3 practice amps to gig with?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tminusmat
  • Start date Start date
tminusmat said:
Seriously thank you guys very much!!!! This discussion has made me a better performer for sure.

I do need to upgrade my amp but I will be fine with the 25 watter this gig. I will let everyone know how it goes and what the advice lead to!!

I will ask the sound guy to mic not peg into the rp 90. From rehearsels recently it seems that pulling the amp up higher aimed toward the face and slightly toward the drummer works well. And right now I have it set at 5 for the volume. And I run clean and use the rp90 for effects and amp mods.

I cannot tell you how much I learned from this post. And I will go through and give everyone some props soon!!

Mat
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If your looking to upgrade my best advice is to save up some money, sell all of your smaller amps, and go grab a fellow guitar player (preferably someone who is as good if not better than you) and go have a amp shopping day. Make sure to take your guitar as certain amps match up better with certain guitars, then you and your friend trade off playing, and listening to several amps and pick the one you like most within your price range, 1 excellent amp is better than 3 ok ones.
 
marshallpk89 said:
however saying that modeling has come a long way in the last couple years, my particular favorite is the vox tonelab, but the pods are starting to get really good as well
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I would probably go with the Boss GT10 over the VOX tone lab
I have the GT8 and GT6 B and both are pretty awesome but Boss discontinued both models when they introduced the GT10and GT10B.
the podX3 is a good processor but the ones before it not so much.
I have been using the Behringer Bass Vamp pro that I like very much.
works great both live and recording use.
 
Personally, I hate all the guitar amp modeling crap. Market is so flooded with it. None of it ever sounds like the amps they claim to, and even when they come "close", there is very little tone range. Had a hell of a time finding a multi effects pedal without amp sims. I'm fortunate enough to own most of the amps they try to copy, so I don't need all that crap. Every kid in the world is playing with these things now, and getting even somewhat passable tones from them requires a good amount of time, and know how, and often some outboard gear as well. They really sound awful in the hands of inexperienced, untrained ears.


On the other hand, for some reason, the Bass modeling preamps I'm kinda diggin'.
 
Ya but you are man enough to admit it, most gear snobs are in denial:D
 
Toker41 said:
Personally, I hate all the guitar amp modeling crap. Market is so flooded with it. None of it ever sounds like the amps they claim to, and even when they come "close", there is very little tone range. Had a hell of a time finding a multi effects pedal without amp sims. I'm fortunate enough to own most of the amps they try to copy, so I don't need all that crap. Every kid in the world is playing with these things now, and getting even somewhat passable tones from them requires a good amount of time, and know how, and often some outboard gear as well. They really sound awful in the hands of inexperienced, untrained ears.


On the other hand, for some reason, the Bass modeling preamps I'm kinda diggin'.
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Its probably because most bass' are run direct as well as amped anyway, and the preamps just add a little flavor, there are a couple people who get phenomenal tone out of amp modelers, however they are few and far between, are using the best amp modelers available, and have spent countless hours dialing in their sound
 
Roguetitan said:
I would probably go with the Boss GT10 over the VOX tone lab
I have the GT8 and GT6 B and both are pretty awesome but Boss discontinued both models when they introduced the GT10and GT10B.
the podX3 is a good processor but the ones before it not so much.
I have been using the Behringer Bass Vamp pro that I like very much.
works great both live and recording use.
Click to expand...

wasnt a huge fan of the gt10, just too many bells and whistles i like the straightforwardness of the vox a little more
 
Well the gig was last night. And you all made me look like I knew what I was doing to the sound guy that is for sure.

He did his best. I let him just peg into the RP90. Which made him very happy. Overall the gig went well. My guitar sounded good. We had a good crowd about 150. I think it could have been better as far as the sound but he definitely thought I knew what I was doing and that I have all of you to thank!!

I have to say that I like to control the sound a little more than I did last night in the future. since part of this is the bands enjoyment of how we sound too. And it definitely loses something when you go with as little stage noise as we did. And the lack of a sound check so we couldn't really get much in our monitors. So our stage sound was crap. And the vocals out I guess were really soft. but a lot of lessons learned.

I have not really been on stage with a band for 16 years:). And although I toured as a 20 yr old (38 now) and played well over 300 shows after so long and with a real new band (only 3 weeks of practice and writing of new songs) it went good enough. 2 of the members of the band have never played a gig before and they did well.

Now it's time to record:)

thanks everyone!!

Mat
 
Yo! Good for you!

