retrokeys Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 ..but a great sound for a clav and pretty fair for Hammond too. The argument is not about tubes but accurate frequency range and response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthdogg Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Overdriven is slight distortion... a good sound for guitar, an undesirable sound for piano. Says you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discotheque Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 ..but a great sound for a clav and pretty fair for Hammond too. The argument is not about tubes but accurate frequency range and response. Yes I suppose I should have said this in my post... as a guitar amp would be good for rhodes and wurly as well from what I've been lead to believe. So I suppose it depends on what type of sounds the kid is going to be using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 OK, now I've read the thread. The AER advice is sound. I used to own one of their smaller amps and it was very neutral/transparent and full range, and handled acoustic guitars well, as well as electric guitars (if one uses pedals to get effects vs. the amp, whose chorus and other built-in effects are on a par with the JC-120 which I owned and personally hated :-)). Keyboards don't generally need a preamp stage, so a passive line-through is all you need, with the AER serving as your on-stage monitoring as well as your preamp for the guitar signal. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Don't do tube amp for keyboards... tube amps become overdriven at high volumes and when the tubes have been warmed (i.e. the amp has been on for 1/2 hour or so). Fender Twins are notoriously difficult to push into overdrive, especially the 100W ones. They will stay clean at volume levels that would cause 50W or lower wattage tube amps to distort. This is why guitarists who use distortion pedals and jazz guitarists alike love Twins. Blues guitarists and blues/rock players who rely on the power tube distortion sound tend to dislike Twins for the same reason. Mark's suggestion of a bass amp is worth considering too. A number of keyboard players here went through an Accusound craze. This is a brand of bass amp cabinet. I believe tube amps for bass are still being made by Ampeg, Aguilar, etc. that are even harder to overdrive than Twins, but they are also out of the OP's budget range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 OK, now I've read the thread. The AER advice is sound. Sorry, man, but his budget is around $300-$400, which disqualifies anything made by AER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 A touch of reality here: we're talking about a 16 year-old kid with a budget of ~$400. At that price the best choice, in my opinion, is a used KC350 and an amp modeler (like a Line 6 pod) for the guitar. Yes, KC's suck for piano sounds. However they suck less than a lot of others and produce a keyboard-friendly wide frequency response, albeit with a distinct mid-range hump that will likely improve his guitar sound. The kid's not going to get guitar "tone" from from any keyboard amp so the modeler will do that for him. he'll get a more than serviceable keyboard sound, a guitar sound that'll suitably impress his friends, and a basis for comparison when he saves some money and inevitably goes looking to upgrade his equipment. Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 I guess AER prices have gone up; mine was under $400 back in 2002 or so. Maybe with the ever-changing exchange rate, prices will come back down. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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