Jump to content

Lee: Guitar Sound Through PAS?


Micky Z

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Lee (and anybody else), my band has gone the Bose PAS route for PA, and we've had three systems for a 5-piece band for about a month. (The band setup is lead singer and non-singing electric guitarist into L1/B1, acoustic guitarist/singer into L1/B1, bass and drums into L1/2B1.) I'm the electric guitarist, playing humbucker/P90 guitars (PRS, ES135, ES125, etc.). We've not yet played out using the Bose systems, but are building towards that in practices.

 

So far, I'm not getting the right guitar sound out of the PAS, and I wonder what you've been doing for your sound. I've tried going direct into the PAS using various presets, and if I want a clean dry sound the PAS is OK. But if I want character (i.e., the usual words - "crunch", "grit", "smooth distortion"), running my pedals into the PAS is less than satisfying. I have not yet tried mic'ing one of my amps into the PAS (many to choose from - Peavey Delta Blues, Reverend Goblin, Rivera Suprema, Fender Concert, to name a few), but I'm concerned about making too much noise on stage and muddying up the sound from the PAS. How do you handle getting good guitar tone through your PAS?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Well, I'm a total tube amp snob and there is no way I'd just plug into the PAS using pedals or modellers.

 

I now have a Reverend Goblin which I mic through the PAS using an SM57. Works great and and it's a pretty versatile little amp. I put it on the 5 watt setting and all is well. Basically, you don't have to completely kill your stage volume - you just want your amp (unmiked) to be no louder than the drum kit, as a rule of thumb. So long as most of the sound is coming from the PAS and not the amp, you get all the benefits of the PAS.

 

Before I got the Goblin, I would attenuate my vintage Fender Pro Reverb and Ampeg VT40 with a Dr. Z Air Brake... a very uncolored attenuator. I'm pretty impressed with it, as most of the power soak type devices really mess with your tone. But I'd just throttle the larger amp down with the Air Brake and mic it through the PAS and that works great too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Do you care what direction the Goblin is pointed? Off the stage? Across the stage? Back at you as a monitor? I have a nice little amp stand with a mic boom that can tilt the Goblin back until it's pointed up at like a 60 degree angle, and I've thought about doing that to keep the sound from leaking off stage too much. Or is that not really a worry?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Well some people like to point their amps sideways off the stage, but I've found that unnecessary. I just put it beside the PAS and slightly behind it, facing forward as normal, and that makes it easier to reach the controls. I don't point it up toward myself because that would likely give me a false impression of what the mix sounds like, and I prefer to hear my sound coming through the PAS as everyone else is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks, Lee. We bought into these PAS systems primarily on what we read on the MP and Bose forums, so I'm pretty familiar with the story you wrote in MP. If you were to get commissions on sales you've influenced, you'd have to add at least two of our three systems to your list. Ditto on the Goblin, although I'm still working on the sound I want for the P90 guitars (the UK setting is the closest so far).

 

Thanks again - I appreciate it! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

No problem Micky... any other questions just ask, we've gotten things pretty much dialed in with the PAS now but I know it's kind of a learning curve. And yeah the UK setting is the one I use most often on the Goblin too (I'm a P90 freak all the way myself)!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Our guitar player goes from his Godin electric guitar>POD XT Live>Bose PAS w/ 1 B1 sub. Its the best tone I have ever heard from him. We almost never use his Fender tube amp, anymore. We are tube freaks, btw. Try a POD XT Live if you have access to one. We put the Bose om Blackface, Marshall, and sometimes the Vox settings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

That's my next step - I'm going to mic my Goblin into the PAS, so I can get tone and response without overwhelming the PAS. I looked at the Vox board, but I haven't been able to try it out yet. Someday...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...