Do you blast or are you mic'ed?

[photoweborama]

Yes, less is more...

[concert410]

Less is more is what I have been saying, but there is a point where the gigs are better and you want to have a little more control over the sound. We have reached that point. I saw a band last week that had 7 members and one "road crew" member, and made $400. After the sound and light guys took $200. off the top, 8 people split $200. We played the same room for $400. and only had to split the $400. 3 ways. Sure, they had the big P.A. and the fancy lights, but everyone in the audience told me that we are just as balanced, and just as loud, if not louder. I admit, their subs added something we don't have. Is it worth it for all that aggrevation? I guess we have been fine with the way we have been doing it.

[jaybee]

I play in a 4 piece, we carry our own system (for small to medium size) and put in vocals, sax, guitar, drum overhead & kick and bass (if we can convince him to use his Fender Bassman, otherwise he's loud enough without support)

I play my HRDx on the 'drive' channel only with drive 4-6 / master 2-3. I get sufficient monitoring from the amp and the PA makes sure the sound is spread so I can be heard everywhere, instead of blasting the ears off everyone in front of the amp and have the people 5 feet to the right wonder what I'm doing

[concert410]

I play in a 4 piece, we carry our own system (for small to medium size) and put in vocals, sax, guitar, drum overhead & kick and bass (if we can convince him to use his Fender Bassman, otherwise he's loud enough without support)

I play my HRDx on the 'drive' channel only with drive 4-6 / master 2-3. I get sufficient monitoring from the amp and the PA makes sure the sound is spread so I can be heard everywhere, instead of blasting the ears off everyone in front of the amp and have the people 5 feet to the right wonder what I'm doing

This thread keeps going and going..... I have learned, you do need to put some of the guitar in the P.A. to fill out the sound around the room. Of course this made me rethink the whole P.A. we carry and now we carry more power, more channels, and actually have less headaches. By the way, I sold off my mixer + power amp + speakers rig (to a club we play every month and we use it when we are there) and have gone the mixer + powered speakers route. For me, this was an immediate improvement, and simplified setup time immeasurably. The new P.A. is easier to carry, takes up less space, and is probably 4x as powerful.

[Kap'n]

I don't usually play in places large enough to run my guitar through the PA. I like the rawness of the sound, too, spatial separation, but a bit of harmonic overlap and no post-amp FX.

Stuff through the PA sounds too much like a record to me.

[CocoTone]

I most always use my POD with no amplifier. If I play bass, I use my SansAmp BassDI. Sound guys LOVE ME. :)

The things we give up for love,,,inyour case tone!! :rofl

CT.

[fezz parka]

The things we give up for love,,,inyour case tone!! :rofl

CT.

[cooltone]

I played in a southern rock cover band in LA for about 6 years. We had 3 lead guitarists competeing for space, both on stage and in the sonic spectrum!
One guitarist refused to turn his amp down even in small clubs (think VoxAC30 in a 50 seat capacity club). He claimed that his amp didn't achieve 'his' tone at lower volumes. He also used the 'we have a loud drummer' excuse ad nauseum. So, we all suffered endless complaints about volume levels (serious 'buzzkill' for my stage attitude) and actually lost paying gigs because of it. In a large room, we did just fine, but this refusal to compromise volume for the sake of tone was complete bullshit. I'm confident that I could achieve 'my' tone at any volume (as could he). Never again.

[cooltone]

Also, while on the subject of live sound, I remember playing at Al's Bar, in LA (remember that place, Fezz!?) 15 years or so ago, and I got a very useful, simple sound lesson from this weathered, old British sound man, who'd been in the business a long time. He observed me setting up my '59 Bassman RI on stage and as I was doing my own little sound check, he called me over to the edge of the stage and explained how the sound dissipates from my speakers into the audience (from an unmiked amp) and that certain frequencies reach the audience more clearly (mostly high end), the further back you go. He said that most guys will dial in their tone while standing directly in front of their amps and it ends up sounding like shit to the crowd.
After that little lesson, I began to 'muddy' my tone with more bottom end and rolled off the highs while standing in front of the amp (with the idea that it will sound clearer with more tolerable highs to the crowd further out). He was dead on right. After that, I received more compliments on my tone than ever before.

[fezz parka]

Al's Bar! No Talent Night! I loved that place.:yay

[concert410]

LOL!!! Same ol Situation came upon my motley crew of bandmates. We have been playing clubs that are small, long and narrow. In a trio, the mix has been great without the help of the P.A. The problem of dispertion happens when we play the big WIDE rooms. Then, obviously, the people on my side get a healthy dose of guitar as opposed to the other side which gets mostly bass. I saw a 4 pc. band play an outside gig. Both guitarists used 18 watt Dr. Z combos. One chose to mic through the P.A. He used his volume knob to get his lead sound and volumes. The other guy (like me), stepped on a TS-9 to get his lead tone. The band sounded great even though only one of the guitarists was miked. I guess there is no right or wrong approach.

[dez]

Sat. Eyes From The Ashes did a gig where the soundman actually DID NOT want us to mic up!!! My jaw dropped when he told me the owner didn't like to put alot through her PA - she was afraid of it blowing!

So, we finally convinced him to put or keys through the PA along with our 2 vocal mics. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar and electric went au natural.

Luckily I had my Fuchs modded bassman (it's just a gain, volume, bass, treble , mids, presence - no footswitch, no reverb) and a loud strat!

We had almost a half hour to soundcheck and got levels decent, but with no monitor mix to speak of it was a challenge (a fun one) to hear everything.

Gig went well, but that was definitely a first coming from a soundman...

www.eyesfromtheashes.net

[concert410]

It seems most of the time, the venues are so small (and the pay is so little) that it is not worth going through all that trouble. I do not want to pay a soundman for most of the gigs we play. Every now and then, we play somewhere that provides a soundman AND he runs the house P.A., but those gigs are getting farther and farther in between. The 1800 watt P.A. I have is way overkill for 90% of the shows.