Yeah to my Accugrooves!! thanks to the forum....

[bhodaway10]

Hey guys - I thought I'd share my throughts on the Accugrooves I just got. I thought of posting it in the EV vs Accugroove forum but I couldn't test drive the EV360's (more on that later).

 

I'd like to thank SK, WDL, MateStubb, Hammond Dave, Jazz+, and many more for answering my numerous questions regarding the AG's and EV's. Hopefully, I can be as helpful as them and my post on will help some people.

 

After buying my Roland KC350 years back, I knew it didn't make my P250 sound like a realistic piano. It was all I could afford back then but after purchasing my Nord C1 about half a year ago, I looked to upgrade my amp situation as well.

 

An important thing for me was to have a speaker that would handle my LH bass on the Nord C1. A rotating speaker is a priority but getting one would do nothing for my wedding band or piano trio. I think for acoustic piano only, a combo amp might suffice.

 

I originally wanted to just upgrade to a better combo amp. However, all of the ones I tried either weren't loud enough or low enough for my purposes. Roland SA300 - nice, portable, bass sounded processed, only good for very low volume gigs. Motion Sound Kp200s - nice amp, heavy, needs the sub. I really wanted to try out the Kp500sn but there are lots of delays regarding the unit and I never got a chance to try it. The Traynor was untestable in my area and a friend who has the GrooveStation has sent two back for quality issues regarding it.

 

I realized that a PA type style amp would be the most versatile system for my needs. I can use it as a single source amp for my piano and organ trios and also as a PA for my wedding bands and larger venues with singers, etc. I could also use one if space was really an issue.

 

I originally tried the Eon15's and didn't like it's mid range and hi sound. It is however, VERY versatile with the mini mixer on the back.

 

I really wanted to try and like the Ev 360's. They are powered and light. Unfortunately, I couldn't test drive a pair with my keyboards. More than a few places tried to get me a test pair but now after two months, they still aren't here. The rest of the places I was at the mercy of return policies.

 

Luckily, after scouring craigslist, I came across two AG 112l's being sold by a local jazz bass player. I picked them up for a great price (tax is 8.5% here!) and then picked up a QSC PLX1804 from a friend's store and a Mackie Mixer for $79 due to a sale at GC. All told, I was able to get my system for less than the price of two new EV's.

 

I used my system on a gig Friday and all I can say is WOW!! The sound was VERY clean. When I used to play w/ my inferior amp, parts of the top manual became muddy. Now, both manuals were easy to play. LH bass was full with no distortion as well. The leslie effect in stereo was also very cool. =) A nice thing about having two speakers is that I could place one near my drummer and in back of me. It was almost like a monitor in his ear. (Usually I like to sit in the middle but at this venue, the guitar player sits in the middle).

 

The Accugroove's do have a bigger footprint than other amps. However, they're very light (I can carry one in both hands) and I just place the QSC and mixer on top of one AG. It's interesting to note that every other combo amp would have needed two pieces except for the yet to be released KP500sn or Traynor K4 which my other friend told me had little stereo separation.

 

Buying an amp is difficult because it's hard to hear each amp next to each other. The larger stores, Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. SHOULD have all of these together so we could compare them easily but every GC in my area . Hearing an account from a musician like us really helps.

 

Thanks guys!!

 

Brian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jazz+]

Congratulations! It just occured to me to ask do theAGs have built in holes in the bottom to mount up on poles? Half my gigs require me to fly my EVs up on the inexpensive poles I always keep in the trunk of my car because the events are in such large spaces that I really need to project.

[mate stubb]

Congratulations! It just occured to me to ask do theAGs have built in holes in the bottom to mount up on poles? Half my gigs require me to fly my EVs up on the inexpensive poles I always keep in the trunk of my car because the events are in such large spaces that I really need to project.

 

Jazz: you can get pole mounts on your AGs if you ask. I had mine built with them and it set me back a whopping additional $25.

[Bobadohshe]

Congrats Brian. It's so fun and satisfying to go into a gig knowing that you'll have enough firepower to sound good at a loud level. And you're right about your rig being effectively an onstage monitor for the rest of the musicians. My drummer can finally hear me on stage and it's great. It's nice to control your own destiny and not be at the mercy of some sound guy.

 

I am going through a situation now where I've had this rig for over a year and a half, and now I'm a little tired of schlepping all that stuff everywhere. It's just so many trips to the car and more over, a much longer setup time. I'm thinking about picking up a KC-550 for situations where hi fidelity/stage monitoring isn't going to be an issue.

 

Still, when I need them, it's so nice to have the AGs at my disposal.

[kanker.]

