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Here are some quotations from early adopters of the Chameleon speaker:
"The cabinet out-performs any hi-fi guitar cabinet I’ve ever heard. It has much more low-end than you would expect out of an 8-inch speaker, without the “honky-ness” of a small speaker.
The voicing switch on the back is really amazing too. In the “acoustic” mode you hear high-end detail normally associated with high priced, near-field monitors.”
Chris Boerner - Director of Guitar Sales, www.soundpure.com
"Having spent considerable time and money in pursuit of an accurate way of amplifying the true sound of a concert classical guitar, I can honestly say that John Buscarino has succeeded where all others have failed. In developing his revolutionary new Chameleon speaker, he applied the same painstakingly exacting standards that he uses when building his world-class guitars. And the results speak for themselves. They are simply extraordinary!
If you care about accurately reproducing the sound you work so hard as a player to produce, then you owe it to yourself (and your audience) to settle for nothing less than the new Buscarino Chameleon speaker.”
Ken Hatfield - Guitarist, Composer, Recording Artist
"So, I've been gigging with the Chameleon now for a few weeks. It's
perfect. My Cabaret sounds as natural as can be and my archtop is fat and
full and just sounds perfect. No matter which instrument I'm using, I
find myself adjusting the sound less than I ever did. I don't have to
fiddle with anything and I'm not preoccupied with making it sound
different. It just sounds the way it's supposed to.”
Nate Najar - professional full time jazz musician and recording artist
Chameleon Speaker Cabinet Review
by
Mike Christiansen
I have been playing guitars built by John Buscarino for years. His guitars are wonderful instruments. When John Buscarino first told me he was designing speaker cabinets, my first thought was, “John, you're a guitar builder - not a speaker cabinetmaker.” But the more I thought about it, it makes perfect sense. The amplifier and speaker enclosure are a major part of the total amplified instrument, and it makes sense that a luthier, especially one of John's caliber, would want to produce a speaker cabinet that would allow the instrument to be all that it can be. John has done just that.
John sent me the Chameleon 8 Dual Mode Speaker Cabinet. From the moment I saw it, to the moment I heard it, until now I have never stopped being impressed with its looks and its sound. When I unpacked it, I was impressed with the design. The cabinet is solid. I liked the slight tilt, the sturdy powder-coated grill, the recessed handle, the recessed speaker mount, and the heavy-duty gig bag with shoulder strap. While looks can sometimes be deceiving, in this case, impressive looks were only the prelude of what was to come.
The first night I used the Chameleon I was playing a restaurant gig with clarinetist, Eric Nelson. Eric and I have toured and recorded together as the Lightwood Duo (www.lightwoodduo.com) for years. After playing one tune, we both looked at each other with that "Wow" look. I told Eric, "Okay, John has done it. This cabinet sounds incredible!" At that gig I was playing my Buscarino Cabaret (a nylon-string acoustic/electric guitar), and was playing through an Acoustic Image Clarus 2R. I thought I already had a wonderful sound when I was using my old cabinet, but the Chameleon added a smooth mid-range the other cabinets I have used were missing. I'm not talking about a harsh, nasally mid-range. This was a sweet; mid-tone that enhanced the other components of my sound. The Chameleon also seemed to bring out natural highs and lows that were previously getting lost. The sound coming out of the Chameleon was more like the natural sound of my guitar than any other cabinet I have used. The tone of the cabinet remained unchanged at every volume level. And I'm told it's virtually impossible to blow the speaker.
A couple of nights later, I played a concert in a wonderful performance hall on the campus of Utah State University. The sound guy, who was blown by the tone of my amp and speaker, put a mic on the Chameleon to help fill the hall by using the house system. His comment to me was that he wasn't sure if he would be able to get the same wonderful sound in the house system that was coming out of my speaker, but he would try. I received many compliments that night on the sound of the guitar.
The next day I decided to put the Chameleon 8 through a more rigorous test drive. I hooked it up to my Evans, my modified Mesa Boogie head, the Acoustic Image, and even a Fender Blues Junior. In every case, the Chameleon left my old cabinets in the dust. Whether I was playing jazz on my arch top, rock on the ‘Strat, country on a Tele, or jazz and classical on the electric nylon string, this speaker more than met the demands of every style. It sounded rich on the jazz, huge on the rock, spanky on the country, smooth on the blues, and classy and subtle with the nylon string.
Since those first couple of gigs using the Chameleon, I have had the chance to use it on a variety of gigs. It keeps delivering an incredible sound. As a side-note, at some of the larger venues where the Lightwood Duo has performed, Eric, the clarinetist in the duo, has miked his clarinet and played through the Clarus 2R and the Chameleon, and we both agreed that his clarinet sounds more natural using the Chameleon cabinet than our other cabinets.
