Keyboard through a guitar amp?

[Spiderfingers]

Hi Everyone (newbie alert) haha

I'm a guitarist who's been playing a bit of keyboard the last year or so and I'm looking at buying a Triton LE for a first real keyboard.

Now, I assume I need a keyboard amp to go with it, but I have this old Marshall Valvestate sitting around that i don't use anymore. Instead of spending money on a keyboard amp would I be able to run the Triton through the Marshall instead?

Would it sound terrible? Am I better off spending the money and getting a proper keyboard amp?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[Root_of_it_all]

id recommend it. from experience guitar amps cant really handle keyboards. a guitar amp definately wouldnt be good live for a keyboard, but even in your room the sound wont be perfect. guitar amps dont have the right range for the lower and bottom sounds that keyboards produce (dont ask me for the physics of it, i just know thats right!). so basically keyboard amps have a much fuller/richer sound. keyboards are also a lot more powerful than guitars, and so keyboard amps are designed to handle the power. you could equally get a PA system, but i prefer keyboard amps to PAs, because ive still had experiences where as soon as i get my keyboard at all loud, certain sounds (like piano sounds) distort when going through a PA. i think if you want to take it seriously, and get the best out of the LE, which is a good synth, a keyboard amp is the best option

hope this helped

Pete

p.s however if your amp is really powerful, then in terms of not playing proper gigs, it should work fine :P it depends what your aims are

[Spiderfingers]

thanks Pete

What sort of power should be looking at to play along with a band (drums etc), can you advise of any good value brands to look at?

[Root_of_it_all]

well if you want to perform with a band, and i assume be heard over drums (especially if its heavy), i think 60-80 watts can do personally. im looking to buy a new keyboard amp soon, and i will prob buy something above 60 watts but not that much. I think the Peavy KB series are probably really good. they look like they have good sound quality, and if im not mistaken i believe Jordan rudess uses one of their amps. i think his is 150 watts. but most of the time the keyboard will go into an amp, and then into a PA from there. If you want to fill a large place WITHOUT going through a PA after going into an amp, you'll need more than 60-80 watts. but check out the Peavey KB series, and also the Roland KC series.

hope this helps

[Root_of_it_all]

additionally i just found this on a site, it looks pretty helpful (well it's helping me :tongue:):

To help you choose a keyboard amp, Let's examine the conditions that most keyboardists face in live performance and build a list of requirements based on those conditions.

Sound Reproduction: First of all, the frequency range of keyboard sounds is much greater than guitar so you'll need a full-spectrum frequency range to reproduce your sound accurately. This automatically disqualifies using a guitar amplifier. You might be tempted to say, "well, it's got a 12 inch speaker and an amplifier section, like a guitar amp, so what's the big deal?" First of all guitar amps are designed cut bass response, have a presence boost in the midrange, and don't go much beyond 10kHz in the high frequency range. In essence, your sound will be squished into the guitar's frequency range, which means you'll be fighting for sonic space, which will cause the inevitable volume battle and less clarity. More importantly, guitar pickups output a low voltage signal, which is why guitar amps tend to have a preamp circuit. Keyboards usually have hot outputs, so having a preamp circuit will just add noise. Keyboards also have stereo outputs and you may wish to take advantage of that. A guitar amp has mono inputs.

Portability: Do you mind lugging around a big rig? This might not be a problem if you have roadies, but for the rest of us, size does matter.

Power: The more watts an amp will produce the louder you can play without distorting. Of course, the number of speakers and size of the cabinet they're in will play an important role as well. If you're in a band that likes to play loud, you have two possible options. Use one of the bigger combo amps to match the other players' volumes, or opt for a smaller amp for use as a personal monitor. If you choose to go this route, make sure the keyboard amp has line outputs. This allows connection to the house mixer, which puts your sound in the mains and the monitors. Line out is preferable to miking the amp since the direct signal will most likely yield the best sound.

EQ: Keyboard amplifier EQs can be anything from simple tone controls (treble, midrange, and bass), to a multi-band graphic EQ. Using an EQ to shape your sound in a particular room is best left to the soundman. Generally graphic EQ is used to find problem frequencies in a particular environment, and cutting a frequency band may be Okay for one sound, but it may ruin another. The same holds true for EQ-ing your amp. Since EQ is a global thing on amplifiers, you may EQ one patch to sound good to the detriment of another. The best use of EQ would be if you are using a keyboard amp as a monitor: Roll off some bass and boost the highs a little for clarity. So in essence, a bass and treble control is pretty much all you'll need. Also keep in mind that the samples in your keyboard have already been EQ'd in the studio to be optimum before they're loaded into your synth.


hope this helps

Pete

[GlassDream]

well, the best way to deal with this, is if you can get your hands ona decent PA system (like the other person recommended), and then hoise them in the air (by placing them on a higher surface somehow) to project the Highs and Mids much clearer. Now here's the fun part: getting a good subwoofer to take all the low end and keep that on the floor. The BEST way to get all equal balances of everything. Even a good guitar pre-amp linked in to that will sound awsome (it's what I do for ALL my instruments).

Give it a go, and experiment man.

PS: the keyboard player for James labrie's solo album (Elements of Persuasion) hooked his keyboard through a POD< making one KILLER synth tone. I even thought it was actually a guitar for the longest time because of some of the over tones used which sounded like feedback harmonics. It was crazy. LOL!

[Bastardo Demono]

guitar amp= NO, its not designed to work well at all with the frequencies of a keyboard. it will just make things sound super distorted, and not in a good way. forget trying to play piano thats for sure. occasionally it doesn't sound bad if you only to distorted guitar emulating leads, but even then its hit or miss on how it responds.


bass amps work and keyboard amps work just fine. I still a confused as to WHY bass amps work well with keyboards, but they do. I find that my 100 watt roland kc-300 is loud enough for small/medium venues, and anything bigger you would just use a pa. What I have done at bigger gigs is bring my roland kc-100 on stage and put it behind me, kind of acting as a monitor, and then have it miced and going through the pa. That way, if the soundguy blows, you still have control. However I wouldnt by a pa just for keyboards. Its overkill unless you are in an uber professional band.

[Spiderfingers]

Thanks for your help everyone, I'm going to buy a keyboard amp, sounds like the best way to go.

Last question
Do I need to use an instrument cable or a speaker cable for connecting the keyboard with the amp?