Bobadoshe - if you're going to spend that much, spend the extra to get an EON15 G2 or a Mackie SRM45 v2 or even see if you can find any of the last generation Mackies which were being blown out for about $550 or less. The KC's are such crap, you don't want to waste your money on them.

 

Congrats on the new kit bhodaway10!

[Bobadohshe]

There was a used KC-550 hanging around Advanced Music Electronics in L.A. last time I was there. It was going for $300 or so. I would want something with multiple inputs. Trust me K, I know the KC series well, and I know my AGs well too.

 

But I didn't even think about an EON. It would be lighter and more portable that's for sure. I'll have to see if there are any cheap ones hanging around.

[bhodaway10]

Bobby, what about bringing just one ag? I believe Sk does that sometimes.

 

Btw, the kp500sn's last retail price was $1800. Ouch!

 

 

[Bobadohshe]

Sometimes I do use just one. But if I'm bringing my QSC rack and one AG, I might as well bring the two AGs. It's not the extra speaker that's a hassle, it's just the setup time and pain when load ins are hurried or you have to cart your stuff over long distances. I'm not complaining though, Southern California load ins pale in comparison to something like an NYC load in in the winter.

[moj]

There's a $100 rebate if you purchase an Eon. A good savings for a new one. Rebate ends Sept. 30.

[montunoman]

Congrats bhodaway- Like you, I spent a good part of my summer trying to find some new amplification. Yeah it would be nice if GC carried all the stuff we need or at least didn't charge such high "re-stock" charges

 

Bodadohshe- I just got a Roland SA 300. It's lite weight and has a good sound with decent stereo separation- has 4 out puts. Some feel its not loud enough but it's plenty loud for all the gigs I do. They're hard to find and a bit pricy but I was lucky enough to find a used one at about half the new price.

[HammondDave]

Great aquisition on those Accugrooves. I am glad you are happy. It seems that the best two options for keyboard players are the EV 360's and the Accugroove 112's. I love my EV's... which brings me to this embarrassing story...

 

Two weeks ago my band played for the Long Beach Blues Festival After Party. I was setting up my rig and the leader of the band insisted that I join him for a ride as he had an errand to run. I was not finished hooking everything up and told him that I would have to be back soon as I needed least 15 minutes to finish.

 

When we arrived back at the gig I was having a bit of difficulty plugging the right components in. See, I have a GEM RPX and it runs into the EFX return of My Pro XK system, then out to my Speakeasy AMA, then right into my EV's. When I finally figured it out and sound was eminating from the speakers, we were past due to start our first set (which is mostly acoustic piano then moving to B3).

 

The sound was quite distorted and I couldnt figure out why. I turned down all the knobs on the Speakeasy, the distortion on the XK3C was all the way off (which would affect the RPX as it was going through the efx chain). Nothing seemed to help. The acoustic piano sounded more like a distorted wurlie, and the organ was really heavily distorted.

 

During our break I re-checked all the connections and even changed out cables. Nothing helped. Our second set started (which is much heavier) so it was less noticable. When we called Pinetop Perkins up to jam I was terribly embarrased that he had to play with that crappy piano sound. But being the consumate gentleman that he is, nothing kept him from putting on a good show.

 

When he stepped down I finished out the set and struggled again to find the mystery during the break. Finally I noticed it. I had recently sent my Speakeasy back to Steve Hayes to upgrade it and Steve added an overdrive toggle switch (which I never use) that had inadvertantly flipped up... When I returned the switch to its proper position everything sounded as sweet as it usually does.

 

Lessons learned: 1. Do not leave yourself with too little time to set up. 2. Never go to "run an errand" with the leader of the band. 3. If you have a complicated set-up, use a checklist.

[bhodaway10]

That sucks Dave! With power amps, preamps, mixers, etc there is a lot more things to do than just plug in and play. The results are much cleaner and better but sometimes I feel like I'm bringing almost as much gear as a drummer. =)

 

I liked the SA300 so much better than my KC350. At half the price of a new one, it's a great deal!!!

 

As for guitar center, etc not having all of the amps it truly is annoying. The GC near me never has any hammond gear, motion sound, leslies, etc.

 

I wish I could have tried the EV360's. Bringing a power amp IS another thing to carry. However, the 3 way speakers helped with the mid's - I just couldn't get a good sound out of those Eon's.

 

SK recommended not to use a heavy rack case because it's another thing to carry. The place I got the amp from let me borrow a grundorf rack case for free. It's protective but heavy. It's too long for the amp but I am able to tuck some of the cables into the back w/o disconnecting it (If I had shorter speakon cables (the ones I got are 25 feet and 50 feet) they would all fit inside the case.

 

I wish they had something similar to a rack bag that would allow for a mixer to be placed on top in a zippered bag w/ a removable top......

 

 

 

 

 

.