Traynor TS-50b & power amp(?)

[CIAC]

 

Hey everybody,

 

I've been reading here for a while but haven't posted and I now have a question so here we go.

 

I got my hands on a Traynor TS-50b a few years ago and I love the thing, recorded most of my bands with it yadda yadda and if it was louder I'd definitely gig with her. 

 

That said, it's not loud enough and I'm wondering if there's any way to make it loud enough. I mostly play punk/hardcore/metal and garage rock, all that jazz. We're playing DIY venues and bars so not much of it is mic'd unless we play bigger halls or actual high-end venues (normally only once a year). 

 

I have a co-worker who has offered me a Hafler power amp (forget the model, ~150 watts) if I want it, free.

 

Any way I can finagle these two together to give myself some more volume instead of buying a new amp while I save for a European tour this spring? Let me know.

 

Thanks.

[WRGKMC]

Yes the head has a line out so you could easily plug it into a power amp and run more speakers.

The only question would be is if the head gets its good tone from the preamp section, or is the power amp parts of its tone. The line out usually takes a signal tap after the preamp and before the power amp. If the power amp is a key item in the heads tone you wont hear it running a line out.

You'll just have to try it to know. Most solid state heads do get most of their driven tone from the preamp so you should be OK.

If there is some power amp saturation or coloration you want to capture a signal after the power amp so that tone is fed to a power amp, then you'll have to add a DI to the speaker output. You can use an old school method of connecting a guitar amp to drive a line input. We used these all the time in studios and live shows before amps started coming with line outputs and effects loops. You can easily do this for a few dollars in parts. It only requires a few resistors and caps that can be bought anywheres.

Heres a diagram of the circuit which connects to the speaker output. It can be installed inside the amp. You'd need to drill a hole for the new jack or use one thats unneeded. 

You can also  build one into a metal box and use it externally. You'd just need an extra jack in parallel with the top amp jack. You'd then plug the head and cab into the two top parallel jacks and plug the cable that feeds the power amp into the bottom one. The two top jacks make a direct connection with each other so they act like a straight cable.

The good part about this circuit is the cap gives it speaker emulated coloration which makes it sound like a miced amp. A regular line out jack can sound harsh in comparison. Again I suggest you trying the line out jack thats in the head already. If you find the amp gets a good deal of its tone from the built in power head then a DI after the power amp would be needed.

Heres a schematic.