Guitar Gear

I just received my brand new JBL Eon One yesterday and of course, I had to get it out and play with it. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Eon One is a line array PA, similar to and a competitor to the Bose L1 Compact.

I’ve been in the market for a new PA since my trusty Fishman SA220 started making a bit of a buzzing noise the last few times I played with it. And luckily for me, the venues were relatively small, so I didn’t have to go to a high volume.

When I first noticed the buzzing a few months ago, I started doing research on a new system, and after personally evaluating and doing online research on several systems, I chose the Eon One based on its excellent sound quality and portability.

As I mentioned above, I got the system yesterday. When I got it home, the first thing I noticed after opening the box was that unlike other gear, there was just the unit, some quick-start instructions, and a power cord. That was it!

And that’s all there needed to be because there are no wires to attach, no stand. The risers and speaker array fit in a compartment at the back of the cabinet, which houses the subwoofer.

The cabinet itself is not small. It’s about the size of a medium-sized suitcase. And though listed at 40 lbs., it doesn’t feel like it, nor does it seem bulky. Just looking at the picture, it’s really sleek-looking. But no matter. The important thing is that if I have a gig, I can easily put it on my handcart, throw my backpack on top and I’m off to the races.

I played with it yesterday for a few hours, setting it up with my normal acoustic setup. Both guitar and mic plug into my Harmony G XT vocal processor and harmonizer (no, I don’t use auto-tune – yuck). Then I feed the guitar through output into a Nano board with some modulation effects and a looper, so my vocal and guitar go to separate inputs allowing me to control the balance better.

The sound was SO much better than my SA220, even when it was new. Though I dug that old PA, one thing that was missing was the bass response. It was okay, but I always felt a subwoofer would round out the sound better. I wasn’t wrong. The sound of my vocals and my guitar was full and rich. Plus, this PA is LOUD. It’ll do just fine for the size of gigs that I normally play, which don’t exceed 200 people.

In addition to playing my rig through it, I also played music through it using the Bluetooth connection. What a godsend! Now when I take a break, all I need to do is open Spotify and play my break mix. And as far as the sound quality is concerned, it sounds like a HiFi system. In fact, my son came over for a visit while I had music playing, and before he even saw the Eon One, he asked me when I had gotten a HiFi! It’s pretty awesome!

I also hooked the system up to my cable box this morning to watch the 49ers game. Wow! It was great. But I kept it hooked up for most of the day so I could break the system in as TV shows provide all sorts of different sounds.

I have an all-day gig next week where I’m the praise and worship leader for a youth retreat. I am SO looking forward to making the Eon One’s debut! Also, I’m planning on doing a duo act with a buddy in the next coming months, and I’m looking forward to using the Eon One for this.

So what’s my first impression? The Eon One is a great system that I think will give me lots of great sound for years to come!