AER amp or BOSE COMPACT...?

Dario Napoli

So, I've just been wondering what the majority of people think here.
Like everyone I love the natural sound of the guitar so I've always tried to use an audiotechnica mic on my guitar instead of the piezo in live settings. I've tried both the AER Compact and the Bose Compact systems but can't seem to make up my mind since every time seems different.
Has anyone tried both and have a definite opinion/suggestion? Is there maybe a particular AER model that is overall better suited for the gypsy jazz sound?
Thanks!

icyhot

I know you posted this a while ago and your questions may have been answered, but I have some experience with both, mainly the Bose compact which I own. I've gigged with the Aer though.
I bought the Bose to use as PA for my band because we all sing, but the base unit works great as a personal amp as well, with the only drawback being the weight at close to 30bs. The Bose sounds really natural and gets really loud too, even without setting up the tower. You can plug an AT or bigtone in directly and it sounds good. I use the baggs venue preamp for more eq (use the phase switch with AT mics for feedback control) and volume. At $1000 street price it's very versatile as a PA system with a mixer or as just a guitar amp. I don't miss the eq because I use the preamp. It's much more portable than a typical PA system, and it disperses the sound nicely throughout the room. For smaller gigs I just bought a Phil jones cub (11lbs) which sounds great and gets good volume for its size with a higher gain bigtone.
The AER is only around 18lbs i believe which is really nice, but sounds kinda harsh to my ears. I've never tried it with a mic but it's supposed to sound better with a bigtone. I should say I prefer a more natural sound to a guitar amp sound if that makes sense. It's a tough decision among sound quality, volume, and portability. IMO the Bose (and the schertler Unico) have the first two, the aer has the last two, and the cub has quality and portability. Haven't found something with all three.

Dario Napoli

Thanks for your input! Lately I've been going through a Roland amp with a Audiotechnica 831 mic, with the amp place up high and as far as back as possible and it seems to be working quite consistently. I might eventually get an AER just because it has a bit more punch but also might not.
Ciao!

Archtop Eddy

Curious... which Roland amp are you using?

Dario Napoli

It's a AC 33. My brother had it laying around and wasn't using it. I was thinking about the AER but it's 3 times more expensive (I eventually think I'll get it anyway). This one doesn't have phantom so I go into a basic PA first and then through to the Roland and the sound is much better than what I expected