<\/title>\n<\/head>\n<body>\nSchertler Unico<\/strong> \nTested by Art Thompson \nGuitar Player<\/em> May 2004 \n \nSchertler-a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality\nacoustic pickups since 1988-\nrecently unveiled a new version of its Unico\nacoustic amplifier, which now features a\nbi-amped output stage (one amp delivers\n150 watts to the bass speaker, and another\npumps 35 watts into the dome tweeter). A\ncompact wonder with four independent\nchannels, the Unico resembles a small P.A.\nspeaker. It has a laminated wood cabinet, a\nscuff-resistant textured finish, and a recep-tacle\nfor stand mounting. All of the controls\nand I\/O are top mounted, and a recessed,\nspring-loaded handle is located on one side.\nThanks to its relatively light weight and\ncentrally located handle, the Unico is easy\nto carry-although you have to be careful\nwhen picking it up, as the cabinet can\nswing around and bonk you on the shin.\nThe Unico’s control panel is equipped to\naccommodate a variety of input sources:\ndynamic and condenser microphones, pick-up-\nequipped guitars (and other stringed\ninstruments), and such high-output\ndevices as CD players, effects processors,\nkeyboards, etc. Here is a summary of each\nchannel’s features:\n \n \n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schertlerusa.com\/images\/photos\/unico.gif\" alt=\"\"\nalign=\"right\" border=\"0\" height=\"240\" width=\"169\">Mic:<\/strong>\nXLR input; High, Mid, Low con-trols;\n48-volt phantom power; Reverb and\nVolume. \n \nDyn:<\/strong> XLR and q ” inputs; High, Low,\nResonance controls; 10-volt phantom\npower; Reverb and Volume.\n \n \nStat:<\/strong> q ” input; High and Low controls;\nWarm switch; Reverb and Volume.\n \n \nLine:<\/strong> q ” input; High, Mid, Low controls;\nReverb and Volume.\n \n \n \nIn addition, the Unico has a Master sec-tion\nwith an XLR direct out, a q ” line out,\na q ” stereo (TRS) insert jack (distributes\nsignal from an external processor to all\noutputs), a q ” aux out with level control, a\nLow Cut switch (attenuates frequencies\nbelow 150Hz, while maintaining full band-width\nat the outputs), and Master Reverb\nand Volume knobs. Having all the controls\nand I\/O laid out mixer-style on the top of\nunit is very convenient, as it allows you to\neasily make adjustments and\/or change\nconnections while seated by or standing\nabove the unit.\n \n \nWith its 35 additional watts and more\nefficient power distribution, the new Unico\nsounds even better than its predecessor.\nTested with a Martin D-28 fitted with a\nSunrise soundhole pickup, a Takamine\nEAN16C (equipped with Tak’s new Cool\nTube electronics), and a Hamer Improv, the\nUnico delivered clear, focused tones with\nminimal fuss. The Dyn and Stat channels\nworked well with the acoustic guitars, clearly\nrevealing the attributes of their respective\npickup systems with little added coloration.\nThe EQ power on these channels is consid-erable-\nin particular, the Dyn channel’s\nResonance control offers dramatic midrange\nshaping-and while I didn’t need to activate\nthe Warm switch with any of my test\nguitars, this low-pass filter (which nukes\nhigh-frequency content) could be useful for\nsmoothing out the plasticky tones that\nplague many piezo-equipped instruments.\nThe Dyn and Stat channels can be pushed\ninto distortion by high-output active elec-tronics,\nand if your instrument is so\nequipped, you can always plug into the Line\nchannel, which, handily, features its own\n3-band EQ. The well-implemented reverb is\nspacious sounding and surprisingly non-sproingy\nfor a spring design. Even when\ndimed, it adds only a miniscule amount of\nnoise to this already quiet amp.\n \n \nCompared with a Fishman Loudbox\n(reviewed March, ’04), the Unico sounded\nsomewhat more pristine and hi-fi, but\ncouldn’t get as loud or muster the midrange\nmuscle of the Loudbox. Putting it another\nway, the Unico sounded more like a refer-ence\nmonitor while the Loudbox sounded\nmore like a ballsy stage amp. (Not surpris-ing\nconsidering the Loudbox’s 250 watts of\ntri-amped power and dedicated midrange\ndriver.) The Unico also costs nearly twice as\nmuch as the Loudbox, but with three more\nchannels, it obviously provides a greater\ndegree of flexibility.\n \n \n \n \nUNICO FOR YOU?<\/strong>\n \n \nThe Unico is a well made and intelligently\ndesigned amp for players who desire a\ncompact unit that can accommodate a vari-ety\nof instruments, outboard gear, and\nmics. It’s like a miniature P.A. system in\nthis regard, and its power and speaker\ncomplement make it ideal for small rooms\nor as a personal monitor on a big stage.\nThe accuracy of the Unico’s sound ensures\nthat the personality of your instrument\ncomes through loud and clear, and that\nfactor alone makes it a worthy choice for\nanyone with a high-end guitar and a\nsophisticated pickup system. The Unico\neven sounds great for cello and upright\nbass, so if you need an amp that can deal\nwith a lot of different situations, this little\npowerhouse is a cool choice.\n<\/body>\n<\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schertler Unico Tested by Art Thompson Guitar Player May 2004 Schertler-a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality acoustic pickups since 1988- recently unveiled a new version of its Unico acoustic amplifier, which now features a bi-amped output stage (one amp delivers 150 watts to the bass speaker, and another pumps 35 watts into the dome tweeter). A […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-site-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":61,"date":"2004-03-05T13:47:11","date_gmt":"2004-03-05T13:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/?p=61"},"modified":"2004-03-05T13:47:11","modified_gmt":"2004-03-05T13:47:11","slug":"schertler_unico_review-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/schertler_unico_review-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Schertler Unico Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<\/title>\n<\/head>\n<body>\nSchertler Unico<\/strong> \nTested by Art Thompson \nGuitar Player<\/em> May 2004 \n \nSchertler-a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality\nacoustic pickups since 1988-\nrecently unveiled a new version of its Unico\nacoustic amplifier, which now features a\nbi-amped output stage (one amp delivers\n150 watts to the bass speaker, and another\npumps 35 watts into the dome tweeter). A\ncompact wonder with four independent\nchannels, the Unico resembles a small P.A.