Hi all, i'm a guitar player of 5 years or so and am looking to expand my sound. i'm thinking that a synth is the way to go. i've looked into it a bit and right now i think my best bet is the microkorg. i'm not worried much about the polyphony (that's how many notes will ring at the same time, right?). i'm just looking to be able to get a lot of decent synth sounds out of it. and with the korg, i read that you can plug a guitar into it to process the sound? how does that work? just plug it into it and then into an amp? i couldn't use my tube amp, right?

another synth i was looking at was the Realistic MG-1. i don't know much about that one, but it's affordable and sounds like it'll do the job.

i'm trying to keep this under like $400 US. could i use my 50W solid state guitar amp until i can save up enough for a keyboard amp?

i know i have a lot of questions, but, like i said, i'm new and am interested in the whole deal. thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer!

Hey man synth is definetly the way to go. They are very fun to use and can be very creative. The microKorg is the perfect synth for a beginner. For a synth it's very easey to use and i'm only 14. I'm not sure how to plug in your guitar but if you go to a store like guitar center they will show you ( and they are very freindly there too). Micro korg is i think $399.99 so that will definelty fit your budget. I hope i helped you out a little. Bye.

Nope you do not connect your synth to a guitar amp. Had it been some old monophonic analog then doing that once in a while for a cool effect is alright.
BUt for your MicroKorg you will need a high quality stereo connection such as a home Hi-Fi (at least) or a mixer hooked up to a couple of decent speakers (either self powered or with their own amplifier).

Don't try playing the MicroKorg using a pick either.

-ED-

Like Ed said,

Synth's and keyboards produce sounds covering 20hz -> 20khz. Most guitar amps are not designed for that. (the line outs of keyboards/synths have too much gain, also speakers designed for guitar will be blown pretty fast)

I don't know the micro korg but if there is a guitar input it will work, if there's a line input for other gear you need a gain controller for the guitar as the signal is usually too low, or a preamp will do, or you can use your line out from your tube amp.

Some solid state amps can be used for keyboards and synths as well.
(Peaveys and rolands to name a few)
Just cheque the amp model.

generally, i've heard that its a bad idea to use a guitar amp for keys (although, this begs the question of what the heck a rhodes uses?), BUT, i know a lot of keys players (myself included) started out with and still use bass amps. this seems like a safe option, thats pretty affordable compared to a keyboard amp.

I used a bass amp setup way back ( late 70's and early 80's ) when my setup was a Hohner Clavinet and a Yamaha CP25 electric piano. As soon as I added an analog synth ( Korg Poly 6 ) to the lineup, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't procucing the dynamic ranges I needed. I switched to a decent quality PA setup, and the added benefit was that my CP25 also sounded a lot better.

With the avaialbility of good quality kb amps and much more compact self contained powered speakers and PA systems, I wouldn't ever consider playing through a guitar or bass amp these days.

If you're not playing live, you might consider using something like a Logitech powered speaker setup. The Z2300 I have is rated to put out 400 watts or so. I don't know how accurate the specs are, but I can tell you that for my studio it's all I need even when adding other musicians here. My traditional PA system rarely gets turmned on any more in here. The Z-2300 can be had for about 110 Usd or so, and there are smaller systems that would still provide plenty of punch. There are guys at the arranger forum who are gigging with the 5.1 version as their soundsystems( Z-5300 ) and are reporting excellent results.


AJ