Looking for a Keyboard Amp

S

sajs

New member
I am in the market for a keyboard amp for my Korg Pax1Pro. It will be for medium size gigs. I need something that will sound great for piano, organ and project the Horns, Strings and a solid sounding Bass. What are you guys using?
 
$.02

if i were you i would check into pwered pa cabs... JBL G15 for instance... the biggest problem is most dont take in to acount that we have to go lower that a bass (even with B string) and higher that a cymbal...
 
I'd never thought of that... though those powered JBLs in my experience don't have much as far as inputs. Just one XLR in, if I recall. You'd need at least a DI box to use it.
 
I've trusted Peavey KB300's for years. They sound great, have 3 separate inputs and are built like tanks. We dropped one down two flights of stairs, plugged it in and it worked just fine.

I never worried about getting under the bass or over the cymbals.

Unfortunately Peavey stopped making them a few years ago so look on Craig's List or eBay.

.
 
I have a Crate KBA 150 that I picked up used for around $300 at Guitar Center. I was a bit weary about buying it since it was used and quite retro looking, but it does everything I need and is much louder than the 300 watt Alesis I was looking at.
 
I use a Roland KC-300. The current model is the KC-350.

http://rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=583&ParentId=33

The 350's are built really tough, sound great, and are still quite compact. They have a lot of features that are great for keyboard players, like four sets of stereo inputs, built in eq, a mic input, RCA inputs, headphone out, subwoofer out.

My KC-300 has most of those features, but I think Roland improved it with the 350.

Roland makes a series of keyboard amps. The KC-550 is huge and heavy and would probably be a bit much for what you are describing. The KC-150 might not have quite enough power, although it's possible it could work for you.

These Roland amps are by far the most commonly used by keyboard players, at least from what I've seen on gigs.

Another line of amps that is supposed to be good (although I've not used one myself) is made by Barbetta. Like the Sona-31 or Sona-41. These would be seriously loud if you need that.

http://www.barbetta.com/html/Live/live.html
 
Thanks. I've tried the KC550 and found it to be muddy sounding. I am going to see if my local GC has the JBL or the Barbetta and try them out.
 
The smaller KC-300 and 350 don't sound the same as the 550. Different sized speakers, etc. Don't rule them out based on the 550.

The other thing with the Roland amps is that you need to decouple them from the floor. In other words, tip them back or put them on a chair, something like that. What you are hearing is not muddiness in the amp itself but something about the way it interacts with some flooring if it is sitting directly on the floor.

At least that has been my experience with the KC-300.
 
Right, and try the KC-350, not the big one. And if you try out the Barbetta I'll be interested in your opinion on it, make sure to post about your impressions of it.
 
Yeah, I've played through a Roland amp at open mics and they're always on a stool or something. Not bad, but they always seem to be tiny compared to other amps.
My Crate is a monster, but I love it for the price.
 
Well I put the Roland KC550 on an amp stand to get it off the floor. It's like night and day. No more muddy sound. A very punchy sounding BASS and the horn/tweeter came alive. Very crisp sounding horns, strings. Great mids. This amp is not "tiny" sounding.
It has wheels on it so I thought it was kind of off the floor already.
What's really great is that is has 4 inputs and my Korg Pa1xPro has 4 outputs.

Thanks for the idea Albert.
 
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