im sure this has been covered but

[jazzdoc52]

idont know where to look for it.. Im struggling to get volume with my Behringer Ulratone kid 12, and thinking about adding another amp to it, either as a slave or just hook my keyboard (Nord stge3 88) stereo .. im thinking about getting a used fender Reverb or similar, because the guitar player gets great volume and tone with his...but I think there is a chance I may blow the speakers by using it as a keyboard amp..any knowledge on this?

We play mostly 80 and 90s covers, with some modern couples country mixed in, but I also play jazz with a group that is more acoustic.

[stoken6]

You have a top-shelf keyboard and you're running it through a Behringer "keyboard amp"? That's not going to be good.

 

You want to run it through a guitar amp? That may work: nice for Rhodes, possibly Wurlitzer and clav, maybe classic/period synth, and depending on your clonewheel preferences that may be OK as well. But it's a really bad idea for acoustic piano and orchestral samples.

 

I can't help feeling you should get rid of the Behringer and buy a decent PA speaker: QSC, Yamaha, EV (the ZXA1 is nice for piano, light and affordable - but not deafeningly loud). Plenty of threads here on the subject.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[JoeToGo]

Is nobody else going to mention the CPS Spacestation? I thought that was the go-to keyboard amp ....

[Ledbetter]

Don"t get a guitar amp. For stereo get as similar a bass amp as you can find used to try out the sound. Bass amps are really full frequency amps. A Harte B600 would be perfect if you can find one used, they don"t make them anymore, but probably something like it if you want new. Good luck.

[EricBarker]

Yeah, don't go through any amp that a guitarist uses. What makes a guitar sound great will make a keyboard sound like ass, and vice-versa (with some exceptions). A "Fender Reverb", though... if you're referring to a vintage "Fender Twin Reverb", that's not really a guitar amp, and is legendary for 1960s Electric Pianos and organs. Still, they have a very specific sound, and should only be used with a single instrument/patch. They might sound awesome on Rhodes, but they're gonna sound terrible on acoustic piano or a string patch.

 

No, for most keyboards, you want a flat, colorless amp that will sound great no matter what patch you're running through it. Also, pianos/keyboards go MUCH lower in pitch than a guitar (or bass even), and guitar amps aren't meant to handle those frequencies. They will start to distort in the lower register, and can even damage the amp over the long term. So NEVER use a guitar amp. Now bass and keys can typically share amps. Basses also usually go for clean, flat speakers and their amps are built to take the low frequencies that both basses and pianos create. I currently play through a bass amp, and I've lent old Roland Keyboard amps to bass players who LOVE them... often times a company will market practically the same amp for bass and keys.

[Docbop]

Guitar amps are for grit not what you want in most situations. A Fender Twin is a excellent utility amp a lot of power, can get gritty at high volume, but is very heavy and open back which affects where you use or place it. In my roadie days always tried to bring a Twin Reverb as a backup amp for anything guitar, bass, keyboards, even low end PA in a pinch. When I did the Yes tour we had a big and extremely heavy roadcase rarely touched, so I opened it to see what weighted that much, it had TWO Fender Twins both with JBL D120 speakers. It was the spare amps for anything that might breakdown.

 

As a guitarist and it will probably be my approach for key's too will be multiple size and configuration speaker cabinets then a good amp head (or two). With that I can use what size or freq' range I need for the situation. With my guitars I have a 1x8", 2x8", 1x10" 1x12" speaker cabinets. The 2x8" is my favorite. Then a couple different amp heads and yes a Fender combo amp for that classic guitar sound. For key's I would probably start with a 2x10 preferably with a tweeter there are some nice bass cabinets that would do the job. Today's bass sound with the slapping and popping bass is quite a wide freg' range so there cabinet should cover key's well. Today's bass world small is the focus and you can get small very portable bass heads that even Jazz guitar players use because they have a good sound range and lots of overhead. So consider a mix and match appoach and it easy to grow with your needs versus laying out a lot of money now.

[El Lobo]

You need to put something in the thread title so that people don't have to open the thread to know what it's about. If they know you're looking for best amp solution for keyboard, you'll probably get a thousand posts. Yeah, dump the Behringer and under no circumstances do you want a guitar amp. There's an infinity-length thread about the Space Station which is a stereo keyboard amp. However, one reason the thread is so long is there is eternal discussion about how best to use it, where to place it, how to use the controls, how to baffle it, whether it should be on a stand or poles, etc. I use 2 QSC K8's so I can play in stereo. Your Nord Stage 3 will sound great in stereo. QSC K8's are reasonably lightweight and many keyboard players like them. I learned about them here on KC. There's a thread or posts here about the new QSC K8.2 model. Rave reviews. If portability is a concern, the K8's are your best choice. There are also K10's and K12's but I find the 8's to be just fine. So do several others on this board. There's also Motion Sound amps. They're heavier (beyond the weight I want to load in and out at the gig) but many people like their stereo sound. The "best keyboard amp" topic has numerous threads and probably accounts for a substantial portion of KC discussions.