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Best Amplification for keys and other instruments?


shadowshocker

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go to this site to read more.

http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/yamaha/ra200r.htm

 

this thing was a BEAST! It had 3 rotating full range horns

and 4 front mount full range 12" speakers with a foot switch that let you switch between them as well as another foot switch that togled the "leslie" speed. Rhode and clav were the BOMB thru this. The thing weighed over 200 lbs and was built like a tank- VERY solid.

I dont know why Yamaha abandoned this- it would sell like hotcakes.

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go to this site to read more.

http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/yamaha/ra200r.htm

 

This thing was a BEAST! It had 3 rotating full range horns

and 4 front mount full range 12" speakers with a foot switch that let you switch between them as well as another foot switch that togled the "leslie" speed. Rhodes and clav were the BOMB thru this. The thing weighed over 200 lbs and was built like a tank- VERY solid.

I dont know why Yamaha abandoned this- it would sell like hotcakes.

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I don't think you can get them any more. Seems like they'd be a little under powered.


I play guitar and keys in my band. I use a Tonelab LE modeler to emulate a guitar amp. I plug that and my keyboards into a Traynor K4 which serves as my stage monitor. That gets plugged into the PA. The K4 is 300 watts. It's plenty loud, but I don't think I'd want to go a whole lot less than that.


Powered PA speakers are a good choice too, but the K4 has stronger low end than 12" monitors. You really only notice the difference on the really low synth sounds.

 

 

I was talking about this model -- http://www.groovetubes.com/SFX_Space_Station_Mk_II_P2169C196.cfm.

 

And it's available from a number of dealers -- http://www.groovetubes.com/dealers_us.cfm

 

It's two hundred watts and has a sub-woofer out so it looks like it can handle the low end just fine. Plus stereo inputs and a claimed "fantastic 300 degree stereo sound field for your vocals, keyboards, bass, and guitar which all emanates from one central point

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I was talking about this model --
.

 

And it's available from a number of dealers --

 

It's two hundred watts and has a sub-woofer out so it looks like it can handle the low end just fine. Plus stereo inputs and a claimed "fantastic 300 degree stereo sound field for your vocals, keyboards, bass, and guitar which all emanates from one central point

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Last week, the band I play in was auditioning guitarists. This one guy showed up with a Les Paul and a Line 6 Pod Pro plugged into a Roland KC-350 keyboard amp. I'd never seen a guitarist use a KC before, and was initially skeptical, but I was surprised at how decent it sounded. I have one I use for keys sometimes, and know how loud the KC is, but with a guitar? Damn, the thing CRANKED. It's 120 watts, and the guy's Les Paul with the Pod sounded huge and crunchy. Really big guitar sound out of a relatively portable setup.

 

I asked him why he used a KC, and he said that he had a big Marshall rig but didn't need to haul it around for auditions and practice. He also played keys, and had a couple of synths at home, so the KC did double duty as both a keyboard amp and a portable guitar amp.

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Last week, the band I play in was auditioning guitarists. This one guy showed up with a Les Paul and a Line 6 Pod Pro plugged into a Roland KC-350 keyboard amp. I'd never seen a guitarist use a KC before, and was initially skeptical, but I was surprised at how decent it sounded. I have one I use for keys sometimes, and know how loud the KC is, but with a guitar? Damn, the thing CRANKED. It's 120 watts, and the guy's Les Paul with the Pod sounded huge and crunchy. Really big guitar sound out of a relatively portable setup.


I asked him why he used a KC, and he said that he had a big Marshall rig but didn't need to haul it around for auditions and practice. He also played keys, and had a couple of synths at home, so the KC did double duty as both a keyboard amp and a portable guitar amp.

 

 

The tone came from the Pod Pro. The KS-350 was merely the sound reinforcement, which is fine for guitar, not so great for keyboard, but not terrible either. That's why I recommend Line 6 amp modelling for guitar tone to drive powered PA speakers. Sometimes guitarists are too stuck to the concept of having a guitar amp, but that's their loss.

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I know. Good luck finding one. Fender bought Groove Tubes and shut down production on them. The website is way out of date.

 

Huh, didn't know that. Well, if the claims were true then this sucks. But then again, how often is product literature even close to the truth. :)

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My full guitar rig includes a tube amp in parallel with a Roland VG-99, which goes direct into the mixer. For live use, the mixer output goes to the Electro-Voice and my beat-up but still functional Roland KC-350. The VG-99's amp models can be pretty good with some tweaking.

 

ZT Amplifiers' Lunchbox2 guitar amp received good reviews at NAMM 2009 despite its tiny size (9lbs). I understand they are working on a full-range version of the Lunchbox. I'd be interested in one, they're even smaller and lighter than the EV and Roland. Any competition to Acoustic Image is good, especially at a lower price:

 

http://ztamplifiers.com/clubseries.html

 

I tried an Acoustic Image combo on bass (bass amps can be pretty good substitutes for keyboard amps) and was impressed with the power output for its size - it refused to be drowned out by the 8x10 stack that was simultaneously getting a workout from a real bassist in the same store:

http://www.acousticimg.com/products/prod_contra.html

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I've used my JBL EonG2 15 with three bands now (2 blues & 1 classic rock) and It has worked very well for me. It reproduces the bottom piano notes well, is clear but not shrill, has deep bass but not muddy or boomy. YMMV, of course. I've played synth bass through it and it did not break up while playing with a real drummer.

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Acoustic Images are pricy but well worth it. I tried one out just out of curiousity after reading the Kybd review and ultimately traded in my K4 and bought two (one Coda, one Corus) -> 400Watts + 400Watts = 800 watts of stereo key sound!

 

The K4 was a a tank, and plenty loud bit shrill and way too bulky and heavy, whereas the AI's are 20 pounds each! You really wouldn't believe it looking at them.

 

Plus now I have room for the Leslie3300! If only I could wheel it through the snowbanks.

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