Running a guitar head through PA speakers

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:11 pm

I haven't got a guitar amp at the moment since one is at my drummer's house and the other is broken, so today I was playing guitar through my PA system. It actually sounded pretty good, and this got me thinking, would it be possible to put a guitar head (instead of my mixing desk) through the PA speakers? I've had my heart set on a Tiny Terror for a while now, but it's going to be some time before I can afford one due to the added cost of buying myself a speaker cab as well. So, if I buy a Tiny Terror, but not a cab, could I effectively use my PA speakers as 1x12 guitar cabs? They both have 8ohm inputs, and I know the Tiny Terror has two 8ohm outputs, so in theory it seems like I can do this. Am I being an idiot?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:26 pm

if the impedance matches, I wouldn't see the harm in doing this.
PA speakers are designed to cover a wider frequency range than guitar speakers which incidentally, includes the guitar's range.
So eventhough it may not be optimal, it should still sound better than blasting a fart in a Radio-Shack microphone.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:33 pm

laterallateral wrote:if the impedance matches, I wouldn't see the harm in doing this.
PA speakers are designed to cover a wider frequency range than guitar speakers which incidentally, includes the guitar's range.
So eventhough it may not be optimal, it should still sound better than blasting a fart in a Radio-Shack microphone.

I'll give it a go then, once I've saved up the funds for a TT. Obviously I'm not expecting this to be a permanent solution, just a way of paying for everything in smaller chunks.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:49 pm

yeah, give it a try, i used my epiphone valve jr into a pa speaker for a practice RIG.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:17 pm

Steve Albini runs his head through PA speakers, or at least used to. You can get some cool treble effects out of it.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:32 pm

Sounds like this is the way to go. Thanks guys!

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:57 pm

It should work but...

laterallateral wrote:PA speakers are designed to cover a wider frequency range than guitar speakers which incidentally, includes the guitar's range.

I think this could be a problem. too much top end and you could have all this fizzy shit. like running a line out into a DI.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:02 am

Oh It's definitely not going to sound like he's playing trough a vintage greenback but I don't think he stands to damage any of his shit. Not with a 15W amp, anyway. If anything, the suck will act as a motivator in getting a decent cab.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:12 am

haha, yea, I think it would work fine as a temporary solution and who knows maybe it'll end up sounding decent or give him some interesting options in conjunction with the EQ on the amp.

Skip · Post by **Skip** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:22 am

very temporary--- after a few sessions he will steal stuff to get away from it

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:28 am

"will smoke cock 4 gtr cabz"

kim · Post by **kim** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:29 am

there's nothing wrong with it it'll be fine i've done this too and it's just fine

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:24 am

laterallateral wrote:"will smoke cock 4 gtr cabz"