Currently my band has limited gear setup, including a severe lack of microphones, so I was wondering whether using the external speaker output of my guitar amp   (Laney HCM65R) to go straight to the mixer (Yamaha MW12) would cause any damage? It has lightning symbols next to it, so its obviously an output from the power amp. So basically the question is can the mixer handle the high current from a power amp?

The amp also has a FX send/return and a headphone jack, would one of these be better suited? (not actually sure at what stage the FX happens at).

Thanks

Bigru

Not sure, I've got an old HH combo AMP which has a mixer output, I wouldn't try the speaker output.

Obviously you could contact Laney, or refer to the manual.

Depending on your gig you may not need to mic-up the AMP, how many watts is it?

Cheers

Denis

Simple answer... no, don't put the output from the power amp stage into your mixer.  If you want to plug in from the amp, then get a DI box which will convert the power down (or up) for you.
My advice is to do what Denis suggests, and mic the amp up - it's generally a better overall sound anyway.

Jim A

Yeah ideally i would like to mic it, but as i say i don't have enough mics, or in fact any decent mics at all

It is actually loud enough to do a gig, but in terms of recording i want to be able to go into the mixer.

I could mic it and do the guitar by itself, but the mic is really not all that flash.

Is it safe to assume that the FX loop is inbetween the preamp and the power amp? I hope its not before everything, but that doesn't make much sense to me (why have it at all?) and shouldn't be after everything cause then the FX unit would get damaged by the power amp.

This would be perfect for me, as all I really want to use this for is a backup guitar which will basically never be distorted, or use the effects, it just needs a preamp before the mixer

What do you think?

If i understand you correctly, plugging in the monitor/speaker output into a mixer is not a good idea, you could blow the preamp on the mixer. Monitor/speaker output is a powered signal and should only ever be plugged into passive speakers... Your best bet would be to just plug your guitar straight from the pedal into the mixer and boycott the amp when recording. Unless you have no pedal and use the FX on the amp, this is your best bet if you don't have a microphone.

Oh and I am assuming you have to line output on the back of your amp? (most amps of that size do though). This recommendation is strictly for your current situation, it's not perfect but at least you are able to record the guitar (half decently) and don't have to use any microphones.