| IEM's and cab off stage
I've been using this set up for the last handful of gigs and I just wanted to share. A few years ago, we opened for Bucky Covington's band and I noticed that they had no amps on stage. This not only 'cleaned the stage up', but it made for an ultra quiet stage (minus the acoustic percussion equipment...which there was a lot of, since Bucky's twin brother is 1 of his percussionists.) I thought it was a cool set-up, but didn't give much thought after that.
This all started with me getting my first set of custom IEM's. I've used high end universals for a long time, but decided to pull the trigger on customs. In the past I, as a lot of IEM users do, used only 1 IEM (for the band mix) and left the other out to hear my rig. Upon getting the custom IEM's, I thought it was silly to have a $500 IEM hanging out there not in use. But, since the seal is so good, putting it in meant I lost my cab sound. Then I remember Bucky's set-up.
I decided to buy a cab grabber mic clamp and a T mount dual microphone holder. I use 2 mic's on my cab...1 to FOH and 1 to the left channel of my IEM(this way I have total control of my bass sound in my ear). At larger venues I, literally, place my whole rig off or behind the stage. At smaller places, I simply turn the cab around backwards. BTW, I use a wireless guitar bug, too. I run a Genz ShuttleMax 12.0 and now I, literally, have the volume on the amp at the 2nd detent up from which I start to get sound.
While we have always prided our self on having low stage volume, since we all use IEM's (the 1 IEM method), since I started doing this it has been reduced even more, obviously! My 2 guitarist run Mesa tube amps, so there is still quite a bit of volume on stage, by comparison. The other thing I noticed was, since I was getting myself piped directly into my left ear, how "sloppy" my playing was (i.e., string talk, etc.). This has made me focus on playing 'cleaner'. I know most of the string talk, etc. doesn't project out front, but even the SE has mentioned that he has noticed my playing has 'cleaned up' since I started running this set-up. And as to hearing the other guys talk on stage? My IEM has a place for an aux mic. I use a cheap lavalier mic clipped on my shirt.
Obviously since I seen Bucky's band do this, I'm not a pioneer on this set-up. But, I just wanted to share how happy I am, so far, with it!
Happy New Year to everyone!
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