RE: guitar amp+speakers vs. PA

[Tom Attix <toma@microsoft.com>]

I'm running my guitar through a Mesa VTwin pedal into my looping gear
and finally into a Roland K500 keyboard amp. My setup isn't stereo but
could easily be made stereo (just throw on another amp). For straight
guitar (with Mesa) this setup works pretty well, but you wouldn't
mistake it for a real guitar amp. If your straight guitar work runs more
towards rock than jazz, you probably won't be satisfied with anything
short of an actual guitar amp. For more melodic applications, however, I
think I prefer my setup, it has a sweetness and a clarity that guitar
amps don't.   

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Erik Ljones [SMTP:eriklj@stud.ntnu.no]
> Sent: Monday, October 13, 1997 4:02 PM
> To:   Tom Attix
> Subject:      guitar amp+speakers vs. PA
> 
> As I can't afford both, I'd really appreciate it if someone could help
> me
> compose a rig for looping guitars that:
> A) Sound good for playing electric guitar in a straightforward manner,
> and
> B) is able to amplify my HEAVILY treated, synth-like guitar signals.
> Everything has to be in stereo, by the way.
> 
> I currently use a Rocktron Voodo Valve tube driven pre-amp (with a
> speaker
> simulator & digital effects that I usually bypass) and a Roctron
> Velocity
> power amp. I've tried this setup with different speakers made for
> guitars,
> and the problem is that it wont really convert the frequencies not in
> the
> guitar domain into sound. Are there any ok sounding speakers made for
> guitars on the market that will do this? Or do I have to run my
> pre-amp
> w/speaker simulator into a mixer in order to obtain B). What equipment
> should I consider in the latter case?
> What I'm looking for, I guess, is a solution that gives the best
> compromise
> between  A) and B). I'd really, really appreciate any feedback and
> advice
> you could give on this. If you think this is a bit off topic, please
> feel
> free to e-mail me privatly. Thanks
> 
> Also, someone mentioned that using e-bowed guitars with a vocoder
> might be
> a good idea. I have tried this, replacing the synth with guitar
> signals,
> and it works ok if the signal is really thick and wide. Try placing
> the
> vocoder after a loop with lots of (processed) layers. It gives the
> vocoder
> a better signal to work with. Again, thanks.
> 
> Erik Ljones (Norway)
> 
>