Moog Music Forum

Hello, looking to get an 'carry under the arm' type small amp to use for my theremin, and was wondering if the TB15 is any good? Looks like a standard combo amp, but how does it sound, can it deal with the extremes of tone and pitch, and push out appropriate volumes? Any alternatives, I've seen good things about AER as acoustic amps, any suggestions? Thanks, Oli

The TB-15 is a "chamber music" amplifier. Don't expect too much from a single 8" speaker with only 15 Watts of output power. It's ok for practicing at home but not ok for a big concert hall...
The frequency range is ok for the Etherwave standard theremin. The output is not 100% neutral - the timbre is somewhat changed towards "string-like". It's ok for "The swan" but rather not ok if you want to create sound effects with extreme timbre settings and amplitudes.

omvibes wrote:wondering if the TB15 is any good?

...i'd say: no. I had one attached to my EPro, but sent it back instantly after playing a few hours with it...it did not sound right...

...from what i saw it is just a standard (as in cheap) chinese-made guitar-amp with a Moog-logo attached...if i remember correctly there was a manufacturers label below the Moog label and i could find that exact amp offered as a non-Moog-guitar-amp online...

omvibes wrote:Any alternatives, I've seen good things about AER as acoustic amps, any suggestions?

...generally i'd recommend a keyboard-amp for use with the theremin...myself i am using a Peavey KB-4 which sounds really nice...this one is big however...

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Probably will keep on looking, then, the TB15 did look a bit too like a guitar combo type thing, but wasn't sure. Any recommendations for something similar, other than AER? Peavey is too big, portability is what I'm looking for! Oli

I sold my TB15 after about one year and bought a Behringer K450FX keyboard amplifier which has 99 digital effect presets (some reverb, delay, phasing etc.) included. Not all are really suited for the theremin but 4 or 5 are and that's enough for me. It has a 10" speaker and 45 Watts, a 7-band equalizer, three 1/2" inputs whose volume and FX-Send can be adjusted separately and a 4th input (RCA stereo) for feeding accompaniments into it.

The sound is much more neutral and less distorted.

I wanted an amp with a bit more UMPH than the TB15 could produce so I started searching.

I've had my etherwave theremin for about 9 months.
I wanted to spend about $300 on an amp and was looking for portability and about 30 watts.

After auditioning a number of bass and keyboard amps I decided to purchase a
ROLAND KC-60 KEYBOARD AMP.

40 watts
10" speaker
3 inputs
1 XLR input
plenty loud
easy to carry
only $250 for a floor model.
It produces the sound that I've heard in my mind's ear when I play my etherwave.

The three band EQ and the etherwave's waveform and brightness controls allows me a wide variety of sounds.
This is the amp for me.


I auditioned (in Guitar Center and 2 other music stores) a variety of bass and keyboard amps
(Behringer, Orange, Peavey, Fender, and some others I can't remember).

The theremin always drew a crowd when I plugged it in to test these amps.
That was fun, letting folks try their first theremin.
After all of that, I decided on the Roland.


UNTIL THE ROLAND I HAVE USED:

1 bass amp
- Peavey MINX 110 - (35 watts, 10" speaker)
not bad at all - even response but without the thickness and body I wanted.
This would be the one I would use if I had not bought the Roland.

3 guitar amps
- Crate GFX-15 (15 watts, 8" speaker)
- MusicMan 112 RD (60 watts, 12" speaker)
- Peavey Blaze 158
all of these these sound kind of thin without an even response over the theremin's range.

1 keyboard amp
- Peavey KB 100 (75 watts, 12" speaker
Pretty nice but WAY too big and cumbersome.

Hi folks,

I'm brand new here, having just got my Theremin as a Christmas gift. Also, not really a musician (sadly), so take this for what it's worth....

I picked up a Line6 Spider IV 15 amp (for guitar, really) used at the local Guitar Center (they had just taken it in on trade). Got it for $30. I'm sure it's nothing like a Peavey or Marshall, but for 30 bucks, it has plenty of volume for home (too much, sometimes), and ... did I mention only $30?!?

Probably nothing like what you folks who are real pros would be looking for, but for me? Perfect!

Just thought I'd throw that out.

Thanks.

Welcome!

Be sure to post some vids once you get comfortable with the instrument!

Stephen




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360gtracer wrote:Hi folks,

I'm brand new here, having just got my Theremin as a Christmas gift. Also, not really a musician (sadly), so take this for what it's worth....

I picked up a Line6 Spider IV 15 amp (for guitar, really) used at the local Guitar Center (they had just taken it in on trade). Got it for $30. I'm sure it's nothing like a Peavey or Marshall, but for 30 bucks, it has plenty of volume for home (too much, sometimes), and ... did I mention only $30?!?

Probably nothing like what you folks who are real pros would be looking for, but for me? Perfect!

Just thought I'd throw that out.

Thanks.

Indeed, Welcome to the forum! Good luck with an extremely difficult instrument.