Guitar amp Vs PA?

tigerflystudio

tigerflystudio

New member
Right, here goes... I'm just plain fed up of dragging my valve guitar amp everywhere with me so I was wondering (because it'll be a long while before I can check for myself) if any of you had ever considered ditching your guitar amps and running the following set up?:

guitar > effects > Line 6 POD > PA system

Every considered it?

Would I still be able to get a good guitar sound / tone going from the POD to our PA (Mackie SRM450's)?

pros / cons?
 
Ive been in a theatre in Branson Mo where they do this Eagles tribute show...and the three guitarists played through Line6 pod XT straight into the PA...and it sounded good.

I have a Tech21 GT2 and a sansbass...and I think they are both super if I had to do that sort of thing.

Anyhow it beats lugging a half stack or a twin to and from a truck.
 
I recerntly mixed a band where the bass player didn't bring an amp. He just had some kind of amp simulator (I didn't make a note of what it was) and went straight from its DI output into the desk (via snake). Sounded great!
 
I normaly run my acoustic through just the PA (with multi efx pedal) for electric I use an amp. I don't see why a guitarist couldn't go straight through the PA, if he has the right processor to get the sound he wants.
 
I used to hate those "straight to PA" guitars, but after discovering Guitar Rig 4, i now think it's an easy alternative to dragging those 4 full stacks with you to every gig. A backsaver! :) You can even get a pedal board for it (MIDI connected i believe), to change patches for live use.

You'll need a stable laptop, and an interface of some sort though. Might get a bit expensive, but if you're serious about dropping the rig, it's worth a try!
 
this all sounds very promising. I think there are a whole generation of guitarists who buy amps because 'it's the thing to do'. Then they try and nay-say anyone who tries a different approach.

Well, at next rehearsal (few weeks away yet), I'm going to ditch the valve amp and go straight into the PA. See what's cookin'. I know exactly how I like my USA Fender custom shop relic strat to sound, and i know how to get that sound (for recording) with the POD, so I'll try and recreate that sound live. I'll let you all know.

In the mean time, if any of you have any good / bad experiences with using POD's for live work, please let us all know. At the moment, it seems like a great option. I know there will be the 'valve-amp-purists' who jump on this, but (being one of 'them' myself) I'll try and difinitivley find out if this is a feasible option for guitarists (who have access to a decent PA!)
 
If you're playing rock in typical smallish clubs/bars -maybe 100-300 people - you need an amp. No amp on stage = huge hole in the sound. The sound on stage does make a difference.
 
Greg_L said:
If you're playing rock in typical smallish clubs/bars -maybe 100-300 people - you need an amp. No amp on stage = huge hole in the sound. The sound on stage does make a difference.
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who for, me or the crowd? the crowd get the stereo image from the SRM's, and if I run just the guitar signal through one of the on-stage wedge monitors, think that'll be ok?
 
If your playing some go-to-sleep jazz music then I don't think it matters. In the rock arena there is a stigma around the guitar players equipment. If I go to a rock show and don't see a guitar amp matched with a guitar player I am going to feel like a loser for showing up to some lame event. If tone isn't important and you want to look like a doosh then go for it.
 
gcapel said:
If your playing some go-to-sleep jazz music then I don't think it matters. In the rock arena there is a stigma around the guitar players equipment. If I go to a rock show and don't see a guitar amp matched with a guitar player I am going to feel like a loser for showing up to some lame event. If tone isn't important and you want to look like a doosh then go for it.
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This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

And....I've been to plenty shows where dudes play sans amp. It sucks. Especially if you're up close to the stage and the mains are overhead or off to the sides. There's a hole in the soundfield coming from the stage. You can't hear the guitar unless you go to the back of the room. Use an amp.
 
Greg_L said:
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

And....I've been to plenty shows where dudes play sans amp. It sucks. Especially if you're up close to the stage and the mains are overhead or off to the sides. There's a hole in the soundfield coming from the stage. You can't hear the guitar unless you go to the back of the room. Use an amp.
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On the other hand, I've been to plenty of small clubs where the guitarist had a 2x12 cranked to 352 because he couldn't hear it (since he was standing five feet above it). That sound sucks ass at the front of the stage.
 
mshilarious said:
On the other hand, I've been to plenty of small clubs where the guitarist had a 2x12 cranked to 352 because he couldn't hear it (since he was standing five feet above it). That sound sucks ass at the front of the stage.
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Tilt it, put it on a chair, or use more amp. Louder is always better. :D
 
Greg_L said:
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

And....I've been to plenty shows where dudes play sans amp. It sucks. Especially if you're up close to the stage and the mains are overhead or off to the sides. There's a hole in the soundfield coming from the stage. You can't hear the guitar unless you go to the back of the room. Use an amp.
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Exactly and no one has mentioned how your going to hear yourself you have to come back through the monitors ....so... are they up to par ? and if so you'll be stepping all over the vocals in the monitors playing catch up ....turn up the vocals....turn up the guitar.....good now turn up the vocals....now the guitar. It'll never end.
 
