what speakers?

Duke Foog · Post by **Duke Foog** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 8:34 pm

i already posted this topic in regards to guitar amps. most of my experience with theses pedals is playing direct into my computer and listening to the results with headphones and fairly high end computer speakers. This weekend i pluged my foogers into a marshall half stack and a bass amp and was fairly disapointed.
it seems like all of the fatness and especially the really low and high frequencies. i'm guessing guitar amps are not really made for pumping out these frequncies.

so what should i use a keyboard amp? or a small pa or something? what are you guys using? i want something very clean with no hiss like a lota guitar amps and lots of frequncy response.

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 8:43 pm

What instrument do you play?

Don't know about electric guitar, but for acoustic guitar, bass and keyboards, check out Barbetta. Don't bother with the 31c, it has overheating issues and IMO is not loud enough, but the 41c is really an amazing feat of engineering. You wouldn't believe the low end that comes out of this little amp. Its small, weighs nothing (41 lbs) and is clean and loud. Be ready to spend a lot of $$$, though.

http://www.barbetta.com/Live/Sona_41/sona_41.html

P.S. if you buy a used one, make sure it is a newer one as the old ones don't have cooling fans and are prone to overheating.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:13 pm

I own older Barbettas. I like them. Lightweight, clear, clean and loud.

Duke Foog · Post by **Duke Foog** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:31 pm

hey thanks guys. that stuff looks great. does anyone know where to get these? do you have to order from Barbetta or will most music stores carry them? i don't think i've heard or seen this name in stores before. also any idea how much they retail for?
yeah i play electric guitar through the foogers. i was really hoping to get a good pair of tube amps like fender or vox or something. i'm starting to think that i'll just use tube amps for a straight guitar sound and something like the barbetta for the fooger stuff.

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:36 pm

8thstreet.com seems to have some of the best prices, I'd call them up and see if they go lower though:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?Pr ... Amplifiers

A word of warning: good luck if you ever have to deal directly with the company. Tony Barbetta is an excellent engineer, but a not so good businessman. I had to send my 31c in for repairs once (overheating) and it took me a month just to get him on the phone so I could send it to him. It is a very small company.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:49 pm

If your playing guitar then perhaps a guitar amp is what you need. It's voiced for guitar so it has more mids. I love tube amps. It all depends on your budget. Fenders are always good. The Bassman reissue is especially nice.

Duke Foog · Post by **Duke Foog** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:11 am

do you know how well the fenders handle the very low frequencies. i'm thinking like when you crank the resonance on the 101 and have a low cutoff. when i did that on the marshall it just came out mush and wasn't clearly defined. also when you occasionally get the very low frequencies on the ring mod.
i'd like to get a tube amp but would much rather a very clean and wide frequency response
also anyone know of anywhere in canada where they sell barbetta?

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:20 am

Mark is right. For an electric guitar tube amps will always be best. The Barbetta is great, but might not be right for an electric. A bass amp will give you more low end, but might suffer in the high end. I really don't know too much about guitar amps, I just have my trust old Twin and you can't get much low end from that! I'd look into the Fender Bassman and a 15" speaker.

You should still check out the Barbetta if you can. Who knows, its a pretty amazing amp!

Indeed · Post by **Indeed** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 4:34 am

I've played foogers on guitar through a '69 Fender Twin and the sh*t soars, for real... I also use the foogers on my Rhodes piano out into a Roland JC-55 and I'm pretty happy. It gets REAL loud at low settings and stays clear. But for bass tones?? You prolly want a KEYBOARD AMP. It will express the sonic range best, however, you'll prolly be finding yourself getting a tube pre, cause the amps can sound a bit sterile...I had the big one Roland makes nowadays, and its cool...it does its job well, but it always felt empty sounding...missing something...
word

Duke Foog · Post by **Duke Foog** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:55 am

ooh yeah perfect. i totally forgot about a tube pre. that's a great idea. any suggestions? does fender make one? i guess i could probably also use a fender amp but instead of using the internal speaker just output it to something like the barbetta.

hmm.. does anyone know how most guitar amps loose their lows and highs? is it mainly the speaker or is it the electronics and preamp or a combination of both?

DeskLazer · Post by **DeskLazer** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 11:05 pm

usually I think it's more of the electronics. most guitar amps these days rock celestions or something of the sort. very nice speakers, and can get the whole range. I think when they do the guitar amps [fender, for example], they decide to work more on the tones that a regular guitar will have, and kind of skimp on others.

I've had that issue with all sorts of electronics [my fam was looking into HDTV's, which won't be worth the money till 2007, considering that the manufacturers decided to completely skimp on all analog signal and make it look WORSE than your regular CRT TV]. /endrant.

but yeah, the speakers that are put into a lot of these amps, be it keyboard, guitar, bass, whatever, I think while they're better suited towards a certain range, I think it's the electronics that really has much to do with it.

asd · Post by **asd** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:12 pm

i don't know a whole lot about the amplifier/head aspect, but there's definitely limitations in guitar cab speakers. trying to put low frequencies through a guitar cab will mess up the speakers (for example, using a bass head with a guitar cab or getting really low frequency sounds with the mf's). i'm careful with it when i play. there's different speakers for different frequencies, tweaters(sp?)/subs/guitar cab speakers/etc

newname · Post by **newname** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:34 am

for full-range live sound, you'll probably want a keyboard amp. i've found a cheap-n-nasty solution to be the peavey KB300. it can get plenty loud to compete with other instruments in a live situation, and has sufficient bass to deliver a good bottom end. i've even used mine as a bass guitar amp from time to time. best part - you can pick these up used for a couple hundred bucks. not audiophile, but real road warriors

roland KC series: more deluxe, more expensive. nice built-in stereo support, if that's important to you, but you'll have to buy two of em.

the new bose sound stick technology:
sounds wonderful, but be prepared to plonk down about 2 grand for a decent [mono!] system.

mackie srm350s with a 1501 sub:
again, sounds wonderful, but be prepared to plonk down about 2 grand for a [stereo] system.

in the case of all these amps, you'll probably also want to have your guitar amp with you. i know that bose and line 6 are teaming up to offer some sort of unified guitar/amp system that would do all sorts of modelling, but i've got my suspicions about how effective this system would be with typical rock bands.

lx