The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi y'all. I know you guys can answer this question for me.

A soundman friend of mine says he can take the ext speaker out of any amp into a direct box to his board. I felt like it would put a weird load on the amp but wasn't sure.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Typical direct box input impedances are > 20k Ohms and usually >> 20k. Assuming the direct box is healthy that will put only a miniscule load on your amp, almost as if nothing at all was plugged into the ext speaker out jack.

Just make sure you have a good fuse in your amp in case something goes wrong with the direct box or with the cable from the jack to the direct box. Also, keep the amp OFF when plugging or unplugging the cable to the input of the direct box or the extension jack- there may be a momentary short circuit as the plug is pushed into the jack. Take the same precautions you would take if you were plugging in an extension speaker.

Thanks, Neil!

Mark