From the November/December 2022 issue of Acoustic Guitar | By Mark Goldenberg.

Squarely in the good-things-come-in-small-packages camp, the Swiss-made Schertler Giulia X is a compact and great-sounding amplifier offering great flexibility and ease of use. Putting out 70 clean watts, it’s ideal as a rehearsal or studio amp, and can also be used as a preamp or DI in a larger setting. 

At first blush, the sound coming out of the speakers is surprisingly clear and warm, with plenty of low end, thanks to the two-way bi-amped bass reflex cabinet, which houses a 1-inch dome tweeter and coaxial 5.5-inch woofer. But the Giulia X does more than just provide a reliable amplified sound. I tested it using a handful of different guitars and pickups and was impressed by the abundance of great tones the amp delivers. 

The amp is intuitive to use. All of the controls, inputs, and outputs are logically arranged on the top panel. From left to right, there’s an XLR input for a mic; two phantom power buttons, 24 and 10 volts, respectively; a 1/4-inch instrument input jack; gain controls for the mic and instrument channels; three-band EQ; a Warm button; reverb and master volume controls; 1/4-inch insert and line-out jacks; and finally, an XLR DI out. All of the controls and buttons feel solid and tight.

The EQ section includes low, middle, and high knobs, with a center detent for flat frequency response; to boost turn right, and to cut turn left. These knobs—along with the Warm button, which cuts the high end a bit—have a wide range and can be used subtly or to radically shape the sound.

Acoustic Combo Amplifier

• Power: 70 W
• Class A preamp
• Equipped with: 1 x 5.5" loudspeaker and 1 x 1" tweeter
• Frequency range: 55 - 20,000 kHz (+/- 3 dB)
• 2 Channels
• Channel 1: Unbalanced 6.3 mm jack input
• Channel 2: Balanced XLR input
• Phantom Power 10 V for channel 1, 24 V for channel 2
• Digital reverb
• DI and line outputs
• Material: Plywood
• Weight: 7.5 kg
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 270 x 180 x 280 mm
• Finish: Wood