AER mini PA

I tried a Bass Cube at the local dealer.

I was unable to give it a full workout but at the same time I wasn't impressed with the sound relative to the staggering price tag! It sounded good but no better than what I use already (WW head, Bergantino or Epifani cabs).

It's the sort of amp I would want to try on a few gigs before I laid down the $$$$. I have been meaning to go back and try it again

 

No, never played through an AI amp.

 

Here we are two months later and guess what...I played through an AER amp on a gig this weekend.

The amp in question was NOT the Basscube but the Domino, a much smaller amp in the AER line.

The Domino resembles the Basscube in the preamp section, having three channels two of which can accept either XLR mike or 1/4" instrument/line inputs (the third channel is 1/4" only). The Domino is much lower power (120 watts into two 8" coax speakers rather than 400 watts biamped into a 12" speaker plus tweeter) and lacks the compressor and notch filter features of the Basscube.

The gig was a string band: twin fiddles, guitar, banjo and string bass. Guitar, banjo and bass went direct into the AER, the fiddle and vocal mikes went through a small 4-channel mixer then into the AER. We were playing outside with the amp sitting on the grass behind us.

Even without using a buffer preamp, the bass tone was full with the EQ flat and the amp reproduced the whole band without breakup.

I was impressed enough that I think I will go back to the local dealer and try a Basscube out again

 

I had the opportunity to test an AER Basscube last week. I was very impressed with this little (but heavy) amp!

KN

 

Yeah, it is expensive.
The price in Europe (Belgium) is 2200€ (= 2200$).
Don't know the US price.

KN

 

It is heavy and expensive, and sounds pretty good with double bass, but is mediocre with bass guitar, so is not that hot for a doubler like me. I tried it at a doubling gig, but was not overly impressed. AER is primarily a line of amps for acoustic guitar, and they are extremely good at it, but their bass model does'nt do it for me.

 

I played a gig with a guitarist a few months ago and he was using this tiny little amp made by AER. It sounded unbelievable... so I went online and searched for more of their products. Turns out they make a bass combo amp called the "Basscube". And turns out this piece of equipment is unbelievably expensive -- around 2800 USD.

Has anyone here had any experience with AER or with their "Basscube"? I'm very intrigued by this company, since it appears to be very high-end and yet nobody ever mentions it....

 

w00t, thank you kindly sir

 

I had one of these amps a few years ago, and at the time,it was without doubt the best bass sound if had got out of an amp. It has three channels, and i used it on gigs where I used both acoustic and electric basses. The problem with it was that if the recomended volume level was exeeded and the amp started to distort, the power amp shut down. I was told that this was a design feature of a lot of high fi gear, and that it was designed into the construction of the amp to protect the speakers. I had the amp on trail for 2 gigs, and it shut down on both of them, crucially on the last and second to last number. I would rather have it distort than let me down, especially as it was only on half volume but on full bass, which is why apparently it overloaded. I returned it to the company ,and if they changed there design so that it didn't shut down , I would definitely think about getting one again.
I know a bassist in london who uses one , but he has got the extension cab( with extra built in power amp) to circumvent this problem. An expensive and heavy (weight) option,though.
You might think of getting a couple of Acoustic Image amps and cabs, a lighter and cheaper option, and i am told, sound really good.

 

the US distributor recommends the basic performer over the bass cube.
It is cheaper then the bass cube. I saw one online for around 1450.00.

I have not played thru one myself.

 

I tried one, and IMO it was not really suitable for double bass. It was a coloured sound, more suited to BG. The regular guitar models are pretty good though. I used to play in a jazz quartet plus female singer, and she used a little AER for her vocals. It was excellent for that.

 

Hi!
A friend of mine - double bass and bass-guitar player has Basic Performer, and he likes it very much.
Although it is not the lightest amp in the market , it sounds pretty natural and has many possibilities to re-create the sound. I played one concert on it, and liked it, too.
Warm regards
Pat

 

I guess you all might be interested in my opinion on that amp since I've been using one for at least 2 years (200+ gigs - 2 albums (+demoes) recorded with it)

First i have to say that I really like the sound of it, I bought it after trying it once with an EB and just loved the sound : precise lows, sparkling highs and just enough mid control to color your sound.

With my UB (+shadow 950 transducer [a cheap imitation of an underwood] first, + David Gage Realist today) it just sounds easy: Plug it in and there goes your sound! If you want more lows, just turn the bass knob, more highs? just turn another knob! as simple as that, you never need to correct the sound, you just actually CHOOSE.

there are quite a few push buttons that will bring contour or a nice "modern" brilliance, sometimes useful if you want precision, they are question of taste.

It has 2 channels, most functions are switchable w/ optionnal footswitch which makes it very versatile, you can change your sound very quick etc. there's a built in compressor (never really used it) and a terribly efficient notch filter.

The main flaw of that amp (besides its weight: when you see it you expect an easily portable amp, well, it is not!) is its fragility. Here I have to pause to let you know that it has gone a lot of gigs, including some with the bass + an accordion in the aux input + mpc200 in the effects return + vocals in another channel. The amp survived these gigs but after a year of use I had to change one of the Beyma twin-cone speakers (there are 4 of them) I have another one that's dead now.
I don't recommend that amp if you intend to use it with an UB + octaver as I do : the speakers don't stand it, maybe a basscube will, the basic just doesn't.

I see this thread is a bit old, so I leave my review here, let me know if you want to know more.