What kind of keyboard amp for best reproducing Fender Rhodes and Vox Continental

[violanted]

Hey all,

I am new to this forum and I was looking for some help.

I own an Korg SV-1 and I bought also a Vox Continental 73 the new reissue of the original Vox continental that Ray Manzarek used to play when the Doors where an iconic rock band on the 60s/70s.

I am playing songs (Home Only + Recording) that are going from Pink Floyd to The Doors to Deep Purple to Led Zeppelin and all of them used to have a Fender Rhodes or Vox Continental or Hammond sound.

Now I know that those are digital keyboards and they not exactly the same thing but the new reissue of the Vox Continental is pretty accurate .

What is the best Amp that I can use home and that can give me a beautiful warm sounds.

I mainly saw Roland for Keybords and Vox VX50KB.

The Vox uses nutube but I am not sure if those are the best choice and what else would you suggest any ideas?

Thanks

 

[anotherscott]

A Fender Twin Reverb would probably be my first choice, if budget is not an issue. It was a very common amp to put these boards through back then, and they sound great.

 

[violanted]

Hi

Thanks that is more like a guitar amp right?

would you happen to have in mind a specific model my budget is 550 Euros. I am opened to buy a second one if possible but got no idea about the exact models and if the they can purchased used in a good shape.

Like I said it is for home use and mainly recording my own music i play all the The doors Albums covers and Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.

Thanks

 

[anotherscott]

That is a specific model, and yes, it is a guitar amp. Back in the 60s, there weren't really such things as "keyboard amps" -- if you had a Rhodes or a Vox, you probably played it through a "guitar amp." (Hammonds, which you mentioned, were typically played through Leslies, but they were also known to be played through guitar amps... Jon Lord used a Marshall.)

The SV1 actually has emulations of different popular amps built into it. Both of your boards have tubes built into them to help get that sound even when you're not actually using one of those amps.

 

[violanted]

Hello,

Thanks but that specific model cost about 1600 Euros that is a lot for a hobby player, of course I can imagine how great the sound could be out of that amp. I know I asked what would make sound best my keyboard with Fender Rhodes sound and you perfectly answered my question none of your fault, hehhe

I think for the overall usage that is a little over the top for me.

Thanks

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

Check out a Vox VX50KB amp, 50W with nutube tech and £245 best of all they are a great design.

Not got one myself but did try a guitar version recently which was impressive for its size.

 

[anotherscott]

I recently played through a Motion Sound KP408S that I thought was quite good. Not a tube amp, but as I said, at least you have the tubes in your boards, to give you some of that character. That amp also has the nice feature of giving you a nice sense of stereo even though it's a single box. Rhodes and Vox are mono sounds, but the effects can be stereo.

At a lower price, I haven't heard it, but that Vox VX50B would probably be a nice amp for these sounds, if you're only playing at "home" levels.

 

[violanted]

Welcome.

Check out a Vox VX50KB amp, 50W with nutube tech and £245 best of all they are a great design.

Not got one myself but did try a guitar version recently which was impressive for its size.

Thanks that is what I had in mind I heard about amazing sounds coming out of that little cabinet I’ll give it a try thanks

Of course that Fender Twin reverb remains my possible drawer dream maybe some time ahead. Thanks again

 

[violanted]

I recently played through a Motion Sound KP408S that I thought was quite good. Not a tube amp, but as I said, at least you have the tubes in your boards, to give you some of that character. That amp also has the nice feature of giving you a nice sense of stereo even though it's a single box. Rhodes and Vox are mono sounds, but the effects can be stereo.

At a lower price, I haven't heard it, but that Vox VX50B would probably be a nice amp for these sounds, if you're only playing at "home" levels.

Yes that little vox amp is a lot cheaper maybe I should give it a try thanks again

 

[Biggles]

BTW
With the Vox VX50 amps the suffix denotes the intended use.

KB for keyboard
BA for Bass
GTV for guitar

Hence while they may look similar they will sound different.

 

[CowboyNQ]

The SV1 actually has emulations of different popular amps built into it.

They're very good too - OP, I suggest giving a few of them a whirl, they can add some excellent vintage "colour" to your sound.

 

[violanted]

They're very good too - OP, I suggest giving a few of them a whirl, they can add some excellent vintage "colour" to your sound.

Yes absolutely, I own the SV1 since 7 years now and I love this board, plays fantastic and tried all the amps built in versions, it is true I admit they sound amazing. However I did run it on a cheap amp the Behringer K1800FX and never got that great sound coming out of it.

 

[anotherscott]

It might be worth mentioning that some amps (including the pricey Fender Twin) can be really nice for Rhodes and combo organs but not good at all for other things, especially acoustic piano. So the answers for what's best can change depending on the entirety of your needs.

 

[violanted]

It might be worth mentioning that some amps (including the pricey Fender Twin) can be really nice for Rhodes and combo organs but not good at all for other things, especially acoustic piano. So the answers for what's best can change depending on the entirety of your needs.

Sure I am aware of that in fact I was mentioning Rhodes and Organ sounds and obviously Fender twin reverbs perfectly satisfies that requirement.

The vox continental 73 and the SV1 both contains acoustic piano patch and for those a good keyboard amp is perfect such a Roland or Vox keyboard Amp

Thanks a lot for your reply

 

[anotherscott]

That's the thing... for acoustic piano, most "keyboard amps" are actually not perfect. You generally get the best piano sound from something designed for PA or monitor use rather than "keyboard" use!

 

[violanted]

Oh really? Ok I see I wasn’t aware about this aspect.

At this right moment I have the SV1 to a Behringer K1800 FX keyboard PA system amp is a 180 watts

I am not happy of the sounds that comes out of it no matter if i play the Rhodes or Organ sound patch or acoustic piano.

Between the 3 it seems that the piano patch is the one having better sound. Probably because is a PA Keyboard Amp but overall this Amp quality is low.

In any case what I am looking for is an Amp for Rhodes and Organ that is what I play the most especially during recording session

Thanks

 

[Biggles]

You may find that adding a parametric graphic equaliser to your setup and maybe a sub woofer will give you the flexibility of tonal adjustment that can give you the overall sound quality you seek.

 

[violanted]

Ok thanks at this point let me explain the whole project. So far I was playing in a band every Saturday on stage using guitar amp similar to the Fender Twin Reverb

Now I stop doing that. I have the passion to play and can’t stop that too, so what I am doing is creating the whole backing track of any songs from The Doors to Led Zeppelin to Animals to Pink Floyd etc... and play along and recording myself on video but the idea would be to create a proper recording studio slowly slowly overtime.

As of now I was looking for a small portable solution and finally today I came up on choosing between Roland cube KC-60 or Vox VX50KB they both similar but Vox use nutube so maybe better?

Thanks

 

[anotherscott]

I'd probably lean toward the Vox from what I've read, but I haven't heard them myself. There also are some other Rolands that people like... CM30, KC-220. A thread to check out is at https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/question-about-amps.30252/

 

[violanted]

I got the Vox VX50 KB and the sounds of that Organ is just awesome guys, I also played songs such Billy Joel Just the way your are and the Fender Rhodes path perfectly or nearly so reproduce that sound. Very happy with the purchase.

Thanks all for the suggestions and help on deciding and put me on the right track, however as side note:

The Fender Twin Reverb is unbeatable, it is on the top level category pro use and is more than what I need but I tested a real Rhodes I think was a Mark V new at the Rotterdam music shop, a huge place where the sell instruments and the sound that came out of that Amp was just impossible to describe just over the top.