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How to recreate your practice room tone live?


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We're missing a lot of information here... is it safe to assume that you're miced? Are you listening to it in FOH or a monitor? Different sound guys? What sort of PA's? etc, etc. Could be a million different things.

 

One common problem guitarists will run into is that they spend most of their life listening to their amps while it is pointed at their shins... then you stick a mic on in and you hear what it ACTUALLY sounds like for the first time. This may or may not be what's going on here.

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The tone you get in the bedroom is completely irrelevant than the tones you get when the amp is at gig volume and the rest of the band is playing.

 

So, don't worry about getting "your tone" on stage, because it's never going to happen. Work at a tone that sounds good with the band, and run with it.

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When you raise your volume to gig levels your tone will change. The highs and mids do not go up in proportion to the bass levels. Try tweeking the high ends and you may get closer to the tone you play at home. The room has a huge effect on tone too.

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Only real way to be consistent is by using an emulator and play direct through the PA in practice and at gigs. The size and shape of the room amount other things has a lot to do with the sound you create. All you can do is get the best sound you can through FOH and use those same settings for rehearsals.

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The best way to recreate practice room tone is stay in the practice room. Live, the best way to get good tone is to change it based on what you hear in the room through the PA, just like we have to do for the PA in general. There is no magic bullet. It is trial and error. As others said, the tone will change constantly from room to room and PA to PA depending on so many factors there is no single answer to this. It is always a work in progress.

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you're just going to have to mess with your EQ.... every room is different... how your amp sounds in a small room and big room on the same settings can be night and day.... some rooms are dead... some are lively... it just is a matter of learning your amp IMO...

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Another major variable often missed in this kind of discusion, especially with combo amps, is the hieght of your amp off the floor. Local reflections (i.e. what the mic picks up) can have a HUGE effect on the tone.

 

 

Or stand up and away from your amp when you practice so you'll hear what your amp is trying to do when you gig.

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Or stand up and away from your amp when you practice so you'll hear what your amp is trying to do when you gig.

 

 

Not "or", "and".

 

Hearing what is coming directly out of your speaker is probably this biggest thing missed. Point the amp at your head, and adjust your tone at stage volume levels. (as already stated) But even if you do this, the sound at the speaker will be different than the sound at your ears a few feet away (even when pointed right at your head). And the mic is at the speaker, not at your ears.

 

An amp sitting on the floor aimed up at your head will sound much darker (i.e. more low freq.) through a microphone than that same amp will sound if it is on a stand and mic'ed.

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It doesn't matter what it sounds like comming out of the amp, only what it sounds like coming out of the PA.

 

As others have stated, keep your volume low (low to most guitar players is still way too loud ..... and I am a guitar player btw).

 

Get a good guitar microphone (I like the Sennheiser e609 and e906 first, or an SM57). Set your amp to the volume and tone you are going to play at and don't touch it after that. Use the mixer channel strip to get as pleasing a tone as you can create through the FOH. It is better if you do this with your amp actually turned around and facing the wall to ensure you are getting just the PA and not the amp sound out front. Make sure you have plenty of room before clip on your gain on the channel so that when you boost for leads, you don't clip the crap out of the channel.

 

Hope this helps!

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Home vs on stage is a big difference. One thing I see constantly with guitarists is they are getting too much crunch/drive from floor processors and the amp isn't doing anything other than making it loud. In a perfect setup the amp should be breaking up a little in the power stage, you can drive it harder on the input side as well but having a "cleaner sound" going in and letting the amp break up with allow for a better dynamic range, i.e. you volume doesn't drop when you press that one pedal.

 

Spend time working the volume with different pedals/patches. If it says digitech or line6 and has lots of buttons, try removing it from the signal chain! A lot can be done with an overdrive, chorus and delay. Start there and work out.

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I have an AC15 and I can get great tones out of it - when I play live it doesn't seem to happen. Is it bc of the sound guy or is it me? What should I ask him/her? How do I check?

I'll suggest inviting the soundperson to practice... and have the soundperson stand where you're standing when you think "it's right". And then set up a soundperson practice session in a live performance setting (full system), and woodshed on getting it right out to the audience.

 

What do I think the chances are of that happening? :facepalm:

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I'll suggest inviting the soundperson to practice... and have the soundperson stand where you're standing when you think "it's right". And then set up a soundperson practice session in a live performance setting (full system), and woodshed on getting it right out to the audience.


What do I think the chances are of that happening?
:facepalm:

 

Why stop at the soundguy? Why not just host the gig in your living room? I mean you could buy a keg, charge $5 at the door, and $5 for a cup.:rawk::badump::freak::freak::rawk::snax:

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Another major variable often missed in this kind of discusion, especially with combo amps, is the hieght of your amp off the floor. Local reflections (i.e. what the mic picks up) can have a HUGE effect on the tone.

 

This is one reason for a full stack for guitarists.

 

Yes, I see you all rolling your eyes :lol: But the fact is that a stack a) gives you floor-coupling, which enhances and makes consistent your tone AND b) gets a speaker up by your ears, which allows you to TURN DOWN the volume as you can now hear yourself.

 

A mini-stack is my preferred configuration. A tube combo amp with a 12" speaker, sitting atop a vertically oriented 2x12 'deep' cabinet, is gold. Easy to transport, takes up the same stage space as a combo, gives all the benefits of the above description. The extension 2x12 has to be deep (Marshall style) though, as that also helps enhance the tone. Slim Fender-style 2x12s are not as effective.

 

When the guitarist is comfortable with his stage tone, so many soundman headaches go away....

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My rehearsal rig consists of an RD700SX into a single Yamaha DSR112 powered speaker. It means that 2 of my 3 three sound engines (my CP300 and Motif ES rack are sitting home along with my 2nd DSR112). I spend a good portion of every rehearsal trying to figure out how I'm going to cover the parts I usually play with 1/3rd of my usual sound palatte - and only half of the keyboard real estate. When compared to my full gig rig - my "sound" at rehearsal sucks.

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