Members Thorhead Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Hello. So I am total noob when it comes to tube amps (and micing). Do they sound better as you put the volume higher? Do you need high volume for them to sound at all in semi loud room? Because I need to mic one in small practice space, and it should not get too loud. Mainly amplified by PA. Is this at all viable? (Hypothetical scenario BTW - just thinking that solid state may be better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mahuska Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Tube amps sound better when you get the output tubes cooking. For this reason I built a iso-box to put in front of the speaker cab. I knocks the sound down quite a bit. Trouble is I have to keep moving the mic positionand moving the box until I get what I want. A Shure Sm57, Sennheiser 609 are common. I use a Shure SM7b. I am sure others will chime in with sound advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 You should be able to make it work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 You don't have to crank a tube amp for it to sound good. Yes, they do often sound great when you do that, but it's not necessary. Whether tube or solid state is really better depends on the amp and, more importantly, your taste. Some solid state amps sound better than some tube amps (despite what some will say), though tube amps are generally better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roners5 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 There's a lot of info online about micing guitar amps- just do a google search for the basics. One thing that took me a while to realize is how much of a difference mic placement on the speaker makes- moving the mic 1/4" or pointing it at a slight angle to/away from the cone will completely change the sound (experiment if you can get an iso booth or iso headphones and you'll be surprised). And they usu do sound better with higher volume just because it moves more air and the amp itself probably sounds better. Another thing to mention is however much distortion you use, turn it down by 1/4 when you mic the amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thorhead Posted March 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 There's a lot of info online about micing guitar amps- just do a google search for the basics.One thing that took me a while to realize is how much of a difference mic placement on the speaker makes- moving the mic 1/4" or pointing it at a slight angle to/away from the cone will completely change the sound (experiment if you can get an iso booth or iso headphones and you'll be surprised). And they usu do sound better with higher volume just because it moves more air and the amp itself probably sounds better. Another thing to mention is however much distortion you use, turn it down by 1/4 when you mic the amp. Not that interested in how to mic the amp, I am more interested in is it possible to have the amp low enough in the same room where everyone else play and play drums - for it to be mixer controlled. And yet sound good. Isolating and micing a tube amp? Do many people do that in rehearsal rooms? Can the signal start to feedback if it's too low? and there is lots of "loud" in the room? Or are the mics "soundproof" from other sources. I am sure many practice rooms have to deal with issues like this... how is it solved? Of course not micing is an option too, but then you can't have a mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beyer160 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Get it sounding good in the room, then you're just trying to get the mic to reproduce/enhance that sound. You're not going to get a mic to make a crappy tone sound amazing, no matter how nice it is. If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, check this article out-http://www.mercenary.com/recrocguit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Not that interested in how to mic the amp, I am more interested into is it possible to have the amp low enough in the same room where everyone else play and play drums - for it to be mixer controlled. And yet sound good. Yes but you may get some bleed if you go too low. Why does it have to go through the PA for a small practice space at all though? If you need to be really quiet and this is just for practice you may be better off running a modeler direct to the PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roners5 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Not that interested in how to mic the amp, I am more interested into is it possible to have the amp low enough in the same room where everyone else play and play drums - for it to be mixer controlled. And yet sound good. ok then you need to be more specific about what you're doing- i.e. why are you micing an amp in a small practice space next to drums, etc?? Put your ear right up to your speaker while the band is playing (and someone is playing your guitar also)... start at volume 0 and turn the amp up until you hear mostly guitar and not other crap.. that is how loud it needs to be to be "mixer controlled" edit- that last sentence isn't what i meant to say- i meant that is how loud it needs to be to not have significant bleed... depending upon how loud that is, that will determine whether or not it can be "mixer controlled" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoqBelliqueux Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Not that interested in how to mic the amp, I am more interested in is it possible to have the amp low enough in the same room where everyone else play and play drums - for it to be mixer controlled. And yet sound good.Isolating and micing a tube amp? Do many people do that in rehearsal rooms? Your sentence sounds like Inception. What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 You could make yourself up a mic screen. May help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thorhead Posted March 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 ok then you need to be more specific about what you're doing- i.e. why are you micing an amp in a small practice space next to drums, etc?? Put your ear right up to your speaker while the band is playing (and someone is playing your guitar also)... start at volume 0 and turn the amp up until you hear mostly guitar and not other crap.. that is how loud it needs to be to be "mixer controlled"edit- that last sentence isn't what i meant to say- i meant that is how loud it needs to be to not have significant bleed... depending upon how loud that is, that will determine whether or not it can be "mixer controlled" Doing it, because I want the mixer to have absolute control. The DB levels should be a bit over 100db max. The amp alone should not exceed 80 db or around something like that. Basically the amp alone should be good enough to do without ear plugs, and so that you can reasonably at least yell at each other. While after you "engage" the PA the levels should raise to a bit over 100db, and you should play with ear plugs. Is this doable with A) the tube sound good at those levels.B) the signal not bleeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thorhead Posted March 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 You could make yourself up a mic screen. May help. How much would the price be for such device? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 How much would the price be for such device? Probably way more that it's worth for this application. Those are meant to minimize flutter echo and short reverb on vocal tracks. Won't have much effect blocking out sound in a loud room. Just try your idea. It will probably be just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roners5 Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 just get an iso cab- that's really what you're looking for if you want to play a tube amp in a small room and have 100% control via mixer http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-JET-ISO12-LIST?SRC=D0407FG0HAMS0000&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=feed& or something similar put whatever speaker you prefer and knock yourself out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Probably way more that it's worth for this application. Those are meant to minimize flutter echo and short reverb on vocal tracks. Won't have much effect blocking out sound in a loud room. Just try your idea. It will probably be just fine. Jeff Beck uses one on his Pro Junior at times. Could be to cut other stage noise out maybe.[video=youtube;RgD_u2n8nW8] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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