From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Wed Jan 31 07:27:45 2007
Subject:Re: OT: Bass Amps for Keyboards

Hi Steve,

>I was just wondering if anyone had any experience using bass amps for
>keys. It looks like there are quite a few good quality bass amps out
>there (Ashdown, Eden, etc.) with either a 15" and a tweeter, or 2 x 10"
>and a tweeter, that might meet the needs. I would think the cabinets
>obviously would have a good bass response, but I'm not sure if the amps
>are tuned more for bass guitar or if they would even take the higher
>input signal of keys.
>
>Any thoughts?

Bass amps are generally better than say, guitar amps. As you say, they will have good bass response, and adequate power handling to boot. However, the sonic requirements of a bass guitar aren't quite as wide-range as for synths or ROMplers, so it's not a guarantee that you'll love the results. There are a number of bass cabs out there that are artificially tuned to boost the 90-150Hz range; for some reason, a lot of people equate strength in this range as "better bass." (I disagree.) And some of the tweeters that are added to bass cabs have limited or peaky response: Bass players like they way it brings out the string winding timbres, but the response may be a little "honky" for keyboards.

You'll just have to try a prospective brand and see.

As a general rule, I find PA cabinets to be a better match, because the frequency ranges of keyboards and PA overlap nicely. I've been running through the PA for almost 25 years, and when I built my stage monitors, I used "break" music to test the components.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Online Music Sales
AshbySolutions.com™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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