probably a stupid question, but that's my specialty...

iekobrid

iekobrid

New member
Somehow I've managed to play guitar for 16 or so years without having to know this:


Are power amps designed/marketed for use in guitar rigs (Marshall, Mesa, Rocktron, Tube Works, ADA, etc.) voiced differntly from power amps for use in PA systems (Samson, Carvin, Carver, Peavey, etc.)? Or are 'guitar' power amps simply less insanely loud than the 500+ watters meant for PAs and it's the speakers (mid-voiced for guitar; full-range for PA) that make the actual difference in which application a system is used for?

For example, if I took the rack power amp from my friend's PA system and hooked it up to a guitar-oriented cabinet with guitar-oriented speakers capable of handling that much output, and ran a guitar preamp straight into it (with no amp sim or speaker/cab modelling or anything), would that sound
'right', or would the PA be sending all kinds of undesirable, un-guitar-sounding frequencies to the guitar cab that a purpose-specific guitar power amp wouldn't?
 
Re: probably a stupid question, but that's my specialty...

you'd pretty much get the sound of the preamp...cleanly...

PA power amps are designed to be as colorless and transparent as possible so that the true sound of whatever is being mic'ed comes through clearly as it was intended....guitar amps on the other hand (even power amps) are designed to color the sound intentionally in a certain direction. The "best" (matter of opinion) distortion for example, comes from power amp distortion....distortion is a bad thing in a PA! Guitar amps are designed catered to guitars, and PA are for transparent powerful reproductions of whatever is on stage...you can use a PA amp for guitar and it'll work fine, but it'll be very clear and transparent, and you'll hear only the color from your guitar and preamp, and (theoretically and in best situations) no coloration from the power amp
 
Re: probably a stupid question, but that's my specialty...

If you were using a PODXT Pro, it would work out fine!
 
Re: probably a stupid question, but that's my specialty...

Thats pretty much how I run my system. J-Station, into a mixing board, into a Crown amp, into studio monitors. I have the best "clean" in town. :)
 
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