Keyboard amp speakers

[lareplus]

Does anyone know who makes the 15" speakers that are found in keyboard amps? Are they the same as 15" speakers in guitar amps?

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

Rather vague question. First, speakers for electric guitar pretty much only work with electric guitar. They color the sound and make the guitar sound better. They tend to make anything else pumped into them sound worse.

Speakers in PA, Keyboard and Acoustic guitar amps are (to use and old school phrase) Hi-Fi. The goal here is to not color the sound letting the true sound of the instrument or voice come through.

Lots of companies make 15" speakers. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

[lareplus]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

i want to build my own amp that works for both guitars and keyboards.

[lareplus]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

I have an idea for a head that I think will work, but I need to plan the speaker cabinet. So far as I have been able to tell, you can't just buy kb speaker cabs without the amp built in. . .so I have to plan on fabrication. .

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

If you have a stereo KB, think about two speakers, or two amps. I used to run a Fender Rhodes Suitcase 88 BI-AMPED, using a Peavey Combo 300 and a Sunn 212 guitar amp. The PV has a built in crossover, which I set at about 80-110HZ and folded back the LOW output into the Combo's amp and speaker. The HIGH output went into a Mutron Phasor and then into the Sunn 212 combo. This allowed for phasing, tremelo and reverb on the top octaves of the keyboard, leaving the bottom octave to produce solid bass notes without processing. With the amps split on stage, it worked beautifully. Plenty loud, too. Some of the older PV bass amps have built-in x-overs in them, making them incredibly versatile for keyboards--and they can be had cheap. With KBs, a bass amp will work, but you really need a tweeter or horn for the top-end of a synth. The mid-range of the Rhodes did just fine with the 212s in the the guitar cab, and didn't really need a tweeter.

I've also done keys with an old PV SP-2 cab (115 Black Widow and R-22 compression driver and horn) used full range, amped with my old PV XR-600C PA head. Good, wide range tone, though not stereo or bi-amped. If you want a stereo spread, you can use a STEREO PA top box, like those from PV, Mackie, Yamaha, et.al.

Another good, inexpensive way to go would be to use something like one of the small Mackie or Behringer mixers into a pair of powered speakers. You could do a bi-amped rig easily, by using say, a Carvin LS 1801A powered subwoofer. Use its built-in x-over to send the high end to a Carvin PM15A powered top-box. That's a 1,000 watt system--you WILL be heard! And it is pretty light-weight and portable--AND, the separate mixer allows you to add other outboard gear--EQs, reverbs, delays, modulation, and compression--if you need it. If you don't need massive power from the bass octave of the keyboard, using one of the powered top-box PA cabs from Peavey, Mackie, Tapco, Carvin, JBL Eon, or Yamaha et.al.--or a pair of them, should work fine. Many of these companies make non-powered versions of these cabs as well. Again, two for stereo.

With any system, look for patching flexibility. It's really the key.

You might need to do a little "outside" thinking, but you can put a killer KB system together for not much dinero.

I hope that helps!

Bill

[uOpt]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

i want to build my own amp that works for both guitars and keyboards.

Mesa Boogie used 15" EV 12Ls in some Mk III or whereabouts.

Not quite ideal. And of course you need to deal with a crossover and horn that you can turn off.

[lareplus]

Re: Keyboard amp speakers

That's pretty helpful information, thanks!