Commreman
Faith, Family, Fitness, and Frets
I do plenty of backline gigs. In Atlantic City, we don't even get a line check! This one sounds like a no brainer. Relax, take the show, and have fun.
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Check this out - Gig requirements
- Thread starter Kink Rimson
- Start date
Ha! I played the International Pop Overthrow Festival a few years ago in Chicago. The "provided" bass amp was a 25 watt, 10" little thing with mic in front of it. My cord knocked over the mic within 30 seconds of our first song! You should have seen Chip Z'nuff up there down on his knees with his head down near the ground tweaking the knobs before their set started. I'll take a 400 watt 4x10 all day.
The "NO SOUNDCHECK" line(s) is a bit, uh, condescending, maybe?
Only quibble: I would at least like to run through half of one song to get the stage volumes set. 2 minutes maximum, how hard can that be?
The soundman obviously knows his job and his gear, and that's great.
I would be quite happy to play a gig like that, as long as the guy is as professional as he says.
Only quibble: I would at least like to run through half of one song to get the stage volumes set. 2 minutes maximum, how hard can that be?
The soundman obviously knows his job and his gear, and that's great.
I would be quite happy to play a gig like that, as long as the guy is as professional as he says.
as a guitarists if i walked into a club and saw engl and hiwatt....i'd want to play there every weekend. =). the marshall can be put in a closet when those 2 are options. however, as it can be hard to learn how to adjust new gear in just a couple of minutes, i would want 5 or so to mess with it before the set. the bass rig sounds nice also.....i see where you are coming from with this, though. it sucks to invest in a rig that you love and then not be able to use it. been there.
i played a talent stage at a festival in atlanta (atlantafest....is this still around?). they provided a backline guitar rig that consisted of a tweedish peavey combo guitar amp of some sort(dont remember which one). it was a 2 channel amp but they didnt even have a footswitch. i was playing a 2 channel marshall jcm900 at the time so i owned no distortion pedals, and didnt bring a footswitch. i had to set the amp to distorted(which was pretty good sounding.....maybe a classic 50 or 30) and use my volume knob to switch between clean and dirty. this was the mid 90's so the quiet/loud nirvana thing was what we were doing, so at least 1/2 the song was supposed to be clean. needless to say my clean tone was crap. anyways....after we played several of the other bands commented to us that the sound guy didn't even turn the guitar up in the mix. he had the channel muted, and the singer from another band went up and told him. by the time he got guitar in the mix we were into the last 30 seconds of the song. being a one guitar band, the mix consisted of drums, bass, and vocals.....this was a pro outdoor gig sized PA and stage and probably 10 other bands playing, being judged with a grand prize of studio time in a pro studio. pathetic. anyways....i was like 16, and we weren't that great....so it's not like we would have won, but still.....i was wailing away on a guitar solo, and no one in the crowd could even hear it. FAIL.
i played a talent stage at a festival in atlanta (atlantafest....is this still around?). they provided a backline guitar rig that consisted of a tweedish peavey combo guitar amp of some sort(dont remember which one). it was a 2 channel amp but they didnt even have a footswitch. i was playing a 2 channel marshall jcm900 at the time so i owned no distortion pedals, and didnt bring a footswitch. i had to set the amp to distorted(which was pretty good sounding.....maybe a classic 50 or 30) and use my volume knob to switch between clean and dirty. this was the mid 90's so the quiet/loud nirvana thing was what we were doing, so at least 1/2 the song was supposed to be clean. needless to say my clean tone was crap. anyways....after we played several of the other bands commented to us that the sound guy didn't even turn the guitar up in the mix. he had the channel muted, and the singer from another band went up and told him. by the time he got guitar in the mix we were into the last 30 seconds of the song. being a one guitar band, the mix consisted of drums, bass, and vocals.....this was a pro outdoor gig sized PA and stage and probably 10 other bands playing, being judged with a grand prize of studio time in a pro studio. pathetic. anyways....i was like 16, and we weren't that great....so it's not like we would have won, but still.....i was wailing away on a guitar solo, and no one in the crowd could even hear it. FAIL.
Aye,
they mean when blaze played there with his band, they didn't let his drummer use his own kit.
One thing I don't think anyone noticed was that the OP is an Ashdown Endorsing Artist. The inability to use Ashdown amps at a large show could constitute a breach of contract. If that was the case it would definitely be a gig breaker to me. Besides, even if it doesn't constitute breach, no-one should be forced to neglect a loyalty.
sounds like the club doesnt like us low end'ers
i usually go with whats there (unless its a ampeg... im defo not a fan of ampegs)
plus i usually find sound checking irons out all the bumps
i usually go with whats there (unless its a ampeg... im defo not a fan of ampegs)
plus i usually find sound checking irons out all the bumps
Sounds really good to me!!!
