guitar input.
I have the same Acoustic AG30 (http://www.guitarcenter.com/Acoustic-AG30-30W-1x8-Acoustic-Guitar-Combo-Amp-104839055-i1425156.gc) amp, and I gladly give it a big thumbs-up as well.

I use it for practice at home, for vocals and acoustic guitar at song-circles and jams in a large living room, and I've even used a pair of AG-30's outdoors for a backyard song circle event. It is pretty much perfect for the sort of use jack94 wants.

To my ears the AG-30 has exceptionally clean sound, thanks in large part to the fact that it does NOT use a horn tweeter, but rather a concentric dome tweeter in the middle of the 8" main speaker. Probably 99% of horn tweeters sound nasty in the midrange, and really mess up the tone of vocals, particularly female vocals.

FWIW, I bought the AG-30 for its sound, not its price. I listened to considerably more expensive amps of the same general size, and I was willing to pay the price for one of them if necessary, but the AG-30 had the most neutral sound and cleanest deep bass of anything I heard.

The enclosure is unusually large for an 8" speaker, and is also ported, with a slot down close to the floor that pumps out the bass; that combination of design features surely has something to do with the deep and powerful bass.

The deep bass is most audible in a small or medium room; if you're outdoors or in a really large room, the bass will thin out a little and the inevitable limitations of a single 8-inch speaker will show up. Even with a ported enclosure like the AG-30's, an 8" speaker can only move so much air, and that's not enough to fill a backyard with booming bass.

In addition to the basic sound quality, the surprisingly high quality sound FX on the AG-30 are a bonus. The reverbs are really good, and this amp has one of the very few chorus sounds I can actually listen to without feeling queasy and sea-sick.

The only bad things about the AG-30 are (1) It's rather heavy (sorry, Rokdog!) (2) It's wedge shape makes it rather awkward to carry, and (3) Tone controls and FX are shared by both input jacks, so whatever EQ and FX you add to the vocal will also be added to the guitar.

As mentioned earlier, the AG-30 has a very neutral sound, which makes it also work very well as a high-quality small P.A., vocal amp, or keyboard amp. Pair it with an inexpensive condenser mic designed for live use and a little careful EQ and you'll get really good vocal sound - better than the vast majority of P.A. systems I've heard, including some very expensive ones.

-Gnobuddy

I'd rather have a full range speaker, though most of those are more than your budget. They don't have effects but are much more versatile...use it as a monitor or small PA too.
The AG-30 is basically a 30 watt powered full-range speaker. It works very well as a monitor, small P.A., vocal amp, or keyboard amp as long as you don't demand extremely high SPL. The best thing about the AG-30 is the very neutral and flat sound.

Of course some people don't want flat and neutral in an acoustic guitar amp - people who love bright and jangly Fender Acoustasonics or other very highly processed acoustic guitar sounds may not like the AG-30.

-Gnobuddy

...just bought a Peavey Protege cassette karaoke machine...that sounds awesome when i plug my electric gut string in..sounds just like a peavey stereo chorus 208 that i used to have...and heres the best part...$3.00..at the local church garage sale...what cha think bout that WILL RAY...L.O.L...

just bought a Peavey Protege cassette karaoke machine...
<snip>
heres the best part...$3.00..at the local church garage sale
<snip>

Well, you can't beat that price with a stick! Congratulations on your find! :mrgreen:

I found a few pictures of the Peavey Protege online, but no specifications - do you know what size those twin speakers are? How about the amp wattage? And how heavy is this thing?

-Gnobuddy

..hope this helps..sure aint no photog..:razz:...2....8inch speakers...watts?..who knows..decent loud..havent maxed it out...and im shakin the dungeon..weight?...30 lbs...?

.2....8inch speakers...
Two eight-inch speakers, a very sturdy-looking cabinet, several input jacks, and loud enough - what a steal at $3! Congratulations! :mrgreen:

-Gnobuddy

$3 goes a long way some days. What a deal!

