Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

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Shadoweclipse13
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Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Tue May 29, 2018 10:44 pm

It might be a few months, but I'm looking at a PA system for home (just home) so I can listen to both synths and bass guitar through. Long story short, I'd been looking at a bass amp, and when I saw a thread where Sean mentioned that he'd blown bass amp speakers once or twice, started thinking about replacing the speaker in said bass amp with a PA or keyboard frequency speaker. I thought that it would be kinda crazy to buy a new bass combo and immediately change the speaker (money-wise), so started thinking about PA systems.

My bass board has a Tech 21 Q\Strip, which I'd intended to send directly to a PA if I jam with some people or did shows (easy to carry, etc.). I figured that a bass amp would be more for myself (like a monitor), and that the Q\Strip into PA would probably sound fantastic on its own.

I feel like I'm completely out of my depth here with ALL the options of PA systems out there. I'm sure the synth will sound great in either case, I guess I'm just worried about the bass sounding too sterile, but then again, that's why I've got the Q\Strip and some drive pedals. I also don't think I'd need some of the wattage that I've seen available on some systems, so I have to ask the question: to be able to get the full frequency of synthesizers and bass, is a PA overkill? Would a keyboard amp work fine?
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by wproffitt » Wed May 30, 2018 4:21 am

I'm definitely not an expert on this, but the band I'm in regularly runs our bass through a KC 550 Roland keyboard amp. It's worked well in live applications and is definitely full-frequency. Also, you can use it for keys or vocals if you need it for that for some reason. :) When I finally get around to buying a bass, I'll probably just pick one of these up used. You really can do quite a lot with them. You'll need those casters on the bottom to move it around, though!

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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Futuron » Wed May 30, 2018 4:32 pm

Was going to say a similar thing. I don't consider myself an expert but would've thought that a nice Roland (or other appropriate make) keyboard amp would do the trick. We used one years ago in a small practice space, with 3 inputs (bass + 2 mics). Used a Roland Cube (4 inputs) back in the 90s for bass + acoustics.

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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed May 30, 2018 7:35 pm

Thanks for the replies guys! How do the keyboard amps sound with bass? Not super sterile-clean I hope.
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by wproffitt » Thu May 31, 2018 4:33 am

I'd say the Roland we use sounds nice. It doesn't sound like an old Ampeg or anything, but I never noticed that it sounded harsh or sterile. If I were to get one for myself, I'd probably put a pedal in front of it for a bit of grit, but for hearing all of the sounds a bass can make without getting flubby, it has the goods.

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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu May 31, 2018 7:49 am

That sounds perfect. To have something that can handle all the frequencies I have, I'd much rather have more pedals for color. Thanks man! I might go try one this weekend!!
Last edited by Shadoweclipse13 on Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by andy_tchp » Thu May 31, 2018 10:14 pm

I see no reason a bass amp wouldn't be able to handle keyboard/synth duties, either.
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:43 am

Awesome. Just what I needed! Thanks Andy ;D
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by oid » Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:20 am

I also used an old turn of the century Roland Cube keyboard amp for a bass amp/PA, it filled both roles quite nicely.

For bass amps as keyboard amps you just need to remember that bass amps/speakers generally do not have a flat response and the tone controls are designed around bass, this can work for your as much as against you, depends on what you are looking to do.
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by sessylU » Sat Jun 02, 2018 6:32 am

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Wed May 30, 2018 7:35 pm
Thanks for the replies guys! How do the keyboard amps sound with bass? Not super sterile-clean I hope.
I suppose that's what Sansamps etc. are for.
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Re: Anything I Need To Know About PA's?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sat Jun 09, 2018 5:04 pm

Thanks for the replies guys!! I'm planning on trying some out next weekend if I get a few minutes.
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