H+K Redbox

[danbond]

Hi

Does anyone know much about the H+K redbox?

http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/products.php5?id=110" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I really like the idea of using this instead of mic'ing my fender amp on larger stages - a lot of the time the mic is badly positioned or moves about from activity on the stage and this seems like a foolproof way to send the same signal to the soundboard at every show. Obviously always using it with a speaker load.

Do they sound good though? A little colouration on my sound doesn't bother a huge amount, but making me sound worse definitely does!

Thanks!

Dan

[Le Chat Noir]

Dan, I've been having similar thoughts to this recently myself.

Since we're so often miced up and told to turn down anyway, I know I rarely get the benefits of cranking my amps to get them sounding their best, and I worry about FOH sound when the guy just throws up a mic somewhere in the vicinity of my amp, which also often gets knocked mid-show...

Check out the Tech 21 Character Series pedals - Burgerman's demoes on Youtube will give you a great idea of how they sound direct-to-PA, I have just acquired the US Steel and through my PA system it sounds just as it does in his video. I'm now going to acquire a few more and experiment with running multiple versions simultaneously. The Blonde (Fender clone) sounds really great to me too, might work well for you.

I figure I can bring my small active PA rig with me to shows and get a DI splitter box, allowing me to send it to FOH but also control my own monitoring levels onstage, just like a 'real' amp really.

[a.hun]

The Red Box is a very good solution. I have one and it sounds fine, very good indeed. It is also well put together so I have no fears actually using it with my amps.

Though you do always have to use it with a speaker connected to the amp, you don't actually HAVE to run it between the amp and speaker as H+K suggest. It is quite AOK to run the Red Box from one speaker output and run the speaker from another one(*). Reason is that it has a reasonably high input impedance so will draw next to no current itself. It will also have only a very marginal (tiny!) effect on the overall impedance the amp sees. If you run it this way you don't even need to use a speaker cable to the red box itself, a normal instrument cable will do. But there MUST ALWAYS be a speaker or suitable dummy load connected to the amp too. The Red Box isn't a dummy load.

(*)Only exception would be with an amp which has the extension speaker jack output in series with the main one. But they are almost always wired in parallel. If it was a series extension you would have to run the box between the amp and speaker.


Andy.

[timboardman]

I like the Redbox...

but!

If you are in the UK, try a Motherload - like a Redbox and Hotplate combined, but better at both.

I have sent a load of the bands I work with out with them and I love them - there is a lot more control, and the hotplate side of things is a lot nicer than a hotplate!

TB