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 Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp 
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Which model did you order?


Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:55 pm
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
12 string grand, rosewood, PASV 4, linear pearl inlay.

I considered Wenge, but it's grain structure is more open, and I believe it will "move" more. Plus, it's an absolute bitch to work with if you ever have to do anything to it. I do a little bit of woodwork, I've worked with it for small boxes, and it likes to shatter into very long splinters when subjected to any sort of spinning cutter, like a router bit used by a CNC to shape things. Emmett has only made like 35 of Wenge, and he's backing away from that wood because it's grain is so difficult. It's gorgeous, but a big pain. So, I went with rosewood. Tighter grain, much more forgiving, nice deep color.


Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:40 am
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
I personally prefer an "acoustic' sounding amp. For the bass side, I find that my cheap TC Electronic BG250 112 (that's the version with 1 12 inch speaker) sounds pretty good.
Keyboard amps can be fine, too.
For the melody side, acoustic guitar amps can be great, I use a small battery powered Ion Tailgater amp, that sounds surprisingly well.


Wed Nov 01, 2017 10:25 am
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Yeah you'll be happy with that. I saw a rosewood Stick in Emmett's shop once with quartersawn laminations and the grain patterns on the fingerboard were breathtaking. My favorite and my personal ax is dark bamboo because the laminations are smaller and so there's more of them in multiple layers so it's rock stable, light, tougher than any wood and very inert when it comes to humidity. Never gonna warp. No wonder they use it for flooring. The look of it reminds me of my older brother's 1952 Japanese fly rod. Emmett equates it to 400 chopsticks packed together. Bamboo BTW is technically a species of grass not a wood.


Wed Nov 01, 2017 3:18 pm
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Bamboo is great stuff, and yes, I know it's a grass. When we re-do the flooring in the house, it will almost certainly be bamboo. If I had it my way, we would do the kitchen in Epoxy. Stuff is impervious.

I prefer a darker wood for fretboards. Just my preference. Wenge is harder than Bamboo, but not by a lot, Rosewood is harder than both. Lignum Vitae leaves all of them in the proverbial dust. It's 3x harder than than Rosewood, and harder than Ebony too. If I could have it made from that, I would. It's hard on tooling, but cuts smoothly without chipping out and splintering. It's one of my fave woods to work with, but it's brutally expensive. I used to have a rare woods dealer as my source when I lived in Atlanta, but that was an embarrassing number of years ago. I'm reasonably certain he has left this Earth, as he was in his 80's when I knew him.


Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:39 am
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Generally bass amps are ported and colored whereas keyboard amps are sealed and flat.

I was content with a simple Behringer k900fx keyboard amp. It had 90 watts of power, a 12' speaker and 1' driver. It had 3 channels so I was able to isolate melody and bass sides and have a separate channel for a mic or a stereo RCA in. It had reverb that could be adjusted on each track, which was great. Also had a headphone jack which was great as I could play along with youtube videos and not subject the rest of my family with my noodling.

I found one used on craigslist for $120. It's a keyboard amp, nothing more.

I respect that you are not looking to add pedals or MIDI to your setup. A great decision. If you do consider anything, as Josh mentioned, a small 2 channel pre-amp would be a good investment.

Something else to consider reading up on is passive pickups through keyboard amps. That's a whole different discussion.

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Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:02 pm
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
If you have music shops in your area, either big-box or mom&pops, I would say wait 'till the Stick comes and try out what's used sitting in the showrooms. I know, just appologise you have no idea how to play the thing, make some banging noises, see if the amp handles the low-end and if the tonal variations are broad enough. The PASV is passive and HOT, you can "mono" it with stereo cable provided, and if the bass/keyboard/acoustic amp has more than a single input, the better you have in sound variations on the melody & bass side. Good luck man, and welcome to the Tribe.

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Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:43 pm
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Keyboard amp route, I found that for me anyway, running the bass side thru some simple kind of DI even like yes, the Behringer for about 30 bucks gives you a decent bass sound. The Melody side tone was pretty decent in all 3 keyboard amps I've owned but bass side sounded way to thin for my ears.


Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:53 pm
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Post Re: Bass Amp VS Keyboard amp
Thanks to everyone who replied. :D I've jotted down your suggestions, and when my stick gets here, I'll be taking it down to a store and trying some things out.


Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:36 pm
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