Amp Placement during performance

[MesaMonster]

I play electric guitar at church. We have a small sound system so we dont mic everything. Previous to last Sunday when I played, I could not hear my guitar and could not tell where I was with the band. I have an Egnater Rebel 30 combo. It is a great sounding little amp and a breeze to take to gigs. It can also get very loud. I have been trying to find a way to be able to hear my amp in the mix but kept failing, until... The amp has an XLR out for recording. I always thought that it was silent as the manual says. I discovered this last weekend that I can plug in the silent recording into the PA system and hear the amp at the same time. COOL!! Now my setup is the amp in the PA via the silent out recording and the amp facing my at an angle as a monitor. Problem solved. I first turn up my amp to a level that I can hear and the sound guy dials in the amount to go through the PA system. We sounded so much cleaner and tight. Hats to you Bruce. Thx.

[WRGKMC]

If its an open backed amp place it along side the drummers kick drum, not in back of him. He can hear the amp from the back and you can hear it even with his kick drum. This will make it easier for you to hear front stage and he will hear it in front of him and keep his focus forward instead of being distracted by something in back of him. It may take a little getting used to but it works very well and the band will be allot tighter when he can hear the guitar better. .

[musicmanmu]

I play electric guitar at church. We have a small sound system so we dont mic everything. Previous to last Sunday when I played, I could not hear my guitar and could not tell where I was with the band. I have an Egnater Rebel 30 combo. It is a great sounding little amp and a breeze to take to gigs. It can also get very loud. I have been trying to find a way to be able to hear my amp in the mix but kept failing, until... The amp has an XLR out for recording. I always thought that it was silent as the manual says. I discovered this last weekend that I can plug in the silent recording into the PA system and hear the amp at the same time. COOL!! Now my setup is the amp in the PA via the silent out recording and the amp facing my at an angle as a monitor. Problem solved. I first turn up my amp to a level that I can hear and the sound guy dials in the amount to go through the PA system. We sounded so much cleaner and tight. Hats to you Bruce. Thx.

 

 

Yes, it's basically a DI that acts as a silent recording out when you switch the power switch to 'record.' Very handy on those occasions where volume control is a huge concern. I have the head and cabs and they've been great for almost 5 years now.

 

As far as amp placement, there are so many options that it's hard to talk about. It all depends on venue, venue size, the preferences of the band members, etc. I used to run amps as side fills in my younger, hard rock days. I saw a band where the guitarist turned his 4x12 cab around to face the wall (mic'ed up of course). As for me, I just place it at least 8 feet behind me and to the left if possible.

[DeepEnd]

Our praise band does that as well. Our bass player uses the XLR output on his amp, other guitarist mikes his amp, and I plug either my acoustic or my amp into a DI box depending on what I'm playing. I'm still experimenting with positioning my amp so I can hear it but the lead vocalist doesn't complain that it's "too loud." There was a thread about it over in Electric Guitars: http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/31617501-how-loud-is-too-loud. Glad you found a solution that works for you.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Yes, it's basically a DI that acts as a silent recording out when you switch the power switch to 'record.' Very handy on those occasions where volume control is a huge concern. I have the head and cabs and they've been great for almost 5 years now.

 

 

That's the way a good DI should work IMHO. Give the user the option of using the DI "live" with the speakers hot, and also include a dummy load so they can run it "silent" and use it for direct recording, even late at night while the kids are asleep. Of course, not all DI outputs have a built-in speaker load... NEVER run your amp without a speaker / load connected if it doesn't!

 

As far as amp placement, there are so many options that it's hard to talk about. It all depends on venue, venue size, the preferences of the band members, etc.

 

Quite true IMO.