Another plus for the Acoustic gear. I have one of the AG-60 models. I was looking for a small PA setup that would easily handle two acoustic guitars and two mics for my wife and I. The 60 has two split channels for four inputs all in one box. It works well to put the guitars in one channel and vocals in the other. That way the effects and EQ can be tweaked in a little nicer. We've used it in a few different places and it worked good.

That may be more than the OP needs, but thought I'd throw the idea out there.

I have one of the AG-60 models. I was looking for a small PA setup that would easily handle two acoustic guitars and two mics for my wife and I. The 60 has two split channels for four inputs all in one box.
I was tempted by the AG-60 when I bought my AG-30, for the reasons you just laid out.

The deciding factor for me was weight and bulk. Call me a weeny, but that AG-60 was too big and heavy for me. It was just not something I wanted to haul from my car, up a long driveway, and upstairs to the room where we have most of our jams!

-Gnobuddy

heres another idea for a real portable p.a...peavey keyboard amps...i have a KB 100...PLEASE DONT ASK FOR PICS!...you seen my work...L.O.L..google em...mine has low z...3 channels...eq...reverb..and a few other hook ups..they make em up to KB300...and theyre cheap used...i paid $60.00...

137950
I like my Behringer

Call me a weeny,

You're a weeny.

Jim

You're a weeny.

Jim
Well, I walked into that one, didn't I? :mrgreen:

-Gnobuddy

Fishman loudbox and loudbox mini are the best sounding IMHO, but they command their higher prices (just at the dividing line between affordable and high-end like SWR or some other brands). The Roland AC60 is a great amp (I like the auto-sweeping notch filter that works to combat feedback, and the stealthy appearance of the little box so people in a coffeehouse situation don't think you walked in with a wall of speakers). Working your way down the list towards your price point would be Beringer and Acoustic, which you may find are house brands or mail order items. I don't care for Fender acoustic amplifiers. Remember, to carry bass frequencies or vocals cleanly, you need wattage, and solid state watts are a different ballgame compared to the frame of reference we usually have for tube driven electric guitar amps.

On a budget, take a look at used equipment especially a single powered PA speaker - most of the smaller units have mic and line inputs and rudimentary mixers, although they won't have much in terms of EQ or reverb effects. You'll certainly get a good clean sound that doesn't seem blaring or loud, and it's an all-in-one package. And versatile, since you can use it as a monitor with a PA rig.

...be Be(h)ringer and Acoustic, which you may find are house brands or mail order items.

AFAIK, Acoustic tried to come back as a revival of the classic brand-name from the 1960's. They launched just about the time the US economy fell off a cliff circa 2008. Their first one or two products were receiving rave reviews all over the Internet, but with the economy in free-fall I'm sure they were in financial trouble quickly. Guitar Center bought them out, and Acoustic is now a Guitar Center house brand.

Behringer? Apparently a German company with Chinese manufacturing, and perhaps the worst reputation of any audio company that sells in the USA. Whether that bad reputation is deserved or not, I cannot say. I own only one Behringer product, which works fine for me.

On a budget, take a look at used equipment especially a single powered PA speaker - most of the smaller units have mic and line inputs and rudimentary mixers

Unfortunately, most affordable powered PA speakers sound awful. The compression tweeters used in PA speakers are particularly awful sounding; it's the (steep) price paid for the ability to pump out high sound pressure levels.

You'll certainly get a good clean sound that doesn't seem blaring or loud, and it's an all-in-one package. And versatile, since you can use it as a monitor with a PA rig.
If you haven't heard the Acoustic AG-30 or AG-60 first-hand, do listen to one when you get a chance. Both sound really clean, much cleaner than any affordable small powered P.A. speaker I've ever heard.

Both these amps also have onboard FX (really good-sounding ones), and both also work well as monitors. They're even wedge-shaped, perfect for floor monitors.

In other words, they are better sounding than an affordable P.A. speaker, and at least as versatile, if not more so.

The one thing the AG-30/AG-60 will not do is match a P.A. speaker for sheer loudness - but that wasn't what the OP was looking for.

-Gnobuddy