I tried using my bose speaker but the sound is NOT loud. Even the acoustic guitar sounds louder than the beatbuddy, then I tried with an amp (Blackstar 10watts) connected through the aux port, but the electric guitar sounds louder than the beat buddy. I read about using PA systems but I’m just a bedroom musician who wants something:
Because the BeatBuddy pedal is not amplified, you should use powered speakers (can’t tell from your post if you are using active or passive Bose speakers). Although a guitar amplifier/combo will work, it will not give you the full range that makes the BeatBuddy sound at its best.
For powered speakers, I’ve plugged in a small pair of computer speakers into the pedal headphone jack. Right now I’m using a small set of powered Mackie speakers and they sound great.
If you want an all-in-one set up, you can use a small keyboard amplifier for both your guitar and your BeatBuddy.
The output from the BeatBuddy is plenty loud for ‘industry standard’ for both the headphone output and the pedal output so the getting a good signal out of the pedal isn’t the issue unless you have a bad pedal. You need to choose a speaker designed for one of those signal levels.
A good friend uses a small Bose speaker fed by his iPhone to provide accompaniment when he plays clarinet in small public settings. He uses the headphone jack to feed the Bose. There are plenty of other small powered speaker options that work with headphone-level output
If you want to play with a real band, then you need to look into a power PA speaker or keyboard amp in the $200-$300 range or more. At the low end, get a used Peavey KB300 or an Alto 12" or 15" powered speaker - they have a good reputation and are easy on the budget if you don’t want to buy used. These types of speakers are designed to work with the normal pedal output. Get two if you want stereo but you should be just fine working in mono with a single speaker.
I got one of these, and it revolutionized my setup:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B207MP3?adpos=1t1&creative=83049425401&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=CMSEhZyq0soCFQ6QaQodEHIOcg
(Not promoting sweetwater… it was just the first to come up on a google search)
My guitar has both electric and acoustic outputs, so i have my electric guitar chain go into one channel, my acoustic guitar chain go into beatbuddy then into another channel, and my vocals going into the third channel. You can also play mp3s off a usb card, or plug anything you want into the RCA inputs. It mounts on a mic stand, so it’s all right there at your fingertips.
Use this for practice, and with live gigs, just go out of this into some kind of main, and you are set!
I’ve not had any issues with loudness; my advice would be to always go through a mixing desk so as to get your levels right.
We go to a mixing desk and route the monitor to a BOSE L1 compact (see https://www.bose.com/products/speakers/portable_pa_speakers/l1-compact-system.html#v=l1_compact_black). We position this just behind me and the singer (2 piece) in the middle - so we’re in a triangle formation. It gives us great clarity of the sound. Then we route the mains out to the front of house system.
Go through the Beat Buddy’s 1/4" outputs as they are hotter than the headphone outputs, though I’m tempted to pick this up since it’s on sale: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Kustom-PA/PA50-Personal-PA-System-1304980282163.gc
That’s my set up as we speak. I’ll actually either buy another one of those, or get @aashideacon 's Behringer later. Sounds great for home and small venues.
I want a big clean drum sound and wondered if you think the Roland KC 550 would be good?
Yeah, something like that would sound great!
That would sound great too. As a guitarist, I just can’t use guitar amps, because they are “tuned” for guitar frequencies (roughly speaking). But a keyboard amp like Roland KC 550 should output great for the BeatBuddy.
Ok thanks guys, I’m ordering now and how do I run the spaghetti?
I have a RC 300 looper and a GP-10 processor ?
Place the BeatBuddy at the end of the chain.