Educate me on slave amps

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steamboat
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Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:28 am

Educate me on slave amps

Post by steamboat » Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:02 pm

I would like to pick up a old 70s slave amp but would like to know more about the different ways they can be used.

First, I assume I can plug right into the front of it in the input with a guitar and then run the speaker out to the speaker cab. Just like a normal amp? But obviously only having a power section driving my sound.

I also assume I can use it with another amp like a pa120 or or120 that has a slave out on the back. This is where I have a few questions. I would plug a chord from the slave out in my pa120 to the input on front of the slave to give it signal? But then what are my options for the speakers? Do I still have to have the pa120 speaker outs connected to a cab for a load on the pa120? Or now does the slave become the load on that amp and now I run the speakers through just the slave? Or do I have to still run speakers on the pa120 and the slave just becomes another amp for more speaker cabs?

So lets say I only have one cab, can I even utilize the slave amp at this point?
Or do I need a minimum of two cabs, one for the pa120 and one for the slave?

I realize I can run two cabs off the pa120 or or120 and another two off the slave but I'm just wondering minimum requirements to operate correctly?

I'm kind of guessing the slave just drives more cabinets and would be recieving the same signal as the cabs are getting from the from the pa120 outs, just with a power section to drive more cabs?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge here but this is my first time using slave amps.

Any info is appreciated
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

fiveightandten
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Re: Educate me on slave amps

Post by fiveightandten » Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:59 pm

steamboat wrote:
Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:02 pm
I would like to pick up a old 70s slave amp but would like to know more about the different ways they can be used.

First, I assume I can plug right into the front of it in the input with a guitar and then run the speaker out to the speaker cab. Just like a normal amp? But obviously only having a power section driving my sound.
It's made to take line level signal, so you'd get some sound out of it. But without a pre-amp, it wouldn't sound very good and it would be fairly weak. With the amount of power these amps put out, you'd hear it fine. But that's not what it's designed to do.
steamboat wrote:
Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:02 pm
I also assume I can use it with another amp like a pa120 or or120 that has a slave out on the back. This is where I have a few questions. I would plug a chord from the slave out in my pa120 to the input on front of the slave to give it signal?
That's correct.
steamboat wrote:
Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:02 pm
But then what are my options for the speakers? Do I still have to have the pa120 speaker outs connected to a cab for a load on the pa120? Or now does the slave become the load on that amp and now I run the speakers through just the slave? Or do I have to still run speakers on the pa120 and the slave just becomes another amp for more speaker cabs?
Both the PA120 and the slave head would need a speaker load. They are separate amps. These slave amps were built in the days when PAs weren't powerful enough to amplify a band at large venues. Guitar players needed serious power to be heard. If you had an amp and liked the sound, but you just needed more volume, you bought a slave head. It's essentially a duplicate power amp to drive more speakers.

It's fairly useless for modern guitar players. The problem we have is the opposite of the problem these were designed to remedy.

You can use it to amplify a pre-amp. But most pre-amps these days are digital and not designed to be colored by an old school tube power amp. It's big and heavy too. They're cool to have though, as it's a piece of history, and old school British guitar gear.

-Nick
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steamboat
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Re: Educate me on slave amps

Post by steamboat » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:01 am

Thank for taking the time to explain all that. I appreciate all that info. That's kinda how I assumed these work just wanted to confirm.
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

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