Greg_L said:
Tilt it, put it on a chair, or use more amp. Louder is always better. :D
Click to expand...

Yes to the chair/tilt. More amp, no, more speakers yes. That's a benefit of a 4x12, you don't have to drive it with any more power but everybody can hear it better.

As far as vocals & guitars in monitors, seriously why would it be a problem? Good wedges usually have kickass 15s and horns. The guitar will hardly be in the horns at all*, which is what you need for vocal clarity. It's the same for every other instrument in the monitor mix, and somehow it all works. I mean, piano, horns, BG vocals . . . all of these coexist in wedges.





*That is presuming your amp sim has a proper cabinet model that sheds highs as a woofer naturally would. Personally, I would bring a small tube amp and mic it, but I'm not opposed to modelers. I run my bass direct, after all . . . don't even need it in the monitors, I can hear it in the mains.
 
Yeah bass is different. I don't think our bassist is ever mic'd, but he still uses his amp onstage. The bass id DI'd through the mains but the stage sound is still there. I don't need him in my drum monitor.
 
gcapel said:
In the rock arena there is a stigma around the guitar players equipment. If I go to a rock show and don't see a guitar amp matched with a guitar player I am going to feel like a loser for showing up to some lame event. If tone isn't important and you want to look like a doosh then go for it.
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ha ha ha... awesome. Love this repsonse.
Shouldn't it be all about the music rather than about the size of the guitarist's 'ego-rig'?

I can understand the argument against the POD if using one creates a 'hole' in the live sound, but being that an on-stage monitor can be fed the guitar signal, does that argument really stand up?
 
gcapel said:
If your playing some go-to-sleep jazz music then I don't think it matters. In the rock arena there is a stigma around the guitar players equipment. If I go to a rock show and don't see a guitar amp matched with a guitar player I am going to feel like a loser for showing up to some lame event. If tone isn't important and you want to look like a doosh then go for it.
Click to expand...


Greg_L said:
And....I've been to plenty shows where dudes play sans amp. It sucks. Especially if you're up close to the stage and the mains are overhead or off to the sides. There's a hole in the soundfield coming from the stage. You can't hear the guitar unless you go to the back of the room. Use an amp.
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moresound said:
Exactly and no one has mentioned how your going to hear yourself you have to come back through the monitors ....so... are they up to par ? and if so you'll be stepping all over the vocals in the monitors playing catch up ....turn up the vocals....turn up the guitar.....good now turn up the vocals....now the guitar. It'll never end.
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YES…YES…and YES!


Is it possible to gig w/o and amp….yes. :(

Is it totally lame to go that route… yes. :D


Man…even if you get a small, lightweight tube amp…put it on a chair and mike it….that’s still going to sound and look better….
…and you won’t have to rely on some cheesy processor and the soundman for your tone!!! :p
 
I do both.
I have beach gigs where absolutely no one is gonna hear an amp because they're spread out all around me and on those I use a Rocktron Utopia direct into the PA. I also have several Digitechs, a J-Station, a POD and a couple of other modelers.
The Utopia is the only one that comes close enough to responding like an amp that I'm not distracted by that all night but it does do the job adequately.

And that's the key phrase ..... adequately.
My Mesa Blue Angel is MUCH better and my Mesa Mark V is MUCH better and my Ampeg V-2 is MUCH better and my Orange Tiny Terror is MUCH better.
So on gigs where I want to be at my best I haul one of my guitar amps.
I may be 58 but I'm not too lazy to carry in the gear I need. I don't use half stacks though ..... my amps are either combos or a head with a 1x12 cab.
 
Lt. Bob said:
I do both.
I have beach gigs where absolutely no one is gonna hear an amp because they're spread out all around me and on those I use a Rocktron Utopia direct into the PA. I also have several Digitechs, a J-Station, a POD and a couple of other modelers.
The Utopia is the only one that comes close enough to responding like an amp that I'm not distracted by that all night but it does do the job adequately.

And that's the key phrase ..... adequately.
My Mesa Blue Angel is MUCH better and my Mesa Mark V is MUCH better and my Ampeg V-2 is MUCH better and my Orange Tiny Terror is MUCH better.
So on gigs where I want to be at my best I haul one of my guitar amps.
I may be 58 but I'm not too lazy to carry in the gear I need. I don't use half stacks though ..... my amps are either combos or a head with a 1x12 cab.
Click to expand...

yup, good guitar tones aren't created in the processor, there is a reason they simulate, fun toys but they don't have the edge and presence of a nice valve amp, or a solid state for that matter.....
 
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