NAAD -In transit

[Blunote]

Pulled the trigger on a great deal on a Schertler Jam-150 Acoustic Amp.

 

As you can see, it's got some rash on one side, but it was also priced accordingly. Besides, I suspect I can restore it.

 

I started playing with some other musicians and wanted to play acoustic rhythm over some of the songs. My Marshall AS50R just didn't have the oomph in the larger room with a drummer, bass and LP turned up. This should do it.

 

They sound good too. I had a chance to check out the smaller Jam-100 and was pleased with the fuller, clear tones it produced. Rockabilly speaks highly of them. He owns one of its big brothers, the Jam-400.

 

I'll probably put the Marshall up for sale soon. It's a nice amp, just not ballsy enough for what I'm doing.

[peterbright]

Another amp I'd like to try...how did they do that to the side of it?

[Blunote]

The owner is a musician in a touring band si I'm assuming it happened in transit -probably had it laying on the floor or something abrasive enough to wear off the finish. He told me when they started using in-ear monitors he no longer needed to use the amp. Hence, it went up for sale.

[peterbright]

Refinish that side...I love the looks of those.

[smokedtires]

Wow that is one heck of an amp, enjoy.

[rockabilly69]

Mine has a little bit o' rash too, it went over on it's side at an outside gig when a weighted down umbrella hit it. Didn't miss a beat, I finished the song then righted it.

Lately though I've been using it on a stand! I like it a little higher up, and I turn it towards me to get some wicked feedback going! Look how close I am to it and

almost right in front of it:)

 

 

If you get really serious with that thing and started gigging, I would recommend a Empress Para EQ between your guitar and it. It is the best equalizer for an acoustic guitar that I've ever

used, and it shines with the dynamic range of the Schertlers. My rig is guitar (with B-Band XOM 2.2 dual source pickup) - pedal board - ParaEQ - Schertler, and the auxiliary out of the Schertler goes to the clean

channel of my Mesa DC-2. I also have a Shure Beta 87 (same as my vocal mic) on my guitar. I have the best small room guitar sound I've ever had period.

 

You can see the Empress ParaEQ (the blue box) sitting on the Schertler,

 

[Blunote]

Funny about feedback. One thing I've noticed is there seems to be much less unwanted feedback when I use the Jam-150 at volume than the Marshall I'd been using -even though the Schertler doesn't have a manual feedback notch filter.

 

I'd been unhappy with my ability to find a tone and scale it using the volume without losing fullness and warmth. I figured it was either my pickup (Fishman Sonicor), the onboard Preamp (Fishman Classic 4), the amp (Marshall AS50R) or a combination of those factors. When I asked Fishman product support, they recommended changing the under saddle piezo pickup to the Matrix and said to leave the on board preamp as is. So far, I've upgraded the amp. I think the pickup is next.

 

So you're running directly out of the Schertler to the front of a Mesa tube amp? Does the Mesa then become the main output the audience hears and does the color the Schertler tone in the process?

[rockabilly69]

I'm running from the aux out of the Jam 400 into the clean channel of the Mesa DC2. When I sound check, I balance the volume so that the predominant volume is that is that of the Schertler. But,

when I play slide guitar I like a hair more of the Mesa in the mix. For those songs, I use a Fulldrive II Mosfet pedal set with enough gain to get some sustain going, and then I clamp the volume of

that pedal with a Durham Sex Drive pedal. The Sex Drive has a bit of compression to it so it smooths out the somewhat ragged tone of Fulldrive, and it also acts like a master volume. This way I

can go from a fingerpicked acoustic song to a fullblown dirty slide guitar song without a huge jump in volume. So I'm not really using the amp Mesa for dirt, but more for a wider sound spectrum

coming off of the stage and for an extra bit of tube warmth.

 

As for the feedback, I was referring to musical feedback that cascades beautifully from the speakers. I handle all unwanted feedback with the Empress ParaEQ. Your Marshall amp, although a good

amp for low volume stuff is not in the same class as your Schertler. The Matrix is a good UST and I have one in my favorite slide guitar (vintage Gibson Gospel).