Gear Report - Schertler GIULIA Y Amp

Quick report about a new amp I obtained recently and am sort of over the moon about. But first, for probably 25 years I've been toting a 2 1/2' tall Trace Elliot amp to gigs, hefting it in the back of my car, wheeling it in and out of the house on a little two-wheeler cart. I hate schlepping gear but that thing was a monster and served me well. Not sure what it weights but easily 35 lbs I'd think.

I became intrigued with Schertler products a long time ago and, caveat--they advertise on this site--so take that as you may. You'll notice I rarely make posts like this. So it had become time to scale down in weight but I didn't want to give up the big sound the Trace Eliot provided. All the guys I was playing with had amps 1/5 the size. Settled sight unseen on Schertler's small GIULIA Y amp. There's a reason they're known for their superb quality and I got wind gypsy jazz cats in Europe were using this one for club dates. Good enough for them, good enough for a mandolin player I thought.

My setup for this is I have an ancient (but wonderful sounding) AKG C406 microphone and a custom-made rig that mounts over the tailpiece and extends the mic up towards the treble F-hole on my Nugget. There, I have a real acoustic sound, lots of control and all the volume I could ever need for 99% of the gigs I play, usually small outdoor events, weddings, clubs, etc.

Here's what that custom mount attachment looks like and I've been talking about this on the Cafe since 1996, one of the oldest single pages on the site.

https://www.mandolincafe.com/images/mic.jpg

Here's the amp, picture taken from the Schertler web site:

Attachment 165190

What I like about this amp, why I'm posting this:

• It's small, compact, and comparably light compared to what I had.
• Affordable, in my opinion
• Great sound, particularly warm mid tones... I want a mandolin that still sounds like an acoustic mandolin when amplified. This allows my Nugget to sound exactly the way I hear it, only amplified.
• Simple to use--I'm not necessarily an electronics/P.A. geek so this really works for me.
• And, well, it looks great, also my opinion. A local amp guy at a gig this weekend flipped over it. Said one of the best crafted cabinets he'd ever seen.

So there's also another reason I'm posting this. I was so impressed by it that I asked the rep Drago at the NAMM Show if they'd consider doing one as a giveaway. They were enthusiastic and said yes, and a version of this in black is sitting in the Cafe office this moment, so after we finish this Collings MT2 giveaway this will probably be next.

I know there are a lot of great small amps out there and the technology has really advanced. This post is not to suggest anything other than how pleased I am with my purchase, that's all. Lots of good gear to be had.

Link to all the specs, questions you may have.

Taking an eyeball approach, I'd say the face is 1' x 1' and about 9" deep.

Yes! Epic giveaways, thank you!

I have a Collings MT2 and a Scherter Unico - two of my favorite purchases ever!

I have an old Trace that has two speakers, these days I prefer to go into the PA, and only take the Trace to be used as a monitor. I have looked at the Schertler amps years ago, may have to relook. Everyone is playing thru a small amp and then into the PA making it harder for someone like me without an amp to hear myself on stage.

Love those compact amps. I recently picked up a Henriksen Bud amp for all of the same reasons. Compact (9” x 9” x 9”), powerful (120 W), lightweight (17 lbs.) and sounds fantastic. It has 2 identical channels, balanced/unbalanced, reverb and a tweeter shutoff for when I want to play jazz on my arch top with a magnetic pickup. Out with the old 40 pounder!

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Originally Posted by lklose

Love those compact amps. I recently picked up a Henriksen Bud amp for all of the same reasons. Compact (9” x 9” x 9”), powerful (120 W), lightweight (17 lbs.) and sounds fantastic. It has 2 identical channels, balanced/unbalanced, reverb and a tweeter shutoff for when I want to play jazz on my arch top with a magnetic pickup. Out with the old 40 pounder!

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I hear you. I started in a new trio about 2 years ago and it didn't take long to figure out the guitar player had an amp you could easily carry in one hand while I had this thing that required a roller cart. I played about 5 minutes into the first gig with it and knew I'd have an old piece of gear for sale real soon.

I'm in the market for something like this - I'd love to know how it compares to the Fishman Loudbox Artist at around the same price point.

Nice review and post, Scott. I think that small and clean is the wtg. I'd love a Schertler David or a Henriksen Bud one of these days. In the meantime, I'm seeing a lot of folks with smaller stage amps for monitors feeding an xlr out to the mains for acoustic gigs.

affordability is always in comparison to income ..:whistling: Some can afford Cupertino Too.

now becoming common for Swiss companies using EU manufacturing sites... those in Italy.

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Originally Posted by Dave Greenspoon

I'm seeing a lot of folks with smaller stage amps for monitors feeding an xlr out to the mains for acoustic gigs.

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When I said I used my Trace for a monitor, I meant instead of large monitor speakers I use the Trace for the band or our duo or whatever group I may be playing with that needs a monitor. I started using a Fishman at a bar because it sounded soooo much better than their monitor. With acoustic instruments and vocals a 12" or 15" monitor is ridiculous. I don't plug into the Trace, I send a monitor send to it from the PA. It is much cleaner and we don't need much volume to hear. With no horn, which is a long throw device, in a monitor it is much easier to hear. I never understood why horns were put in monitors.

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Originally Posted by mandroid

affordability is always in comparison to income ..:whistling: Some can afford Cupertino Too.

now becoming common for Swiss companies using EU manufacturing sites... those in Italy.

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Ain't it the truth. But he is playing a Nugget through it. Must have bought it when they were reasonable, LOL. One thing's for sure. The quality of the amp matches up nicely with the quality of the mandolin.

Had a trace 35 watt when they first came out. Sold it like an idiot. I still keep my eyes out for a used 100 watt concert. That being said, I am a big believer in Schertler. Have a jam. Fills small and medium rooms well. Looking into getting a bigger one called the Roy, and also their new Pa call Tom. They have a knack for making acoustics sound acoustic.

Had a full range G-K , years ago, should have kept it, ..

I have an a Giulia and an AER compact 60 Mk3 (Tommy Emmanuel) for my Godin A8, they weigh about the same, although the AER is bigger.

I prefer the AER's sound and it's much much louder, it also mounts on a mic stand, I even play an electric guitar through it and it is surprising good for that too and saves me taking two amps for small gigs.

The Giulia mostly lives in the house but the size comes in handy sometimes as it can fit as hand luggage on budget airlines such as Ryanair.

The Giulia does have a nice sound but for me not quite as good as the AER, I am playing a more or less an electric electric mandolin though so that needs to be taken into consideration.

Oh the Giulia sounds nice for violin as it has a generally warm tone.

The advent of class D amplifiers has been a godsend to geezerville.