Fishman Loudbox Mini Acoustic Amplifier

Larry Fishman has been associated with the design and manufacture of quality transducers since 1981. I myself have marvelled at some of his creations, including the amazing acoustic tone coming out the Fishman Powerbridge in Dan Hawkins' (of the Darkness) Les Paul at their last Melbourne show.

This issue, we're checking out the Loudbox Mini, a lightweight acoustic amp, pumping out 60 watts of clean power. Out of the box, she's a classy looking thing, the vintage coffee cream colour scheme serving as a real treat to the ol' corneas, and even though this is advertised as Fishman's most lightweight and portable amp, it weighs in at just under 20 lbs, with a solid, robust feel and quality components.

Behind the grill a combination of a 6.5” woofer and 1” tweeter pushes the air, and the amp kicks back at a nice angle so you can hear the presence coming off it, and even though the dimensions are quite small (34.5 x 30.5 x 24.7cm), this amp still packs serious punch.

There are two channels onboard, one for your instrument and the other for your microphone with an XLR input. Also included is a ¼” and mini-jack (for iPod) input and a mixed D.I. output to capture your performance when recording or to send your mix to another device (like a mixing desk). Channel one sports a ¼” passive and active input, feedback-reducing phase switch, gain, a three-band EQ (Low, Mid, High), a long digital reverb and dual-function chorus. Channel two is a lot simpler with a passive XLR input (for dynamic microphones only), gain, two-band EQ (Low and High) and digital reverb.

I tested the Loudbox Mini by plugging in an acoustic guitar and setting up mic on a stand for an “unplugged” session at home. My initial reaction to the Loudbox was that it lives up to its name, being very loud and clear, with tonnes of headroom. The infamous Fishman “shine” pours out of this unit, and plugging in and leaving the gain flat was a marvellous place to start. Even though I didn't need to touch the EQ to get a killer tone, the three bands on the instrument channel are very musical, wide and never unpleasant, even when cranked up. When feedback started to become an issue, the phase switch helped to cancel it out a bit.

The onboard digital reverb is pure bliss; long, wet and hall-like, to add some sparkle to an already magical preamp, and there is more reverb here than one shall ever require. I'll also state th,at for the record, I'm not a big fan of chorus, unless it's an old, warm analogue chorus like a Boss CE-1, so I was quite happy to add a little hint of chorus, for a touch more dimension. The vocal channel was also pretty decent, and you can rock it pretty loud if you have a decent dynamic mic. I plugged in my Sennheiser 945 and dug the loud, crisp air coming off it. Again, even at a flat EQ setting, vocals sat beautifully over my acoustic, and the lack of a mid cut or boost wasn't missed at all.

The Fishman Loudbox Mini sets a new standard in acoustic amplification, especially for the price you'll pay for it. It's extremely powerful and portable. Perfect for rehearsals and jam sessions, as well as improving the quality of monitoring at gigs.