Do you bring your own mic to gigs?

[Scottgman]

I'm wondering how many people bring their own amp mics to gigs?

Most of the places I play that have house PAs usually use SM57s for guitar amps. I have a Sennheiser MD421 that I like ALOT better on my amp compared to a 57.

For those of you with FOH mixing experience, does bringing your own mic piss-off the soundman?

The only downside I can see is that I might possibly forget to pack my mic after the gig.

[dvon1981]

i've thought about it, but i didn't want to piss out the sound dude

[Richard Monroe]

If the sound man is mic'ing a cab with an SM57, and you whip out an MD441, he ought to kiss you! If that pisses him off, I'd say- find a fucking engineer!-Richie

[boingoman]

As a sound guy, I'm never angry if someone brings a particular mic they want to use, no matter what. If it's a piece of junk, or inappropriate, I will diplomatically suggest that something I have may work better. But hell, yes, a 421 on guitars, I'll take that any day!
Like the guy this summer who had done some home reccing and tried to get me to use his A/T 4033 for his lead vocals on stage. It's a nice mic, but ain't exactly monitor-friendly or gain-before-feedback oriented. Unfortunately diplomacy failed in that case, and firmer methods were required. The same goes when I bring my mics to play out and someone else is running sound. Communication is key.
You learn things. I found that plain old 57s work better on a lot of percussion than condensers on a tight stage, because of bleed. It's hard to tell someone who brings their nice mics that something else will work better. I had to not use a Neumann KMS 105 this week. It's a great vocal mic, but in our club the low ceilings make it unusable with a loud band.
I actually like it when people bring their own vocal mics. I clean all my ball/windscreen assemblies after every gig, as different people use them every night. If people bring their own, it's less work for me. And no problem at FOH or monitors for most guys, with the widespread use of Beta 58, Sennheiser 835, and various Audix and EV models. If you do bring your own vox mics, do yourselves a favor and all use the same model. It makes monitors much easier if you share a mix.

[Scottgman]

Cool, thanks for the replies.

I thought it irritated sound guys because of an experience I had in my old band. Everytime we played this one club, the singer would get a "sore" on his lip after the gig. We were certain they never cleaned their mics and so one gig the singer brought his SM58 (they normally use 58s at the club for vocals). For some reason-- I cannot remember why-- the soundman didn't want him using his own mic.

Anyway, that's good to hear. I think I'll start bringing my Sennheiser to gigs. Sweet!

[distortedrumble]

i havent met a pissed off soundman yet....

[distortedrumble]

now messing with the soundboard is like touching a black man's radio

[boingoman]

Originally Posted by distortedrumble

now messing with the soundboard is like touching a black man's radio

I don't know about that, but yup, touch my board, my fx, my eq, or me, and you are outside before you can say "What happens if I touch this?"
I'm not big, but the security guys and I get along very well.

[noisedude]

I was doing sound the other week and a guy who's a great singer was desperate to use AT AE3300 stage condensers on all the singers. I told him if he loved it on his voice he should use it, but I preferred my Senneheiser E845s on the female singers. He was very put-out. I didn't have time to sort out the EQ needed on the crazy proximity effect, and sure enough, when he started singing properly he started clipping and needed HPF and lo freq down -12db to control it.

On the other hand, when I've taken DI boxes or mics I prefer to venues the sound man has inevitably been very standoffish the rest of the night for spurning his gear.

I guess with egos you can't win!

[LI_Slim]

I find that the less competent the sound man the more trouble they have dealing with my suggestions. That's not to say I've never made a stupid suggestion.

I think it's a good idea to bring a back-up vocal mic just in case. If the house equipment is of similar quality, though, I could see the soundman getting a little annoyed that you're wasting his time doing extra work for no good reason.

[DJL]

Originally Posted by Scottgman

I'm wondering how many people bring their own amp mics to gigs?

Most of the places I play that have house PAs usually use SM57s for guitar amps. I have a Sennheiser MD421 that I like ALOT better on my amp compared to a 57.

For those of you with FOH mixing experience, does bringing your own mic piss-off the soundman?

The only downside I can see is that I might possibly forget to pack my mic after the gig.

The answer to your questions are... never, and no... mics are listed on the ryder.

[Treeline]

I always bring one because it fits in the guitar case and I have my mic if I need it.

When I'm doing sound I'll accommodate anyone - as long as I have time to do a new sound check. Where I get the requests tends to be at some point where I have four minutes to find the dead cable and get these guys up to speed - and at minute three there's an issue that was delayed because someone was lazy. Or when the feature band is 20 minutes late for a half hour set during a full day benefit festival, and then the leader drags up his rack with his own preamps - pretty nice ones - and a pair of 4050s - for his bluegrass band's live sound. Now that would have been great if he hadn't been 20 minutes late already. So he blew off the sound check and got pissed at me when the feedback kicked in. I'd run six acts earlier in the day without a hitch. When he packed up he wouldn't speak to me - a pretty stupid move considering I was taking his condensers down at the time. Hell, if I was that incompetent, I'm reasonably sure one of them would have slipped out of my silly little hands.

So getting the sound guy pissed may be a function of timing - and attitude. For my part, I think we're accommodating as hell - but we don't do Diva.

[earworm]

wise advice , no matter how much you love ur mics,
when you use them for Live, always put a little 'sticker' on them with your name on it...
there will always be this one MF who claims that the SM57 he's holding is HIS OWN ... when that kinda shit happens to me people are about to die...
so the stickers prevent war after the gig

[boingoman]

Originally Posted by earworm

wise advice , no matter how much you love ur mics,
when you use them for Live, always put a little 'sticker' on them with your name on it...
there will always be this one MF who claims that the SM57 he's holding is HIS OWN ... when that kinda shit happens to me people are about to die...
so the stickers prevent war after the gig

Yup- Wise indeed. I used to use those little sticky dots, put 'em right in between the pins of the connector. Most people didn't see them, so they couldn't peel them off and claim ownership.

Now I have an engraving pen.

[Steal Sessions]

Originally Posted by Scottgman

Everytime we played this one club, the singer would get a "sore" on his lip after the gig. We were certain they never cleaned their mics and so one gig the singer brought his SM58 (they normally use 58s at the club for vocals). For some reason-- I cannot remember why-- the soundman didn't want him using his own mic.

Medical reasons.. Easy. I guess explaining the situation would be enough to have the soundguy agree on using the singer's own mic. If he still doesnt want to do it, I'd talk with the club owner and let the owner put the sound guy back in its place again. This sounds like the best reason to use your own mic. There should be no reason not to agree on that.

[arjoll]

I'm a sound guy also, and I echo the others here.

You can bring your own gear, as long as its acceptable quality and there is a decent sound check. 2 minutes beforehand you're using what I have already set up!

Cya

[Rokket]

I never thought about bringing my own stuff because I don't have sh*t for gear!
The guys I jam with own the whole set up. If we gig in a place that has it's own system and a soundman, all we ever brought was our own instruments...

[bsr2002]

Always, just in case.

[thane1200]

I always bring my own mic, when we gig, we have to bring our own PA and everything.