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Am I being a Diva?
- Thread starter JtSD619
- Start date
Tell him:
"You're gonna put your new cab on my side of the stage? Cool, I need a place to set my beer!"
or
"If you split your cabs the phase cancellation will null out your sound, and no one will hear your stellar solos!"
or tell him he can do it, but only if you can get one of those plastic 12" tall micro Marshall stack practice amps, and put that on his side of the stage while telling everyone to ask the guitarist how proud he is to have two Mighty Marshall stacks!
That's his Nigel Tufnel moment, as @J Wilson said!
"You're gonna put your new cab on my side of the stage? Cool, I need a place to set my beer!"
or
"If you split your cabs the phase cancellation will null out your sound, and no one will hear your stellar solos!"
or tell him he can do it, but only if you can get one of those plastic 12" tall micro Marshall stack practice amps, and put that on his side of the stage while telling everyone to ask the guitarist how proud he is to have two Mighty Marshall stacks!
That's his Nigel Tufnel moment, as @J Wilson said!
These replies have mostly been in fun.
That's TB.
Seriously, if non of these arguments are swaying him, go for the jugular and remind him that "Chicks dig Marshall STACKS!"
That's TB.
Seriously, if non of these arguments are swaying him, go for the jugular and remind him that "Chicks dig Marshall STACKS!"
Actually, one good non-snark argument is that those Marshall cabs are designed to be stacked, and there are acoustic advantages to that.
In other words, its more louder if he stacks them. No wall of speakers, no wall of sound. Build the wall!
In other words, its more louder if he stacks them. No wall of speakers, no wall of sound. Build the wall!
I wouldn’t say your a diva...the guitarist?? Maybe so.
Tell him fine, but he need to use (2) 212 cabs instead of 2 412s. Or if it is a visual thing, have him disconnect 2 speakers in each cab.
Just asking, is the guitar being fed into the PA? If so, he’s already got spread on both sides of the stage.
Any stage large enough for this to be any kind of an issue would also have front fills. And it would have to be pretty wide stage.
For those suggesting simply unplugging, a gentle reminder that, should this be an all tube Marshall , changing the impedance and/or the sudden shorting of the speaker cable may have ill effects on said amp. Not quite the desired affect, although quite effective!
Do what you have to to convince him this is a bad idea, get it out of his system and move on. This is strictly an ego thing. This does will do nothing to improve things sonically or audibly for anyone on stage or in the audience.
I played in a three piece for a bit, and I have to say, a guitar cab on each side did indeed create a better overall sound for shows. ESPECIALLY shows where instruments were not mic'd into the PA. Honestly though, why anyone would need a Marshall full stack is beyond me as a whole. if I went to see a local band and the guitar player had a full stack, I would assume the band sucked and the guy was more about trying to look cool than actually sounding good. If you're playing a room where you'd need a full stack, you would almost certainly be mic'd up, thus eliminating the need for a full stack.
As a bandmate, I think you ought to tell him your concerns, but let him know that you're totally willing to give it a shot. It will be in the band's best interest if he realizes for himself that it's an issue, rather than being shot down. The FOH guy might be another voice of reason in the conversation.
I Djed during the acid house era with vinyl and at 52 wear two hearing aids, the biggest sound systems I was there NY/London etc excessive sounds is not cool
Amen brudda!On a sidebar note-- the classical term for Diva is someone well schooled in singing opera. Anything else is an uneducated urbanized version of the word. So you definitely are not a diva!
Yeah I would agree with the give it a shot idea. Our guitar player tried it and didn't like it, ended up with both speaker cabs on his side (not huge 4X12's but same idea). Also, we did sound for a band where the guitar player placed a twin reverb on either side of the stage a few times, no one in the band liked, neither did he and neither did the sound guy (Me). None of these were screaming metal bands so my examples may not be relevant.
I play in a band where the guitar player runs a 60w 212 on his side, and a 60 watt 212 combo with a 115 cab on mine. I run a 115 pushing 600 watts. He runs in stereo and can get loud at times. Even at his loudest my rig can keep up pretty well. With all that guitar amplification happening, he could still clearly hear the bass over on his side. At the end of the day it's about balanced stage volume. Diva? Prob not. I was reluctant about all those amps on stage, but those stereo effects do sound really cool!
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
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High hat and snare are really the only things I ever hear on stage...ever. I keep everything together just fine with those two things. I would say go for it, but if either one of those cant be heard, the band is screwed. Straight screwed. Personally, I would just tell him to only plug in one of his stacks, even though he has two up there. In fact, I'd probably get a full stack also just to look legit with him. But again, only plug in one. Every sound guy will be telling you guys to turn down to half stack, half volumes anyway. But, more equipment looks so much better than more equipment sounds regardless.
Let him put the cab on your side. After sound check and when he is not looking, just unplug it. He will probably never notice.
Your guitar player may have read some of the pretty detailed historical websites about the Who and their various stage and PA setups throughout their playing career. As time went on they put massive guitar and bass rigs on each side of their drummer who still managed to come out on top anyway, and also employed massive side fills that would have scared me to stand between them! Their monitor guy on stage not only controlled the vocal monitors and side fills but all those additional amps as well. They liked it LOUD on stage.
I don't know, as long as you have a bass cab on your guitar player's side of the stage too it might be okay. Wear ear protection! What are you going do when the crowd gets plum blowed out of the club? Might be hard to get hired back? Why not just use sham cabs and heads. Then you'll really be in the big time!
Okay, so there was this one artist I never actually worked with but I knew his recording engineer who used to work at Wally Heider's in Frisco before he hired on with this man. Big Big Big time recording artist. His tech that I knew told me his boss (the huge rock star) came up with the idea of using a C-130 to fly his band's gear from city to city instead of using semi's. His crew and everybody else tried to tell him it wasn't practical due to the cost of turbo-prop fuel and just how much the aircraft itself would cost to lease or purchase and maintain if you could even find one to use. He probably could have afforded it. But it never actually happened. Rock star guitar player types don't always come up with the most practical ideas! You have to admit, though, it would have been pretty cool if he actually did it. Good luck with your guitar player!
I don't know, as long as you have a bass cab on your guitar player's side of the stage too it might be okay. Wear ear protection! What are you going do when the crowd gets plum blowed out of the club? Might be hard to get hired back? Why not just use sham cabs and heads. Then you'll really be in the big time!
Okay, so there was this one artist I never actually worked with but I knew his recording engineer who used to work at Wally Heider's in Frisco before he hired on with this man. Big Big Big time recording artist. His tech that I knew told me his boss (the huge rock star) came up with the idea of using a C-130 to fly his band's gear from city to city instead of using semi's. His crew and everybody else tried to tell him it wasn't practical due to the cost of turbo-prop fuel and just how much the aircraft itself would cost to lease or purchase and maintain if you could even find one to use. He probably could have afforded it. But it never actually happened. Rock star guitar player types don't always come up with the most practical ideas! You have to admit, though, it would have been pretty cool if he actually did it. Good luck with your guitar player!
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