Two Amp. Theory

[Rick Collins]

I like to play Fender Dual Pro. and Fender Stringmasters through my Webb 6-14E. If I buy a practice amp with a 10" speaker, would it also make since to use this amp with the Webb?

It would seem (in theory) that setting the Webb for low end and the practice amp toward the high end, I could have a higher level of fidelity, And, at the proper distance between them, a greater degree of separation.

Does it work like this?

...any comment appreciated. Many thanks, Rick

[Bobby Boggs]

I haven't played thru a Webb in 20 years.But the one thing it did have was plenty of high end.As for a higher level of fidelity I can't see how a cheap amp could help with that.Regards.........bb

[David Doggett]

Rick, by using one amp with a 15" speaker and another one with a 10" speaker you will in effect be creating a two-way speaker system with independent power and independent dual cross-over controls. Theoretically, with proper adjustments to EQ, you could get better fidelity. The main problem is that these two systems will overlap in a broad midrange. You can minimize this and approach a flat frequency response across the mids by cutting the mid on each amp, and cutting the highs on the 15" and the lows on the 10". If done correctly you will have better highs than the 15" alone can provide, and better lows than the 10" alone can provide. It takes less power to generate the highs, so the 10" amp does not need as much power as the 15" one, but it needs as much or more high-end volume as the 15" alone, if you want to use the maximum volume of the system.

That being said, flat response high-fidelity is rarely what guitar players, and especially steelers want to hear. If you don't believe me, try playing guitar or steel through your home stereo speakers, or through a two-way full frequency PA speaker. It will sound very harsh and shrill. Solid body guitars, and especially steels (which don't even have a joint between the body and neck, and use metal bridges and nuts) are overly rich in highs and mids. The reason most steelers prefer 15" speakers is that they are inefficient (weak volume) for the highs and high-mids. Therefore, they mellow out the sound. Even your typical guitar amp sounds harsh and shrill for steel, especially if it has 10" speakers. Non-pedal steels have a more guitar-like sound and so can sometimes get by with a guitar amp with small speakers, depending on taste. Dedicated pedal-steel amps not only mostly have 15" speakers, but they may be voiced lower for steel, and many have special controls to cut the mids. But some rock and blues steelers like 12" speakers to cut through loud bands (e.g., Buddy Cage). Also, some steelers (e.g., Dan Tyack) like the more complex sound of unmatched speakers, if not speakers of different sizes. So the only way to answer this question for yourself is to play through both amps, diddle with the EQ controls, and see if you can find something you like. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David Doggett on 08 February 2005 at 10:40 AM.]</p></FONT>

[jim milewski]

One problem may be the phase, easily fixed if the outputs are out of phase, I wonder if two amp users ever had to change one amp. Although similar amps should be in phase