Small piano amp

[boogaloo71]

I've been a singer for years, but picked up playing piano a couple of years ago. I'm finally feeling confident enough to go do a small coffee shop gig solo. The keyboard I will need to use for gigs is my Korg 61 key. I don't have an amp for it.

Problem is, I live in a remote part of Alaska. Alas, no local music shop. I have to buy an amp online, unseen, unheard. I've been searching Roland, Peavey, and Behringer amps. I need something small enough that I can carry it easily. I'm a fairly small woman, but strong. But I'd prefer to keep it around the 30-35 pound range. I'm currently borrowing a friend's guitar amp, which is incredibly tinny sounding. I'm hoping not to break the bank. I called a music store in Anchorage and they've led me to a Roland KC-60. Price and size are great, but the reviews aren't great. It's only a 10-inch speaker, and I'm hoping to have at least a 12, just in case I ever want to do something bigger. I want a nice rich sound to the piano. The amp must be able to take a mic, also, so at least two channels. Although if I only had one channel, I have a small mixer board I could use to split the channels. I've considered going the route of a speaker with my mixer board, but I'm just so lost on what to do.

Any of you gear pros out there have any suggestions?

Jeanette in Kodiak

[KRStudio]

Check out E-bay for a used Carvin keyboard amp. Lots of power, they sound descent and are light. Best of all they are cheap used. Good luck with whatever you end up getting.

Cheers
Jeff

[bash]

You're better off learning your small mixing board (it's more simple than you think) and get a powered PA speaker or two. It will enable a better mix and provide options for expandability (for perhaps an accompanist or additional instruments) that a standalone amp can't offer. I would expect the sound quality to be better across a broader array of sources, as well.

[FFTT]

[nedorama]

used:

Peavey KB300, Roland's larger keyboard amp - sound great, and for the weight get a hand truck.

Or, just get a used Mackie SRM450 powered speaker - you only need one and they sound good, are 45 lbs., and you can have them on the floor laying down tilted up, or get a stand and mount it to get the sound up in the air. I have 3 in my band and we use 2 as floor monitors and our keyboard player uses one on a stand as his keyboard amp.

New, the QSC K-series are light, powerful and sound good. I'd get the K12 and not the K10 or K8 for keyboard. the K Series have a built-in mixer, which is a plus - one less thing to plug in and setup.

Avoid Behringer like the plague - their stuff is poor quality ripoffs of other people's designs and will break - with no music stores around, definitely not an area to save money on.

Good luck!