Attaching an Auxillary

[Ryan]

Hi All,
Does anyone have any idea how to put an auxillary onto an amp that hasn't got 1 on?
For example, on my Roland cube it's already got a little auxillary on the back, for me to plug my MP3/IPOD into it, so i can play using the backing tracks in one unit.
I also have a small Danelectro amp, which hasn't got an auxillary on it, is there any way i could put 1 on? so i can play the backing tracks and guitar through just the 1 amp.
Cheers
Ryan

[JimN]

Guitar amplifiers aren't always a good choice for handling recorded music, but may be adequate for practice purposes.

Rather than go to the (considerable) expense and trouble of having an amp modded, why not just buy a cheap mixer so that two items can be fed into one input and have their gain individually adjusted?

This sort of thing:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pulse-LINEMIX4P-4-Channel-Passive-Audio-Line-Mixer-/271304353691?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f2affe79b

[Ryan]

Guitar amplifiers aren't always a good choice for handling recorded music, but may be adequate for practice purposes.

Rather than go to the (considerable) expense and trouble of having an amp modded, why not just buy a cheap mixer so that two items can be fed into one input and have their gain individually adjusted?

Hi JIm,
Wouldn't this only work if you was using the amp very clean?
If i was running the amp distorted, wouldn't this make the music, ie the backing track, distort aswell? As i am assuming this would go straight into the input that the guitar goes into.
Cheers
Ryan

[JimN]

You're probably right about the amp needing to be clean for the recorded music.

But if you wanted a one channel amplifier to give you a distorted sound AND a clean sound at the same time, you'd need a whole separate pre-amp channel installed (which the amp certainly won't have before the mod) - and that sounds expensive with a capital E.

It's probably better to either:

(a) use a small mixer as suggested and use a distortion pedal on the guitar input alone, or

(b) buy an amp with an auxiliary input factory-fitted.

Take a look at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-G-DEC- ... 1c46487275

[Ryan]

Cheers Jim,
If i cut a pair of old earphones up, and lightly soldered the cut off ends, ie the wire, to the speakers and plugged the jack end into the mp3/ipod, would this work? Or wouldn't the mp3/ipod have enough power to power the speaker?
I do already have the Roland cube with the auxillary on, just wondered if it was possible to adapt a small practice amp that hasn't got this on. I've had a couple over the years which haven't had this option on, but wished they did have.

Cheers
Ryan

[mojolomjl]

Hi Ryan,

For the price you can get a small practice amp for it doesn't seem very practical to
try and modify the one you have. Last year I was looking for a small amp for my grandson
and some kind member actually gave me one. Have a look on ebay I think you will be
surprised.

Regards,

Maurice.

[Tigerdaisy]

Instead of fitting an auxiliary try using a 'mini mixer' like the Behringer MX400- has four jackplug inputs with level control for each channel- costs about £12.00. I use it to input a drum machine and fx unit into a cube type amp.

[JimN]

I don't think I can usefully add anything to what Maurice and Martin have said.

In theory at least, any piece of electronic apparatus may be modified to do anything. But it isn't cost-free, neither is there a guarantee of success.

Low-rated amplifiers are just too cheap these days to make such modding worthwhile. I still think the mixer idea is best.

[GuitarPhil]

Cheers Jim,
If i cut a pair of old earphones up, and lightly soldered the cut off ends, ie the wire, to the speakers and plugged the jack end into the mp3/ipod, would this work? Or wouldn't the mp3/ipod have enough power to power the speaker?
I do already have the Roland cube with the auxillary on, just wondered if it was possible to adapt a small practice amp that hasn't got this on. I've had a couple over the years which haven't had this option on, but wished they did have.

Cheers
Ryan

Definitely won't work and don't try it or you'll probably blow the mp3 player as the guitar amp will be feeding the speaker at the same time.

[Ryan]

Thanks to everyone who replied to this, i just wondered if it was possible. I think i'll stick to using the roland.
Cheers
Ryan