Now you've got some momentum and the next one will be smoother... Or so they say.:D
 
You can expect to be unhappy without a sound check.

You can expect your soundcheck to only be close to what you really want.

Glad you had fun. Making the sound guy happy is VERY important. He may not make you sound great, but he CAN make you sound bad.
 
hhhmmm....no sound check, couldn't hear on stage, low vocals in mix, unhappy with guitar tone...

....yeah, sounds like it went great.

Like I said....I learned not to leave these things to chance.
 
having fun is the important thing, if your having fun it makes everything else easier, plus as you continue you learn to do little things on your end to make the sound better and make it more enjoyable for yourself
 
tminusmat

Glad to hear you had a good time!:)
it will get better with every gig.
 
marshallpk89 said:
having fun is the important thing, if your having fun it makes everything else easier, plus as you continue you learn to do little things on your end to make the sound better and make it more enjoyable for yourself
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Please...having fun is better than looking, and sounding good?

No, giving the people the best show is the most important thing. Of coarse the sound man would be thrilled if you asked him to plug you pedal in instead of micing an amp. His job just got easy. You think he cares if your tone is shit? Easy for him to say, "I did the best with what I had to work with", and dump it back on your less than professional equipment. You think he cares if the crowd sees the garage band equipment on stage, and thinks "not a very professional band"?

It's great that you had a good time. However, you only have one chance to make a first impression with the audience, and the club owner (booker). Sorry, but you having fun has little to nothing to do with them wanting to book you again, or come see you again.

So, lets recap:

Lame guitar tone
Poor stage volume
No sound check
Bad monitor mix
Couldn't hear vocals in the audience.

But.....the sound man was happy because his job was easier.:rolleyes:

I'm the only one that see's the problem with this?

Hint: This is when the sound guys jump in and shout "not the sound guys fault he doesn't have a good amp, and experience".:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Toker41 said:
Please...having fun is better than looking, and sounding good?
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You sure have a lot of opinions about how this gig went for someone who wasn't there. I'm just sayin'... ;^)

Not everyone's goals in music are the same, and that's how it should be. Some bands play boring music and jump around in costume in front of gigantic fake amps and entertain the crowd that way (that's my opinion of Kiss - YMMV). Others dress in jeans and Tshirts and just kind of stand around and blow people away with their music (my opinion of the Grateful Dead, and YMMV there, too). And yes, to some bands, having fun is the point. We all measure success according to our own scales, and there is no absolute.
 
Really doesn't have anything to do with how much someone jumps around. But, since you brought it up...I believe a show should be a show. However, you are right...different strokes...

but,that is a topic for another thread.

Back to topic:

I'm going by what the OP said about the show. My view is that of a seasoned musician/performer, and as of late, a manager. So, if you are doing this for kicks, then great. Nothing else matters, as long as you are having fun. However, if you are viewing this as a career, or even if you simply hope to play anything more than a pay toilet of a club....then it's great that you have fun, but it's not topping the list of important things when doing shows.
Glad you brought up Kiss. I was just watching a clip of them backstage while Peter was singing Beth. His mic cut out in the middle of a line. Gene yelled "F*ck!" at the top of his lungs. Peter came backstage after the song, and ripped into someone. Why? Were they not having fun? Isn't that all that matters? No...it DIDN'T SOUND GOOD.
No matter how much fun a band seems to be having, or how relaxed they are, it's only because things are going well. There is always a degree of professionalism, and a good show, with good sound, with the audience having a good experience tops the list. Like it or not, it's work, and responsibility. "Fun" is what comes when everything is right, not "easier for the sound man". So, I'm sorry, but this "keep everything easier for the sound man, so he will be happy" stuff is a bunch of crap. Telling this guy to plug his low budget, plastic, $40 Digitech RP50 direct into the board, and rely on an unfamiliar sound guy to put it in the monitors was simply not good advice, and comes from people looking to make a job easier, instead of putting the effort into doing it right.
A. It's not going to sound good.
B. It's a risk. I hope he learned something, and has a better sounding show next time.

If this guy is just f*cking around, then all went well so long as he had fun. BUT, if he is serious about this, and plans on taking it further, then it didn't go well....according to HIS description of the show. The ones that get any where are the ones that take it seriously from the start.

So, how it went depends on what the OP is in it for. Since he never really hinted about what that might be, we don't know at this point. Either way, the main goal should always be for a band to sound it's best. Period. You never know who is listening.
 
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