Schertler Unico vs AER 60 (vs Ashdown AA100)

Carlo Gentenaar · February 2017

Hi everyone,

I haven't been able to test this properly but I believe the 60 watts AER 60 amp (which I do not own) can go distinctively louder than my 200 watts Schertler Unico. Can anyone confirm this and if so, maybe explain how and why?

I am also curious about the Ashdown AA100, does anyone have experience with this amp? How does its sound and volume compare to the AER or Unico?

regards,

Carlo

MichaelHorowitz · February 2017

The wattage ratings on amps don't tell you much about the real world volume of the unit. The AER amps are the most efficient amps I've seen, with the Compact 60 being as loud as most 200w amps. However, this sort of performance comes at a cost. The AER is extremely midrangey and colored in tone. It lacks any sort of real bass response. It does really well with pickups like the Bigtone or Stimer but tends to mangle the sound of mics and other more natural sources. The Schertler amps are just the opppsite, almost completely flat in response with an amazing bass response. But you'll need a bigger unit to match the projection of the AER.

Bones · February 2017

Obviously, depends on what pickup you use with what amp. I really like the Schertler amp with the Schertler Dyn-g for guitar. It is not a pure acoustic sound like a traditional microphone but it is close (much better than a piezo) and also it is very dry and flat as Michael said. Works well for both rhythm and lead. The best part is it is very resistant to feedback (for an acoustic guitar amplification situation). Of course, all acoustic amps have feedback if not used properly or at too high volume but some are worse than others.

Carlo Gentenaar · February 2017

MichaelHorowitz wrote: »

However, this sort of performance comes at a cost. The AER is extremely midrangey and colored in tone. It lacks any sort of real bass response.

This is why I chose the Schertler Unico more bass gives it a nice warm sound and the AER's I'd heard all sounded as you say 'mid rangy' to me. But with all this bass my Schertler doesn't cut through the room like an AER does, unless I don't use the extra bass button, dial in lots of mid and not so much bass, then it gets way louder. But then I'm playing with the same 'mid rangy' sound as the AER's have which means I carried the extra weight of the Schertler to the gig for nothing, hmmm...

Bones · February 2017

Actually, if you are playing in a really noisy room use the low cut on the schertler to play at higher volume with even less feedback. If the room is that noisy that you have to cut thru, then worrying about micromanaging tone is a waste of time. You should worry about low feedback and being able to cut thru the ambient noise (like I'm assuming you are talking about a noisy bar or something) so just use the low cut and tone controls to shape the sound. If you are talking about playing in a big hall where you need volume to just be heard due to the size of the room (not the noisy crowd) that is a different thing but in that case wouldn't you be going into a PA with mains out front and small stage monitors anyway?

Carlo Gentenaar · February 2017

Bones wrote: »

If the room is that noisy that you have to cut thru, then worrying about micromanaging tone is a waste of time.

You're absolutely right about that and I am talking about a noisy crowd in any kind of room. The low-cut button is interesting, when I read your comment I wondered for a moment if my amp even had one, but it does and I can't imagine myself trying to fix a problem like this and not trying the low-cut option. So I think it didn't change much but I guess it's worth another shot. Thanx

Bones · February 2017

I've also thought about adding a equalizer between the pickup and amp so I can notch out the resonant (wolf tone) frequency (essentially a notch filter) but not sure if that would screw up something on the amp and since they are pricey I didn't try that.

Yup, amplifying acoustic instruments is hard.

Jazzaferri · February 2017

Unless you are using a parametric eq that has very fine gradations you might find that using a tone band as a notch filter will result in a rather odd sound

Carlo Gentenaar · February 2017

Bones wrote: »

I've also thought about adding a equalizer between the pickup and amp...

This makes me wonder what a parametric eq could fix about the 'mid rangy' sound of an AER amp (I assume you were talking about your Schertler). Has anyone ever tried that?

Bones · February 2017

Yeah on the Schertler. Was afraid to try it because didn't know if it would damage the input to the amp. Jazza yeah I have an eq with fairly fine granularity. Pretty cool little older unit. Just afraid to plug it into the amp since I don't know much about it.