Nice concept....

[EdwardMarlowe]

Saw this on kickstarter, looks like an interesting idea for anyone regularly playing venues that don't supply a monitor. Be interesting to see how this develops. 

https://www.amonito.com/?fbclid=IwAR0AirFVSzpBCo3M4g6xK9fkKzv2FfFzUvFaH0WQul2x5SrIg74rxyUeuY4

[Dad3353]

It can be as good as it likes; at those prices I'll be keeping my current amps. 

[ezbass]

An interesting concept but, given the general fuddyduddiness of the majority of guitar players, I can’t see it catching on with the six string wielding majority, especially as it’s eye wateringly expensive. Thanks for sharing, nonetheless.

[EdwardMarlowe]

Agreed, I think we have a long way to go - price aside - before the inherently conservative guitar market catches up with newer tech. I can see this sort of thing gradually replacing existing digital modellers, though, as the price comes down, but it's a few years away from that I'm sure. Still, an interesting idea in that it combines the 'amp replacements' with a monitor, in effect. The ideas are out there - whether the market can be convinced is definitely another matter! 

 

[Matt P]

with many bands now going over to IEM's i think that on-stage speakers are going to become less common, many guitarists have already embraced technology with Kemper and Helix systems but i can't see many going for the all in one solution that Amonito are trying rather than a powered wedge monitor or one of the pedalboard power amps and then a speaker cab of their choice loaded with their favourite drivers.

 

as an aside i'm not a fan of their control layout with a master knob and then buttons to select the parameter being adjusted, if the space is being given for all the buttons i'd rather have more control knobs for fast on-the-fly adjustments, and the enclosure shape isn't to my taste, not an easy shape to package in a case or bag, something rectangular would be preferable to me (I am fairly old fashioned though and would always prefer a nice valve combo and a few carefully chosen pedals.)

 

Matt

 

EDIT - i've just had another look and they don't give a size for the speaker, as a rough guess looking at the other dimensions and the photographs it looks like a 8" one so it would have to be pretty efficient to make the most of the quoted 200W output, i'd be surprised if it was as "loud as your drummer" as they claim.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Matt P

[EdwardMarlowe]

1 hour ago, Matt P said:

with many bands now going over to IEM's i think that on-stage speakers are going to become less common, many guitarists have already embraced technology with Kemper and Helix systems but i can't see many going for the all in one solution that Amonito are trying rather than a powered wedge monitor or one of the pedalboard power amps and then a speaker cab of their choice loaded with their favourite drivers.

 

as an aside i'm not a fan of their control layout with a master knob and then buttons to select the parameter being adjusted, if the space is being given for all the buttons i'd rather have more control knobs for fast on-the-fly adjustments, and the enclosure shape isn't to my taste, not an easy shape to package in a case or bag, something rectangular would be preferable to me (I am fairly old fashioned though and would always prefer a nice valve combo and a few carefully chosen pedals.)

 

Matt

 

EDIT - i've just had another look and they don't give a size for the speaker, as a rough guess looking at the other dimensions and the photographs it looks like a 8" one so it would have to be pretty efficient to make the most of the quoted 200W output, i'd be surprised if it was as "loud as your drummer" as they claim.

Yes, the wattage did sound ambitious to me.  I suppose when you look at what the hifi and home cinema world has achieved in recent years in terms of depth of musicality/tone and speaker size, you would think that they should have a better grasp of these things, but I agree that as a guitar player it's instinctively difficult to equate a tiny speaker with big sound and good tone. I know home cinema / hifi stereo still seems like some kind of voodoo to me at time when I hear the quality of sound from some tiny (if not exactly cheap) speakers! 

Agree with you on knobs. That's long been the big plus to the Vox designs to me - minimal used of LED/LCD, more use of knobs. 

It's interesting to compare to the all in one. My go-to idea were I to play out again would be one of those Mooer pre-amp pedals and their power-amp pedal, and a separate speaker cam that could do the monitoring if a venue lacked one. That said, I could be lured by such an all-in one if it got to be cheap enough and the form-factor worked. It's interesting to see this sort of thing becoming more mainstream now, given I remember the howling about the original modellers being "fake" from outraged guitarists who reacted as if you'd told them guitars were being banned and replaced with keytar synths... I think practicality will win out for a lot of working musos adopting various 'non-amp' alternatives. Maybe it will even become a norm once there's a new generation of guitar heroes for kids to grow up with where the stack of speakers or big tweedy box aren't an integral part of the romanticised image. In between, we already have a lot of big names using these things on the quiet, but with a huge wall of cabs doing nothing other than looking good on stage. Be interesting to see who is the first to play regular stadium gigs openly using a pedal solution or a tiny amp.

I remember years ago seeing the backstage set-up of a guitar player from one of those big name old 70s bands - he was using a tiny 15 watt Marshall through the PA, but from an audience point of view he appeared to be using at least half a dozen 4x12s. If you could go back to 1969 and tell Hendrix one day that would be happening, you know what he'd have said? 

"SPEAK UP, CAT! I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MAN!"

(According to Eddie Kramer's biog, Hendrix was told shortly before he died he'd be stone deaf in two years' time if he carried on standing in front of two or three stacks turned as loud as that....). 

[Stub Mandrel]

On 28/08/2021 at 11:58, EdwardMarlowe said:

I agree that as a guitar player it's instinctively difficult to equate a tiny speaker with big sound and good tone.

 

My brother regularly posts videos on a Gibson forum. Often sat in front of a conspicuously unplugged-in Marshall stack.

 

He gets so many people asking what amp and pedals he's using, he now has a standard photo to use in reply.

 

It's a Blackstar Fly balanced on his hand

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Stub Mandrel

[EdwardMarlowe]

On 02/09/2021 at 14:06, Stub Mandrel said:

 

My brother regularly posts videos on a Gibson forum. Often sat in front of a conspicuously unplugged-in Marshall stack.

 

He gets so many people asking what amp and pedals he's using, he now has a standard photo to use in reply.

 

It's a Blackstar Fly balanced on his hand

 

 

That's a gorgeous guitar. Like a Gretsch knock-off of a Dano, if you follow me. 

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

That's a gorgeous guitar. Like a Gretsch knock-off of a Dano, if you follow me. 

 

Only £275 from GAK!

[EdwardMarlowe]

12 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Only £275 from GAK!

I've not tried the 2xxx series yet (not stumbled across any lefties), but at least online they look to be punching well above their price band.