Drum machines on guitar amps... Yay or nay?

[Emperoff]

Hi folks, I'm on the fence of getting a looper (Boss RC-5 or RC-10R), and those have built-in drum machines which sounds like a lot of fun. Thing is I'm not experienced with drum machines on guitar amps so I hope you guys can help on that regard .

Do they sound like shit or are at least passable for some jamming?

And the most important question: Can the speakers be damaged by the low frequencies of the kick drum? I remember blowing up a Roland Cube 30 (10" speaker) back in the day when using it to play music at student parties (good times, lol). I definetely don't want to blow up expensive speakers this time.

Any experiences with similar stuff?

 

[thraxil]

I used to run my cheap electronic drum kit into my even cheaper spare practice amp. Yeah, it sounded like crap, but I am also a terrible drummer, so I have to accept most of the responsibility there.

If you keep it below about 80% of the speaker's max, it'll probably be fine. But it's risky and I wouldn't do it with a good amp/cabinet at gig volumes. For me though, the point of using an electronic kit for practice was that it didn't need to be loud, so we could jam at basically conversation volume and there wasn't any danger of blowing anything up. Even then, I stuck with the old practice amp that I didn't really care too much about. If you're using a drum machine for a show and want to be loud, you're much better off running it out to a mixer and to the FoH/PA or getting a separate amp for it (a bass amp or keyboard amp is going to be much more capable of surviving what a drum machine puts out).

 

[RG503]

thats a nay for me. i had a digitech gnx4 which was the top of the line effects/drum machine/recorder of its time.. the drums always sounded so electronic... so fake. it doesnt matter if you just need to keep the time, but you wouldnt want to record that. get ezdrummer... its a lot better.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Are you even a musician if you don't have a shitty little PA somewhere you're using as a shelf?

 

[Emperoff]

If you're using a drum machine for a show and want to be loud, you're much better off running it out to a mixer and to the FoH/PA or getting a separate amp for it (a bass amp or keyboard amp is going to be much more capable of surviving what a drum machine puts out).

Nah, I don't think I'd ever use it at a show (that's what drummers are for ), only for having some fun jamming (at rehearsal volumes). I feel I enjoy a lot more playing along my own loops on the GT-1000 than on backing tracks, and adding drums would be a nicer and more realistic experience. What I don't know is if rehearsal volumes are enough to kill a speaker with a backing track.

Either way, I guess the safest choice is to go for the RC-10R and route the drum part out to my band's PA (the RC-5 can't do that) and call it a day.

 

[Crungy]

Are you even a musician if you don't have a shitty little PA somewhere you're using as a shelf?

Do bass amps used a shelf count?

 

[Crungy]

Route to PA or do you have access to a spare/small bass or keyboard amp?

 

[CanserDYI]

thats a nay for me. i had a digitech gnx4 which was the top of the line effects/drum machine/recorder of its time.. the drums always sounded so electronic... so fake. it doesnt matter if you just need to keep the time, but you wouldnt want to record that. get ezdrummer... its a lot better.

The electronic fakeness is probably the sound they are going for.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I may be in the minority here, but I think drum machine sounds even cooler with a little bit of clipping/distortion and reverb. It's a robot drummer, lean into that and have fun.

I have run many drum machines through many piles of amps and speakers at very loud volumes and never had any issues. Lots of bands do this live, especially noise, punk, and goth adjacent stuff.

 

[Gmork]

@Emperoff i read the title and thought you meant guitar amp heads with built in drum machines lolol

 

[c7spheres]

Do they sound like shit or are at least passable for some jamming?

........... Can the speakers be damaged by the low frequencies of the kick drum?

Any experiences with similar stuff?

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes..... baby!