Favorite Keyboard Amp for Rehearsal?

[Groove On]

What's your favorite keyboard amp for rehearsal? I'm curious what near to medium throw speakers you are using. Please mention if you mostly play piano, EPs, organs or synths.

[The Piano Man]

I own the following:

 

- pair of QSC K10

- pair of EV ZXa1

- Roland KC150

 

I play grand piano sounds mostly. Sometimes add a little EP/organ etc.

 

My favourite setup for pure sound quality would be a pair of EV ZXa1s. You cannot beat stereo for most piano samples, particularly on something like a Nord.

However, I struggle with the Nord sound on anything other than headphones or very high end (hired) speaker systems.

 

I find some older stage pianos more forgiving and sometimes use these in mono with something slightly brutal such as a Roland KC. It is certainly not a high end sound but it can work for certain gigging contexts and I do like the convenience of a keyboard amplifier in certain situations.

 

For rehearsal, as you ask, I would go for the quick setup convenience of a keyboard amp.

 

However, if I wanted to sound better than average for a particular rehearsal, I"d bring a pair of ZXa1"s and run in stereo.

 

What keyboard(s) are you playing and what are your goals?

[Adan]

For rehearsal or small gigs I use either a Roland KC220 or a pair of Vox V50's. The KC is max convenience and loud enough for a jazz group, and the stereo effect is better than expected. The Vox pair can be loud enough for a rehearsing rock band if everyone is reasonable with their volume. Stereo isn't strictly necessary for rehearsal, but I miss it if I don't have it.

 

40% EP, 20% organ, 20% AP, 20% synth. Generally not worried about whether AP is high fidelity.

 

strongly anti-shlepp, especially for rehearsals.

[Stokely]

In general, I dread rehearsal vs gigs (ironically) because at gigs I use my in-ears and can hear every nuance of every instrument and vocal.

 

Practices generally tend to be hard to hear, depending on which space we use and how loud people play. We were renting a place (very reasonable) that had a PA in place but unfortunately it simply didn't sound very good. Same with our drummer's pad where we crammed into a room. IF the band will set up our normal mixer and have everyone hooked into it then I could use my in-ears but that rarely happens.

 

Practices are when you really NEED to hear clearly so this isn't good. As an aside, it's why I'm in favor of running through new difficult songs semi-acoustically--meaning the drummer might just tap time or whap a chair cushion--so that everyone can make sure they have the changes down before you crank things up, and make sure everyone has their harmony etc.

 

To the question at hand though, the most clear sound I've ever gotten from a practice was when I used a QSC K10.2 speaker. It's one of the few amps or speakers I've tried that handles piano well. Most of the cheap speakers (behringers, mackie thumps etc) just don't do well with piano. They are still better than a keyboard amp based on the ones I've tried...flip side, I've played some amps where my synth patches sounded very nice.

[Mighty Motif Max]

For church rehearsals without the sound system, I use a single QSC K10 (original). I use mono because our church speaker system is also mono, so I like to make sure my sounds translate well. I play piano/synths/other instrument sounds (strings, brass, guitars)/left hand bass patches usually. Some electric organ. Lots of splits and layers. The K10 is great, and has enough bass to ground everyone when I"m covering bass and we don"t have a drummer.

 

Of all things, it sounds particularly great with the resonator guitar sound on my Motif!

 

My regular monitor is a Yamaha MSR-100, which has been discontinued for a few years.

[mate stubb]

I plug into the rehearsal PA so I don't have to tote anything.

[Ledbetter]

I"m the only one using a Spacestation 3?

[El Lobo]

For rehearsal, I use one of my QSC K8's. Or I plug into the studio PA. I don't need stereo for rehearsal. For gigs, I use 2 QSC K8's. I play mostly organ, then Wurly, and sometimes piano.

[CowboyNQ]

At rehearsal, I normally use the PA like Moe. However if for whatever reason I need an amp, I use my stage monitor which is an EV ZLX12P. I play a range of stuff: Piano, EP, organ, synth in roughly equal measure.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Motion Sound KP100s. Not as hi-fi as the newer models but it's lighter and still sounds good. It's also good for playing music when learning songs- nothing I hate worse than someone holding their phone up to a mic.

[Dave Keys]

My workhorse when I'm not using IEM's is the Yamaha DXR10, or I use the rehearsal studios' PA.

[Delaware Dave]

I plug into the rehearsal PA so I don't have to tote anything.

 

This.

 

KB stand, my PC3 and a couple of controller pedals. Setup is 2 minutes.

[Al Quinn]

Rehearsal PA is my favorite too

[PeterNH]

Mine is my beloved Acoustic Image Coda R series III. Expensive, but brilliant value as has lasted at least 15 years and recently serviced free of charge by manufacturer. I use it at gigs as personal monitor or backup, and certainly at rehearsals. Piano (occasional electric p) in jazz combos. The bass can also go through it.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I"m the only one using a Spacestation 3?

I was using the Spacestation 3 in one rehearsal space before we all moved to in-ears. But the Spacestation 3 was also running the vocals, and the room was very small and loud, so I can't say I got the most out of it. Moving the rehearsals to in-ears was a godsend.

 

Actually, I've started using my in-ears at all of my rehearsals, even for the bands that don't generally gig with them, and grab a feed off of the PA's headphone jack or one of the monitor outs. Even in the rehearsal spaces where the drums, guitar, and bass aren't mic'ed up, enough of it leaks through the vocal and horn mics (or resonates through the floor) that I can hear everything much, much more clearly than with amps and my usual custom earplugs.

