Using guitar amps for quad?

[tester333]

OK, I guess this is probably an "unconventional" approach, but I'm new to quads, so let me throw this out for your consideration. Just for listening purposes, I'm considering using 4 small Fender guitar-amps for each channel. I already have two 15W Fender amps, and they're pretty cheap, so I'm considering getting two more. They actually sound pretty good--nice flat frequency response, plenty loud, etc. So, is this approach unsound for any particular reason? Thanks.

 

[dr. simple]

It is my understanding that guitar amplifiers are intended to add character to the instrument they amplify. I'd have to hear it to believe that it's a flat response.

 

[JonUrban]

Could be an interesting listen, although I think you might lose quite a bit of "detail"!

 

[tester333]

Well, I expect that a "flat" response is largely achieveable by simply turning the treble, bass, middle, contour, etc, dials down to zero.

 

[bill114]

I would think that a guitar amp would be unsuitable simply because it's not designed for "hi-fi" parameters such as low distortion, low noise and accurate frequency response through the audio frequency range

 

[dr. simple]

Well, I expect that a "flat" response is largely achieveable by simply turning the treble, bass, middle, contour, etc, dials down to zero.

I believe that if you tried several different amps with their knobs all at zero (or at 50%) that you would get several different responses.

Whereas a P/A system is supposed to reproduce the source at a much louder volume WITHOUT adding (or removing) character, a guitar amplifier is SUPPOSED to add character.

 

[ChristopherLees]

Can you turn them up to 11 ?

 

[Lucanu]

I don't know what you think about it, but most guitar amplifiers have presence tone and other things which create a wonderful sound for guitars but I think they actually sound bad for other instruments, especially vocals. In fact they have only woofers

I, as a bass player, tend to think that a standard transistor bass amplifier (no valve preamps and no compression) plus a cabinet with a horn+woofer tend to be a good compromise for listening to music, or better, a keyboard amp.

 

[bill114]

I agree to a point but any guitar or bass amplifier would have the circuits and tone controls designed for that specific use. As a bass player myself I've noticed that the frequency range which the tone controls on a bass amp operate work on frequencies tailored for a bass guitar. Being an audiophile, my bass rig is biased toward a higher fidelity sound. While I use a Ampeg tube bass preamp,for power i have a solid state Crown power amp. This setup gives me the best of both worlds. The killer tone of tubes with my 1969 and 1973 Fender P-basses and the headroom and clean power of the Crown. It's sweet!

 

[Lucanu]

I agree to a point but any guitar or bass amplifier would have the circuits and tone controls designed for that specific use.

If you want to know how a guitar or a bass amp could handle a "linear" sound just put a keyboard with a piano sound, and you will notice that a bass amp will sound better.
But it's all a matter of tastes and rig.

BTW, nice setup Wilhelm

 

[ChristopherLees]

Once upon a time (20 years ago) I had a pair of Sun guitar amps.They were actually Dynaco 120 watt valve amplifiers inside with extra circuitry for guitar/ mic input..they sounded pretty good , they had 4KT88's in the output stage per side...tone controls were ok when set to flat...of course bypassing all the extra stuff made them sound better (clearer)..but unmodified they were still pretty good...hum levels were fairly low..but overall good for stereo so 4 of them for quad would work..

The only photo that I ever saw, of a band actually using the same model amp was Badfinger....although I was told that The Who used them when they played Festival Hall Melbourne in the mid 1960's

 

[Cai Campbell]

Guitar amps are for guitars and their tonal character is adjusted for that instrument. Using a guitar amp for hi-fi will color the sound, to say the least. I say bad idea.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

Well, I expect that a "flat" response is largely achieveable by simply turning the treble, bass, middle, contour, etc, dials down to zero.

As one who plays guitar and bass and owns a Fender guitar amp (I used to play music through a Fender bass head in mono through a large 15" full range speaker) it could work if that's what's easiest to give you Quad for now. But for high fidelity music done right, a DVD-Audio / SACD player connected to a vintage Quad amp would be the much better solution for not that much at all. A new amp would work as well (more money), but I’m not sure which make / model to get these days. I wouldn't spend money for 2 two more 15W Fender amps when vintage Quad amps don't cost that much. Local flee markets are a great way to get stuff cheap.

Yep, there sure would be colorization in sound even if the knobs are turned "flat." It's not worth the bother unless you already own 4 amps. Pick-up a vintage Quad amp and give it care with 4 matching speakers.

 

[tester333]

Thanks for all the input. It's clear to me now that guitar amps will undoubtedly lose some of the "detail" in quad recordings. I'm reminded that they definitely tend to reproduce the mids quite well, but not the highs and lows. I might be able to compensate for that a little bit by raising the high and lows and cutting the middle, but this will only color the tone even more.

OK, so now I'm out to find that odd piece of audio at the flea-market or a garage-sale. Now my question is--should I look for a "receiver/amp" that has 4INs and 4 OUTs?...or a straight quad-amp that has SQ (or QS)/CD4 decoding on-board? I'm a bit confused on the decoding feature. It seems logical to me that a decent "receiver/amp" with 4 INs and 4 OUTs would work, but the more I read here the more I'm getting the idea that I'll need the decoding
(SQ/CD4 and or QS/CD4) function for actual control over the front and back speaker pairs. Exactly what is the difference between a "receiver/amp" that doesn't have SQ/QS/CD4 decoding and a quad-amp that does have the decoding capability?

Thanks for sticking with me on these questions. After 19 yrs of working with military electronics at DOD, Hughes, and Raytheon, I thought I had learned about all there is to know about electronics. Now I see I was wrong...that's good, tho, because it keeps things interesting.