I'm not familiar with every single engineering detail accounting for why the Chameleon sounds as good as it does. But then, I don't know why my cell phone works either. However, I know when a cell phone sounds good and works well, and I know the Chameleon sounds much better than good. I know one of the ingredients for the Chameleon's great sound is that it has a very sophisticated (not one of the cheap ones) crossover system that can be activated or bypassed with a switch on the back. When the switch is in the "acoustic" position the crossover is activated. I've been using this setting for my electric nylon-string work. When the switch is in the "electric" setting, the crossover is bypassed. The "electric" setting would likely be preferred by many jazz guitarists who use arch-top guitars. In my "test drive," I tried playing the ‘Strat with distortion and the Tele with a clean sound through the Chameleon. While both guitars sounded excellent in the "electric" setting, I also got some great sounds using these guitars with the speaker set on the "acoustic" setting. The "acoustic" setting added an influx of highs and mids to the tone.
Finally, a speaker cabinet is available that can handle it all. Enough said. This speaker cabinet is a keeper. I bought two of them to use when I'm playing larger venues. Appropriately named, the Chameleon can change the color of your sound for good.
-Mike Christiansen
Mike Christiansen is a Professor of Music and Director of Guitar Studies in the Music Department at Utah State University. In 1994, Mike was selected as Professor Of The Year at Utah State University. Mike received the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Utah Chapter Outstanding Collegiate Educator of the Year Award in 2006. In 2007, Mike received the Utah State University Artist of the Year award and the Overall Scholar of the Year Award for the College of Humanities Arts & Social Sciences. He has taught workshops at many schools and is a frequent clinician for guitarists and educators at various conferences. He performs regularly as a soloist, with the group Phase II, and with the Lightwood Duo (a clarinet-guitar duo that has released six recordings). Mike is the author and/or co-author of 42 books. Mike has recorded 29 CDs, and appears on 21 instructional videos. He has been a back-up musician for various artists and has recorded music for television and films.
"Typical of John Buscarino's attention to detail, all components and materials are strictly state-of-the-art, no-compromise quality. For example, the tweeter is a polyester dome design usually found only in high-end studio gear. Engineered into the Chameleon, the tweeter is both mechanically and electronically time-aligned to deliver the upper frequencies consistent with the mids and basses from the 8" woofer. Complex in design, the result is actually very simple: a natural aural representation of the instrument itself.”
Mike Biller - Guitar Player and Head of Guitar Sales at Sound Island Music
"No more hauling different rigs to different gigs. Finally, I’ve found one cabinet that works for all of my guitars. Whether I’m playing a solo acoustic gig, a jazz date on my archtop, or a loud concert venue with my ‘strat and a full-on rhythm section, this speaker cabinet has never let me down but always left room to spare. Its clean headroom is phenomenal but it’s not just another wimpy boutique-snob-job, this little dude is loud and can take a beating. I feel just as comfortable using it on a rock gig with effects as I do in our jazz faculty concerts at U of L. It even handles the low register of my seven-string beautifully without ever breaking up or sounding muddy. It is quite simply the best cabinet I have ever heard or owned, and it is as versatile as I would ever need one to be. In fact, I liked it so much I bought a second one.
So, the sound man might look at you funny when you walk in with one, and your chiropractor might call wondering why you cancelled your appointment, but I’m sure they will understand once they hear the reason.”
Craig Wagner - Jazz Guitar Instructor at University of Louisville, Recording Artist, and Touring Musician
I'm Bob Shimizu of Beginner's Luck, a jazz quartet headquartered in Prescott, AZ. Being a complete fanatic about Buscarino anything, I was eager to try out the Chameleon speaker. I have been very impressed with its performance. This little giant reproduces the sound of my Buscarino Virtuoso perfectly, and in combination with my two-channel Clarus 2R amplifier makes a perfectly acceptable PA speaker for smaller venues.
In the picture above, I ran my guitar and a Sennheiser e865 mic through the Clarus into the Chameleon for an outdoor job. You wouldn't normally use a guitar speaker for a sound reinforcement application, but the Chameleon worked just fine!
I have to admit my bias here. I'm John Buscarino's web-master, the author of this web site and sort of a marketing consultant to John. But I am a pretty serious player and getting too old to carry a lot of gear. The Buscarino Chameleon fills a niche perfectly. If you need to pack light, and want a BIG sound, then the Chameleon is the best choice for the job. Congratulations, John! Job well done.
-Bob Shimizu
Bob Shimizu is a professional mainframe software Sales/Field Engineer with a very bad Jazz habit. He is composing material for his second album with Beginner's Luck.
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