But I've come across this 'we only do line-checks' mentality before though, and that's my only concern: all a line check proves is that the sound engineer has what he needs to make it sound good out front.
Fine.
But what about stage monitor mix then? Is the sound engineer going to work that out in the first verse of the first song as well??
Stage mix is important - a good mix can inspire you and help your performance no end, whereas not being able to hear what you need on stage can really dampen your enjoyment, tighness and delivery (in one of the bands I play in, if I can't hear the queues from the keys and vocals it'd be seriously difficult to keep it tight - I've had to wander right over to the keys before to hear her properly).
But I've come across this 'we only do line-checks' mentality before though, and that's my only concern: all a line check proves is that the sound engineer has what he needs to make it sound good out front.
Fine.
But what about stage monitor mix then? Is the sound engineer going to work that out in the first verse of the first song as well??
Stage mix is important - a good mix can inspire you and help your performance no end, whereas not being able to hear what you need on stage can really dampen your enjoyment, tighness and delivery (in one of the bands I play in, if I can't hear the queues from the keys and vocals it'd be seriously difficult to keep it tight - I've had to wander right over to the keys before to hear her properly).
So pretty much just bring your instrument and maybe some effects and cables, right? There's nothing to whine about here. Get there, plug in, play, unplug, and go home. Do you get paid too? If so, even less to whine about.
It seems like a good way to keep "your sound" when playing a random backline setup, is make sure you have your #1 bass and bring a Sansamp preamp/DI pedal (or something like that).
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The tone of the email would rub me the wrong way. I don't like it when venue owners and promoters act like their doing me a favor by giving me a stage to play on when, instead, I'm the one helping them make money.
With that said, at least it's pro gear that they have. Instead of an Ampeg and an Engl, it could be a broken down Peavey from 1984 and a Crate guitar combo. My guitarist uses a rack system with a TC Electronics G-force and SansAmp PSA-1, so everything he does is MIDI controlled. He'd have to take his rack for that gig, but his SansAmp has an excellent DI if he didn't dig the sound of a miced cab.
The part about the bass head being hardwired is strange.
With that said, at least it's pro gear that they have. Instead of an Ampeg and an Engl, it could be a broken down Peavey from 1984 and a Crate guitar combo. My guitarist uses a rack system with a TC Electronics G-force and SansAmp PSA-1, so everything he does is MIDI controlled. He'd have to take his rack for that gig, but his SansAmp has an excellent DI if he didn't dig the sound of a miced cab.
The part about the bass head being hardwired is strange.
That was really my point. The backline wasn't really an issue (although it's funny how the guitarists get no end of choice) but the tone of the piece just tells me they are a bunch of arseholes, particularly the point about having to 'earn' the right to a miniscule soundcheck.
Good equipment, already set up. Good by me. NOTHING sucks worse than waiting around on a band to set up forever only to have some piece of equipement malfunction, or, more commonly, to have a band that has no idea what appropriate stage volume means. I would imagine they shelled out the money for good equipment after dealing with these issues.
I'm frankly always more weirded out by the drumkit option. I don't play drums often, but given the disparity between set up, size, drum head tension, etc. this seems like it would be a nightmare. It's one thing to monkey around with a bassist or guitar player's tone a little, it's something altogether to say "here, play on this".
I'm frankly always more weirded out by the drumkit option. I don't play drums often, but given the disparity between set up, size, drum head tension, etc. this seems like it would be a nightmare. It's one thing to monkey around with a bassist or guitar player's tone a little, it's something altogether to say "here, play on this".
Sounds to me like somebody's gone through a lot of trouble to provide a really decent backline, and people biotch? Yeah, I like the sound of my gear (and I don't play Ampeg) but I've had to plug into somebody else's amp many times, for various reasons, & it's always turned out ok, or better. If you have a sound you "have" to have, that sound should come from your bass, or fx unit anyway. I like a clean bass sound, & I've never been disappointed when plugging into someone else's amp, guess I've been lucky.
Also, if you're ever required to use someone else's back line, bring along a Pbass, just in case. Virtually every amp ever invented was designed around the sound of a Pbass; you'll sound good, if not great.
(Plus, not having to drag the rig out of the venue at the end of a gig is a HUGE plus, IMO...)
Also, if you're ever required to use someone else's back line, bring along a Pbass, just in case. Virtually every amp ever invented was designed around the sound of a Pbass; you'll sound good, if not great.
(Plus, not having to drag the rig out of the venue at the end of a gig is a HUGE plus, IMO...)
Only thing that I wouldn't like is being outgunned by the guitards 412's. An 810 might be in order on that stage.
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