Starfish Designs (Scotland) Ltd
Unit 1, Old Ferry Rd
North Ballachulish
Fort William. PH33 6SA
Scotland, UK

Tel: +44(0)1855 821429

Email:
admin@starfishdesigns.co.uk

Amplification

Choice of amplification is dependant on the needs of the musician. We advise people to take the instrument into an amplifier shop or shops and try it through a number of amps of the size and price they require. As a general rule, guitar amps tend to be quite coloured and unsuitable whereas keyboard amps are usually clean and work well. People also fall into the trap of using an ‘acoustic’ amp. Some of these work well but not all. Our instruments are not acoustic!

These instruments provide excellent sound sources for effect units, pedals and other processing equipment. With the huge range of these products that is available there is something to suit everyone’s needs and budgets.

Monitoring

The one thing that feels different and takes a bit of getting used to when first playing an electric instrument is the lack of sound coming out of the instrument. This can be a little disconcerting to begin with and needs to be replaced by some sort of monitoring. As always this differs depending on the player’s situation.

For small setups the sound coming out of the speaker system may be all that is needed. But as venues get larger on stage monitoring is necessary. This can take the form of a small amplifier or powered monitor supplied with the signal from one of the split outputs on the DI box (the other going to the main desk. The advantage of this sort of setup is the player can set his own mix at a volume which he can comfortably hear and adjust it during the performance.

In ear monitors have dropped significantly in price recently with systems starting from about £200. The advantage of these systems is it dramatically reduces on stage volume levels protecting the musician from long term hearing damage while often producing a cleaner front of house sound (without the bleed over from stage monitors). The transmitters on these systems can be used for a simple mix between the rest of the band and the player. In larger setups there would be a fold back (monitor) desk dealing entirely with the mix in each person’s ear monitors.