[MotiDave]

I plug into the rehearsal PA so I don't have to tote anything.

 

This.

 

KB stand, my PC3 and a couple of controller pedals. Setup is 2 minutes.

 

Also this. AX-48, MODX7, 2 pedals and 1/4' stereo cable to the PA where I grab 2 channels and pan L & R. Up in 3-4 min, i like to take my time.

[re Pete]

Traynor K4 to me is a nice amp. If playing a lot of mojo organ I'll put a EV ZLX 12P on top for leslie effect. Not earth shattering bass, but enough IMO for small clubs. Thinking about adding a sub or EV? 15P.

No rush these days.

[CEB]

Depends on the situation, (location and setup)

 

Top choices include:

 

1) plug into PA

2) IEMs

3) EV ZXA1s

4) Boss Katana 100 combo - sure it sounds like shit but it"s only rehearsal, it"s really lite, great for stairs, and it"s really lightweight.

 

It"s rehearsal. Get it. Do it. Get out.

[tnelson]

For jazz quartet in small rehearsal room without an acoustic piano, I bring keyboard & stand plus ZT Lunchbox Acoustic amp (flat output, less than 10 lb). Because volume is an issue in confined space (horn and drums!), I run keyboard and ambience mic into an audio interface and mix with AUM app on my iPhone, send to IEMs, so I can hear nice clean sound at comfortable volume. I like this because it's easier to control than just wearing musician's earplugs, and I can emphasize my piano in my ears.

 

However, these plague days, we've had success rehearsing online with JamKazam. Sometimes the internet doesn't cooperate with us, maybe because of too many competing Netflix and Zoom streams, but when it does, it can sound crystal-clear like playing in a studio with headphones on. We're all 4 within 20 miles of each other, so latency usually doesn't add up to a problem.

[Adan]

The issue I usually have with plugging into the PA for rehearsal is that I want to hear myself clearly. That's no less important at rehearsal than on gigs. Unless the rehearsal room has individualized monitors, that means I'm too loud for other folks which leads to griping a volume war or both.

 

Every rehearsal situation is different. The ideal is a dedicated space with permanent PA or IEMs that's plugnplay. I can't remember the last time I had that. Usually it's haul my whole rig in, play 3 hours, haul it all out. In that situation having my sound coming from behind me so I'm loudest in my own ears works out best. Sound quality is no priority at all compared to ease of shlep.

[RandyFF]

Don't have one, but the new JBL Eon One Compact is an interesting box. Battery powered so rehearsals can be anywhere, it has BT streaming and there's quite a mixer on the back and with an app- reverb/delay/etc available, so no need for a separate mixer. Output is on the low side though, 112 db spl?

[cphollis]

When I'm not playing through the PA, I use the CPS SSv3 on an amp stand. Does the job with minimum schlep.

[esfusion]

I own a SpaceStation and a vintage MS-80. But my favorite rehearsal setup is a pair of iLoud micro monitors velcroed to my Forte or SP6. I play mostly piano and Wurli/Rhodes, so fidelity is important to me, and nothing beats the iLouds except my Adam A7s. Only disadvantage is figuring out how to point the iLouds. I suppose I could solve that problem by attaching them to a pair of mic stands behind me.

[El Lobo]

Every rehearsal situation is different.

That may be the key point in this thread. You have to have a set up that suits the room, other gear, rehearsal volume, and many other variables ... including the abilities and personalities of the other players. (That last one is the toughest.) My main band rehearses in the guitar player's recording studio so everything is set up for plug and play. Also the other players use small amps and rehearsal is at low volume so everybody can hear themselves and each other. A couple of other bands I play with also rehearse at low volume, playing amplified acoustic instruments, so again everybody can hear themselves and each other. Rehearsals are not for practice, they're for rehearsing intros, outros, making sure everybody's playing the same changes at the same time, etc. so nobody is working on sound/tone. Everybody accepts limitations on sound quality at rehearsal. Sound/tone is worked out on your own and you're expected to have your sound dialed in for gigs. At least that's the way it is for me. YMMV.

[esfusion]

Forgot to say. The iLouds are also great for practicing w/o your bandmates. You can just Bluetooth in Apple music tracks or IReal tracks and play over them.

[elif]

I use a DXR10. It also carries LH bass and an iPad signal used for a click/rhythm track when we practice w/o our Drumbo.

[CowboyNQ]

The issue I usually have with plugging into the PA for rehearsal is that I want to hear myself clearly. That's no less important at rehearsal than on gigs.

 

I agree. When I plug into the PA, I take a personal monitor, the PA is for the band, the monitor is for me. I feed the monitor via my Key Largo.

[mate stubb]

I play in an oldies band, and absolutely don't need to hear myself clearly. Most of our rehearsals involve going over old material that's getting put back on the list at the next gig. SNORE!!!

 

If I have to play that #$%^ Eagles tune one more time....

[Spider76]

What's your favorite keyboard amp for rehearsal?

 

Whatever is in the rehearsal room.

I already bring PA for the band's gigs, I will NEVER haul-set up-tear down the whole rig also for rehearsals.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I play in an oldies band, and absolutely don't need to hear myself clearly. Most of our rehearsals involve going over old material that's getting put back on the list at the next gig. SNORE!!!

 

If I have to play that #$%^ Eagles tune one more time....

You seem tense. Perhaps you need to... take it easy. :grin: