Aesthetic Question. Opinions needed!

[Din Of Win]

Hey TBers!

Well, finally after lots of moves and languishing in college the time has come to play out again! In about a month i'll be playing my first show in almost 4 years!! Words can not express how stoaked i am about it! (This comming from someone that use to be on tour 6-7 months out of the year)

Well, i have come in search of some opinions! I plan on using my standard go-to rig which consists simply of my Kustom200 head and an Ampeg 2X15 cab. The guitarist does not have an actual rig(sold it a few moths ago to pay rent) and plans on playing through a combo amp(some peavey thing-a-ma-goo). Now, do you think the juxtaposition of my rig to his combo will be.. i dunno... odd? It's a small venue and i think sound-wise he should be okay... but on an aesthetic level i'm worried. Being our first show i want to make as good of an impression as possible and, misguided as it may be, combo amps don't seem professional to me

I know our drummer has a nice rig(his other band is VERY well established and he's the guitarist/singer in it) and i'm just wondering if i should mention the possibility of borrowing one of his rigs or just leave it alone. Sooooo... any of you all have any opinions on the subject?

Thanks!

PS-(Shameless Plug) If anyone in the Baltimore area wants to come out and enjoys power-pop/pop-punk/folk-punk PM me and ill let ya know the details for the show!!

 

[modulusman]

Why is this posted on the PA board. You should be happy that the guitar player is only using a combo. If he was using a stack he would drown out your 200 watt bass amp.

 

[bassmanrocke]

Not a good idea to get into the "change your gear" mode. Worry about your own equipment and how the band sounds. Let others play whatever they want to play. Musicians are the only people who care what other people are playing, and you are not trying to impress each other, you are trying to entertain an audience.

 

[baba]

Guitarists often (I'd venture to say usually) play gigs with combos. Bass rigs are typically larger. There is no issue here.

 

[Din Of Win]

Not a good idea to get into the "change your gear" mode. Worry about your own equipment and how the band sounds. Let others play whatever they want to play. Musicians are the only people who care what other people are playing, and you are not trying to impress each other, you are trying to entertain an audience.

Thanks for that. That helps a lot. I have always shied away from the "i have X gear so you need Y gear". I'm comming from being a part of a VERY gear-concious genre to one that is more about fun and having a good time! It's difficult to steer away from that mindset where bands are judged based on how many Sunn/Marshal/Orange/Mesa amps they have and how many 4X12s are stacked up.

I kind of HAVE to use my set up, my only other course of action is a very small practice combo that won't do the job in a venue setting.

Shoot... i guess if people are there to scrutinize equipment and not care about the music comming out of it, they should be the last people i should care about anyways... I guess i just tend to over-think things that in the long run don't really matter...


And to modulusman:

Ah, i thought this section was for anything pertaining to live sound, not just PA specific stuff.

If it is i apolagize!

 

[modulusman]

No need to apologize. It seams that about a third of the threads here don't have anything to do with PA systems and live sound reinforcement.

 

[JustDavid]

One nice thing about a mid-sized combo is it can REALLY help keep stage volumes down. & hence help get a better sound for the crowd.

Angle it at G's head & mic it. Perhaps some in the monitors IF NEEDED.

 

[Nick Kay]

Unless you're playing some variety of metal or stoner rock, you don't really need stacks behind you for your image. The club will appreciate you not blasting the FOH mix out of the water with volume, as well.

 

[schafhalter]

Hey TBers!

I know our drummer has a nice rig(his other band is VERY well established and he's the guitarist/singer in it) and i'm just wondering if i should mention the possibility of borrowing one of his rigs or just leave it alone. Sooooo... any of you all have any opinions on the subject?

... dave grohl ?

 

[Din Of Win]

... dave grohl ?

Haha, no... His band is called The Beatnick Termites... which... kinda related to Dave Grohl... Kurt Cobain use to site as one of his favorite bands.


Nick Kay:

It's the stoner/doom/heavy/crust scene that i'm comming from! Haha, which is why my mindset is automatically FULL STACKS OR BUST! But nah, this project is a power-pop punk band.


JustDavid:

I like that logic a lot. Being in a band where the vocals are more front-and-center, i like the idea of laying off of the wall o' sound vibe. It has always bummed me out when bands have that wall of amps thing going on, and the PA system is sub-par or barely average and any vox get TOTALLY lost.




This first show is just a small venue. Just playing on the floor(which i have ALWAYS liked better... i hate stages), things will not be mic'd. So i am guessing the G'tarist should angle his amp up a bit rather than trying to have it perpendicular to the floor and cranking the volume to get the sound he wants.


Thanks for the help all

 

[JustDavid]

Unless you're playing some variety of metal or stoner rock, you don't really need stacks behind you for your image.

Well, "need" can be a very subjective concept. 2 views on Classic rock (my guitarists) feel the need for stacks, even though one thinks he could get a half-decent sound DI'ing his Roland MicroCube.

If only both of them had good level control.

 

[JustDavid]

One way to view a situation is 'the PA is sub-par'. Another way to view it is 'stage sound has been turned up to a point that it overwhelms the PA'. Whatever one's view, I think we'd all have to agree that it's a lot cheaper to solve the second view than the first.

Stages have their advantages; less berr spilled onto effect pedals & less likely to have uninvited guests wander onto stage, grab a mic & sing the chorus to a different song than the one being played.

Stage bleed happens. Cleanest for the FOH soundperson is minimal stage bleed. I'd try for G's amp angled up at his head & crossfiring (going across the stage instead of from the back wall out to the audience). This will let him be louder in his own 'monitor mix' without all the treble blowing past his knees.