Amp for synth?

lazerviking · #1 07-01-2011, 09:44 AM

I hope this is okay to post here. I am starting a project with a guitar player and myself. I will be using a MicroKorg + effects. He uses a 100 watt all tube head turned up. I am going to need something that will be powerful enough to not be drowned out. No, I do not have access to a venue's big PA system or anything like that. I have seen bass amps used with keyboards before. I have considered a tube guitar head. Or would a solid state bass head be alright?

seamonkey · #2 07-01-2011, 10:34 AM

Full range Keyboard amp, or one of the new powered PA cabs will do it.
Synths need good clean mids and highs so you can take real advantage of the filters sweeping.

Bass amps can do it, the cabs mainly can't. Until you get to designs like fEARful

lazerviking · #3 07-01-2011, 10:42 AM

Would something like this do the job?
PAIR TECHNICAL PRO 15" POWERED PA SPEAKER SYSTEM+2 MICS | eBay

seamonkey · #4 07-01-2011, 11:14 AM

I'd steer clear.

Stay with pro level gear

Peavey :: Impulse® 12D

Or QSC, or JBL, Mackie, ...

More expensive, but also the best real world performance over fluff.

RickenBoogie · #5 07-01-2011, 12:04 PM

I play synth more than bass, and use either my Buster 210/15 rig, (200 watts all tube), or my Walkabout head paired with a GB Uber 212 cab- and I don't feel like I'm lacking anything. Sounds exactly how I would want it to- clean, clear, and awesome.

rodl2005 · #6 07-01-2011, 04:18 PM

+1 stick with good quality bass or keys cabs & you'll go fine

jeffbrown · #7 07-01-2011, 06:16 PM

+1 all of the above.

And maybe get your guitard to turn down? Just sayin'....

MysticMichael · #8 07-01-2011, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffbrown

And maybe get your guitard to turn down?

Indeed. Even a 50-watt tube guitar amp can get insanely loud. How many multiples of "insanely loud" does he really need?

MM

maestrosteve · #9 07-02-2011, 12:16 AM

I'll tell you what I use, and why.

As a head, I use either an Acoustic Image Clarus or Focus, the latest series of each before they went to the Clarus +.
I tried other bass heads, but those preamps inside were geared more to adjusting bass frequencies, and the Acoustic Image heads can be used with guitars, keyboards or bass (with less sound options for bass compared to other heads).

For cabs, I tried a few, but went with 3 different Schroeder cabs. I have the light mini 10, light mini 12 (both with the bullet tweeters), and a custom 15+L.
In the 15+L, Jorg replaced the bullet tweeter with a Selenium horn, which has a wider throw than his stock tweeter and hits those highest frequencies. All 3 cabs are loud and clean.

I never use any of them together, I take just what I'll need depending on the size of the room. Both the 10 and 12 sound better from the front rather than from the side (where you might be setup) because of the narrow long throw of the bullet tweeter, so you don't hear it as good as someone standing 10 feet in front of it. My 15 sounds good from the side because the Selenium horn throws wider. My 15+L cab is also an inch bigger all around to fit the slightly bigger horn, so the bass might be slightly deeper, and the cab weighs less than a standard 15+L by a few pounds because the Selenium horn weighs a few pounds less than Jorg's heavy bullet tweeter.

I play Kurzweil synths exclusively, and this setup works for me.

anderbass · #10 07-02-2011, 01:28 AM

I've been running a Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes and various Nords through my old 72 Ampeg V4 head, its thick and lush. I usually drive an old pair of SWR Bass-Monitor 12 cabs. These cabs naturally roll off the lows so the keyboardists left-hand never steps all over my frequency on bass guitar... I like that.