\nspeaker. It has a laminated wood cabinet, a\nscuff-resistant textured finish, and a recep-tacle\nfor stand mounting. All of the controls\nand I\/O are top mounted, and a recessed,\nspring-loaded handle is located on one side.\nThanks to its relatively light weight and\ncentrally located handle, the Unico is easy\nto carry-although you have to be careful\nwhen picking it up, as the cabinet can\nswing around and bonk you on the shin.\nThe Unico’s control panel is equipped to\naccommodate a variety of input sources:\ndynamic and condenser microphones, pick-up-\nequipped guitars (and other stringed\ninstruments), and such high-output\ndevices as CD players, effects processors,\nkeyboards, etc. Here is a summary of each\nchannel’s features:\n \n \n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schertlerusa.com\/images\/photos\/unico.gif\" alt=\"\"\nalign=\"right\" border=\"0\" height=\"240\" width=\"169\">Mic:<\/strong>\nXLR input; High, Mid, Low con-trols;\n48-volt phantom power; Reverb and\nVolume. \n \nDyn:<\/strong> XLR and q ” inputs; High, Low,\nResonance controls; 10-volt phantom\npower; Reverb and Volume.\n \n \nStat:<\/strong> q ” input; High and Low controls;\nWarm switch; Reverb and Volume.\n \n \nLine:<\/strong> q ” input; High, Mid, Low controls;\nReverb and Volume.\n \n \n \nIn addition, the Unico has a Master sec-tion\nwith an XLR direct out, a q ” line out,\na q ” stereo (TRS) insert jack (distributes\nsignal from an external processor to all\noutputs), a q ” aux out with level control, a\nLow Cut switch (attenuates frequencies\nbelow 150Hz, while maintaining full band-width\nat the outputs), and Master Reverb\nand Volume knobs. Having all the controls\nand I\/O laid out mixer-style on the top of\nunit is very convenient, as it allows you to\neasily make adjustments and\/or change\nconnections while seated by or standing\nabove the unit.\n \n \nWith its 35 additional watts and more\nefficient power distribution, the new Unico\nsounds even better than its predecessor.\nTested with a Martin D-28 fitted with a\nSunrise soundhole pickup, a Takamine\nEAN16C (equipped with Tak’s new Cool\nTube electronics), and a Hamer Improv, the\nUnico delivered clear, focused tones with\nminimal fuss. The Dyn and Stat channels\nworked well with the acoustic guitars, clearly\nrevealing the attributes of their respective\npickup systems with little added coloration.\nThe EQ power on these channels is consid-erable-\nin particular, the Dyn channel’s\nResonance control offers dramatic midrange\nshaping-and while I didn’t need to activate\nthe Warm switch with any of my test\nguitars, this low-pass filter (which nukes\nhigh-frequency content) could be useful for\nsmoothing out the plasticky tones that\nplague many piezo-equipped instruments.\nThe Dyn and Stat channels can be pushed\ninto distortion by high-output active elec-tronics,\nand if your instrument is so\nequipped, you can always plug into the Line\nchannel, which, handily, features its own\n3-band EQ. The well-implemented reverb is\nspacious sounding and surprisingly non-sproingy\nfor a spring design. Even when\ndimed, it adds only a miniscule amount of\nnoise to this already quiet amp.\n \n \nCompared with a Fishman Loudbox\n(reviewed March, ’04), the Unico sounded\nsomewhat more pristine and hi-fi, but\ncouldn’t get as loud or muster the midrange\nmuscle of the Loudbox. Putting it another\nway, the Unico sounded more like a refer-ence\nmonitor while the Loudbox sounded\nmore like a ballsy stage amp. (Not surpris-ing\nconsidering the Loudbox’s 250 watts of\ntri-amped power and dedicated midrange\ndriver.) The Unico also costs nearly twice as\nmuch as the Loudbox, but with three more\nchannels, it obviously provides a greater\ndegree of flexibility.\n \n \n \n \nUNICO FOR YOU?<\/strong>\n \n \nThe Unico is a well made and intelligently\ndesigned amp for players who desire a\ncompact unit that can accommodate a vari-ety\nof instruments, outboard gear, and\nmics. It’s like a miniature P.A. system in\nthis regard, and its power and speaker\ncomplement make it ideal for small rooms\nor as a personal monitor on a big stage.\nThe accuracy of the Unico’s sound ensures\nthat the personality of your instrument\ncomes through loud and clear, and that\nfactor alone makes it a worthy choice for\nanyone with a high-end guitar and a\nsophisticated pickup system. The Unico\neven sounds great for cello and upright\nbass, so if you need an amp that can deal\nwith a lot of different situations, this little\npowerhouse is a cool choice.\n<\/body>\n<\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schertler Unico Tested by Art Thompson Guitar Player May 2004 Schertler-a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality acoustic pickups since 1988- recently unveiled a new version of its Unico acoustic amplifier, which now features a bi-amped output stage (one amp delivers 150 watts to the bass speaker, and another pumps 35 watts into the dome tweeter). A […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-site-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}