For my acoustic forays with Mithril, I’ve been using a Laney LA35C combo, which has been fine for low-key pub-type gigs. More recently, I played a slightly larger venue, where it’s limitations were cruelly exposed. The sound was basically distorting.

After some thought, I realised I didn’t need many of the features of the combo anyway, since the sound was being formed in the HX effects. All I needed was amplification, so I picked up this modest 100W powered speaker, a Yamaha MSR100.

It’s light and portable, both of which are higher up my list these days. For an 8″ speaker, the sound has a lot of depth (it’s a 2-way Bass Reflex system) and the cabinet has a variety of “angle” options. There’s an output to feed to a full PA system, so this will be perfect as a monitor. It also has treble & bass controls, so I can do quick & dirty adjustments to the sound if needed.