MusicaL Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Ok, so I am looking for a keyboard amp, and perusing the MF's catalog only to find a total of 6 keyboard amps shown on half a page. So, I keep flipping through and find that the guitar section has tons of amps (107 -- I counted them) on some 15 pages or so. What is going on here? Why so many guitar amps and hardly any keyboard amps??? When I used to gig, eons and eons ago, I played through a yamaha guitar amp. That's all I had, but it seemed pretty OK to me at the time. But the question lingers, why can't I use a guitar amp for my keys? All I really need right now is a practice amp that someday may (or may not) turn into a monitor. But, what's wrong with using a guitar amp? What do you think? What am I compromising? I was looking at the Line 6 Flextones, and others and boy, you seem to get so much more in these amps than in the typical keyboard amp... What am I missing here? BTW, I use an S80 and an EX7 for practice, I may add another keyboard and a few modules if we ever gig. The sounds I use mostly are EP's, organs, pianos, and leads... TIA aL Gear: Yamaha MODX8, Mojo 61, NS2 73, C. Bechstein baby grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resigned Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Keyboards have a much greater frequency range than guitars so their amplification needs are closer to a PA than a guitar amp. In fact, many keyboardists use small PA's or powered PA speakers for amps. As to why there are more guitar amps than keyboard amps, there are more guitarists than keyboardists... half of your MF catalog is guitars whereas there's just a few pages dedicated to keyboards. That's why keyboardists are in such high demand. Motion Sound's stereo keyboard amps are very hot these days if you want a real keyboard amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Togakure99 Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 With a guitar, your amp is part of your sound. It colors your sound just as much as the type, model, brand of your guitar, effects in the chain, etc.... So the amp is really an extension of the instrument. Guitar amps are designed to mainly to produce frequencies in the midrange, not so much on the bass or treble end. Keyboards are different. They can produce frequencies across the entire sound spectrum. Having an amp that can more or less reproduce a bandwidth that wide is more important. Any sound coloring should usually be done by the keyboard itself. Your amp should allow the keyboard to sound as it was meant to sound, without adding artifical coloring. [Edit]: I see The Pro beat me to the reply. Brett G. Hall Piano Company, Inc. Metairie, Louisiana Kurzweil Keyboard Dept. Manager "My dream is to have sex in odd time signatures." - J. Rudess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Horne Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 If I were to buy more sound equipment, I'd probably buy a pair of powered speakers. As a matter of fact, if I had to do over again, I'd probably just buy powered speakers and then either bring just them to a job or additionally bring a mixer (if there were more musicians.) I think you'd be happier with powered speakers than with a 'guitar' amp, but that's only my opinion. No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Yo.....Pro? Could you please come to PA and preach the "keyboardists are in such high demand" sermon? Lots of bands around here are the "dime a dozen guitar player" type--no keys. It's really kinda lame. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlito Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I never liked the way keyboard amps from Peavey and Roland sounded(boxy), and since I never had a chance to try the other brands, I decided to get a power amp and two full range speakers. I got a more natural sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I have a pair of Crate K80XL's (80W with a 15" driver and a tweeter). There wasn't much to choose from at the time (~1990). I always wanted a Roland cube amp (100W 3-way), but I couldn't afford two, and I had to have stereo. I'm actually trying to get rid of my Crate's. I haven't played through them in a looong time. But I have to find a local buyer. The shipping costs probably exceed the value of the amps. Wiggum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicaL Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 OK, so my choices are really a keyboard amp or a a powered speaker or two, if I really want that stereo sound!!!! I think I'll go with the latter. Makes more sense, and it's more useful anyway. aL Gear: Yamaha MODX8, Mojo 61, NS2 73, C. Bechstein baby grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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