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I have a tendency to include references, appositions, and other errata in my text as I write. As I realize that not everyone cares for such digressions, however, I generally "hide" them in scripts. To access this "additional information," just click on the boldfaced text. To expand all errata at once (brave soul!), click here.
Gear Review: The Fishman SoloAmp SA220 (2/2)
[part 2 of 2--read part one here]
The "Cons": I hesitate a bit with the word "cons" because I've found that the SA220 does what it's designed to do very well. The problems come up when you try to get it to do something beyond that. With this in mind, the major limiting factor I've found with the SoloAmp is feedback. I like the sound of a mic'd guitar, preferably when that mic is a condenser. The SoloAmp can accommodate this arrangement quite well (it does have built in phantom power, after all), but there's a trade-off that ends up being made in terms of volume. The SA220 does have some feedback-fighting features (the notch filter and a phase shift button), but I haven't found either of these to be particularly helpful with the kind of feedback I get from close-miking (either with a condenser or a dynamic microphone). The frequency of the feedback is just too high. The upshot of this is that with a mic'd guitar, I can only crank the master up to about nine o'clock (a bit over 1/4 of the sweep of the knob).
Now, with non-feedback prone devices--like a guitar with pick-ups, or a CD player--the SA220 has lots of volume. But mic feedback is a reality of live performance--and I can't very well blame the brains at Fishman for not being able to revoke the laws of physics. With a standard PA, of course, you just make sure that your mic is behind the main speaker cabs (and set up a monitor so you can hear what's coming through the mains) and you can get a lot more volume. The SA220, however, is designed to eliminate the need for a monitor by having a very wide dispersal pattern and allowing you to hear what the audience hears. This is its advantage and its limitation.
What it comes down to is this: if you're close-miking a guitar (as I do), it is an excellent rig for medium sized gigs where you need moderate volume, clarity, and wide dispersion. If you need to blow your audience into next week with volume, you need to either be using pick-ups (which are much less prone to feedback) or look into something that is more directional.
An Experimental Aside: Incidentally, I did experiment with hooking up a small practice amplifier to the "tuner out" jack (channel one only) on the back of the SA220 (yet another cool feature--the DI out was a bit too "hot," but this one was perfect). Even when I was well behind the SoloAmp, I could still only eke out just another hair of volume before feedback. This doesn't do much to help one's volume options, but I did notice--even from back there--that the sound out of the unit was quite good. There was less high end, but even an audience member sitting well off axis will still get a good ear full of what's coming out of the front. The other thing I noticed in this experiment was that if I ever did decide I needed another speaker in "the loop," the tuner out and a practice amp is one way to make this happen.
Customer Support
There was a certain point in my experimentation of trying to work out the delicacies of volume and feedback when I began to wonder if there might not be a problem with my SoloAmp in particular--maybe it was especially sensitive or otherwise abnormally crotchety. I've been taught well by corporate America that "customer support" lines are generally--at best--an exercise in futility (and at worst homicide catalysts). Against my better judgment, however, I decided to give the Fishman customer service line a ring to see if they had any ideas for me. I was (and still am) amazed at the result. Listen:
I dialed the number on the Fishman website and right off the bat got an actual person--no automated system, no "muzak." I gave her the brief version of my question and she immediately transferred me to another person. This fellow (Frank--his actual name) listened to my problem and told me that my unit was fine; what I had was a feedback problem and that while a different mic might help a bit, that it was just a reality of live sound. Frank, of course (or so I now know), was right, but I wasn't so sure at the time so I pressed the issue.
Instead of telling me to get lost and stop wasting his time (as I might well have done in his shoes), he said that the only thing he could think of was that there could possibly be a problem with the tweeter and that if I would record the problem and email it to him he would give it a listen and help me work it out. There was no run around about warranty or extended service agreements; this guy was actually interested in hearing me out (even if I might have been a crack-pot) and making things right.
Well, needless to say, before recording my MP3, I ran the SA220 through another couple of tests (one of which was playing a CD through it an seeing if the problem replicated itself beyond the feedback loop--Frank's idea) and it turns out the unit was perfectly fine. When I emailed Frank back to tell him that everything checked out hardware-wise and thank him for his time, he emailed me back and suggested that a parametric EQ might help fix the feedback problem I was having.
From what I've seen so far, the SoloAmp is a sturdy and well-built piece of equipment, so, the above question now resolved, I have renewed faith in it. If there were any problems, however--based on the experience I've related above--this is a company I would want to have helping me through them. Actual "customer service" seems to be a rare find these days; it's a nice discovery when it pops up.
And Finally!
So what do I think overall? This is a great rig for small and medium sized venues. In a medium-sized space I can get the clarity that comes with a condenser mic and the wide dispersion of sound that comes with a line array (i.e. the SA220). This means that I can be heard well by people up front and in the back as well as those both right in front of the amp and those off-axis. It's a small package to lug around, takes up a minimum of space, and sets up in less time than it takes my first drink to arrive.
In a slightly larger (or just louder) room I can get a few more dB out by switching to a dynamic mic; there's a bit of a loss of clarity, but not so much as there is a gain in volume. (A review on mics is soon to follow, by the way). The SoloAmp also has lots of expandability options so if there's the possibility of plugging into a second remote amp or a house sound system, I won't be wanting for a suitable output.
In sum, if you like to close-mic and you need a ton of sound or something for a really noisy, cavernous, or otherwise unruly environment, this is probably not the amp for you. But that's not really what the SA220 is designed for. For cafés, lounges, receptions, and small clubs the SoloAmp is spot on for portability and design, is extremely versatile, and otherwise and all around just sounds great.
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