Fishman Loudbox Micro – Big Amp Performance in a Compact Package
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There are amplifiers available for practically every purpose these days – from 200 watt tube rigs for stadium gigs through to battery powered novelty amps on belt clips, and yet despite this variety, one particular group of players has been underserved for far too long – acoustic players looking for small, low to mid powered amps.
The assumption has generally been that acoustic guitars don’t need amps for lower volume situations, and their inherent acoustic properties negate the need, and while this might be partly true, using an amplifier brings about so many other benefits than volume alone.
From EQ to subtle effects and microphone inputs, acoustic amps can make it so much easier for players to deliver dynamic performances, and compact models like the Fishman Loudbox Micro show that you don’t need a huge rig to get pro level sound quality.
In this KillerGuitarRigs Review, we’ll be taking a close look at the Loudbox Micro to see if it really lives up to the hype. We’ve been excited to get our hands on one of these since they were released at the back end of 2023, so we jumped at the chance when Sweetwater offered us one to try out. As always, Sweetwater requested no input whatsoever, and left the review entirely to us.
If you’re in the market for a compact acoustic amp, you won’t want to miss this!
Who Is This For?
The Fishman Loudbox Micro really works well for a pretty wide range of players and use cases. We think it’s a great choice as a practice amp for singer songwriters, mostly because of its compact size, and of course, its mic input.
It also makes a great choice for live performances in smaller venues. It’s got enough power to be heard over a small crowd and could realistically be used for jamming with a band, too.
One limiting factor we noted was the lack of battery power, which does mean it’s not ideal for street performers.
Appearance / Features / Controls
The Fishman Loudbox Micro really does look just like a smaller version of the full size Loudbox series amps. It had the same rock solid build quality, and was even wrapped in the same brown Tolex.
Did we mention this thing is compact? At 10.4” x 9.5” x 8.1”, and weighing in at just a hair over 9lb, the Loudbox Micro might be one of the most portable acoustic amp and PA combos on the market today. As such, it’s travel friendly, so whether you need to pack it in the trunk of your car, or carry it on a bus or train, you shouldn’t have a problem.
It’s a two channel amp, with one dedicated to an instrument input, and another for a mic via an XLR. On the back of the unit there are aux in and headphone out jacks (1/8”) and incredibly, even a mic DI output (XLR).
One of the coolest things about the Loudbox Micro had to be its massive array of controls on the top mounted panel. Usually with micro amps, we find that the manufacturers give an extremely limited control set, typically volume, maybe gain, and a single tone dial. In this case, it had separate controls for both the mic and instrument channels. On the mic section it had gain, bass and treble EQ controls, and even a reverb feature. For the guitar input, there was gain, a full 3 band EQ, as well as reverb and chorus effects.
Sound output came courtesy of a pair of speakers – a 5.25” poly cone woofer, and a 0.8” soft dome tweeter to handle the top end.
Performance / Sound
We’re yet to come across a Fishman amp we haven’t really enjoyed using, and thankfully the Loudbox Micro wasn’t the amp to change that. From ease of use to the overall sound quality, just about everything was fantastic.
In terms of tone, it was genuinely impressive. We found it to be crisp, and extremely organic feeling. It delivered a natural acoustic tone without any noticeable coloration. We were able to crank the volume all the way without any issues thanks to the built in feedback suppression, and we didn’t find that we needed to worry about our position in relation to the amp either – something anybody playing or practicing in tight spaces will really appreciate.
Even at lower volumes, we were able to complement the direct acoustic output of the guitar with a subtle touch of reverb and chorus when we didn’t need any amplification assistance. Speaking of the built in FX, both were really useable. We were able to dial in everything from “barely there” to some pretty noticeable echo with the reverb, and the chorus added a gorgeous shimmer.
Being able to shape our sound with the 3 band EQ was extremely handy, too. It gave us the ability to dampen some of the more dominant bass frequencies when playing dreadnoughts, giving us a more nuanced sound, and when playing through a parlor guitar, we were able to add just a little more body.
For vocals, it once again put in a solid performance. It did well with everything from soft speaking, through to some pretty throaty singing, and didn’t skip a beat. In fact, because of the impressive volume, and the aux input, we think it’d make a great little karaoke machine backup!
If we had to call out one thing that we were a bit disappointed with, it would be the power situation. Yes, it came with a 24v DC power adapter – but it had no battery power option, unlike a number of similar sized amps from competitors. If this had the ability to run on batteries, whether a built in rechargeable power source, or even AA or 9V cells, we think it would be the perfect street performance amp.
Final Thoughts
The Fishman Loudbox Micro has very quickly become one of our favorite acoustic amps. We don’t find ourselves needing to amplify acoustic guitars too often, so having something so portable and easy to use is genuinely helpful.
We thought that it looked great and sounded even better. When you consider how much flexibility it offers in terms of both guitar amp and PA performance for something so small, you quickly realize how much value for money it really offers. It’s not a cheap amp, but it’s competitively priced compared with alternatives from the likes of Boss, Yamaha, and Positive Grid, and if it had the flexibility of battery power, we think it would have been just about perfect.
