Monitors (help on setting up monitors)

[josh2slk]

i always hear guitar players in general say something like '......i can just use my cab/combo as a monitor so i can hear myself better' forgive me if i sound completely stupid but what does that mean ?
i know monitors are speakers outputting what is going in to the PA right?

so does this mean if i have a rubbish sound out of the PA i can somehow use my combo/cab on stage to hear myself better. if so how is this done please

 

[MNAirHead]

Commonly it means they're not thinking in a band context (same applies to bass players etc).

There's a high percentage of people who haven't trained themselves to hear Ina band context

These players will also commonly not set their tone correctly for spectrum slotting

 

[Marko 1]

Guitarists want to hear the “tone” they’ve dialed their stage amp to give them. This is typically very important to them, and if you can’t (even if you can) give them that, or something close, they’ll want to hear it from their stage amp.

Whether or not they handle it without screwing up the stage and FOH mix is another matter.

 

[Adam Harzuf]

Both a guitar amp and a stage monitor are essential actually.

Professional players will use their amp for their own sound, and that way the engineer can mic the amp instead of having the guitar feed the mixer directly (more sterile sound, but works good sometimes).
Then they will ask to have a mix of the rest of the band in their stage monitors. Some like also a bit of guitar reinforcement in their monitor, so they feel the sound surrounding them from 2 sources.

Regarding bass, it is less essential to have an amp, as most monitors can handle the load, and many times there's no need for high levels, as the bass frequencies can be heard on stage from the main loudspeakers. However, it's nice to have a good amp, for tone and again, seperation from the monitor mix.

When engineering FOH, I find that with musicians that have a good tone and can handle reasonable stage leves without cranking up the knobs, the amp can be next to the wall facing the crowd.I just add some on the FOH and no excessive fader riding is necessary. With less optimal settings, and my rule of thumb, is to have the amp on the side wall facing the bassist and the band. That way others hear the amp and less monitor distribution of the bass is necessary. I don't like it facing the stage, as the crowd is left with muddy bass sound (highs are lost) and it doesn't blend well with the FOH.

 

[Sixpack324]

...i know monitors are speakers outputting what is going in to the PA right?.....

Not really....

The PA should have a mix of everything being sent to the PA. The sound-man should mix everything together based on how it sounds in the particular room you're playing in.

Each musician's monitor should have a mix that is customized for the musician that's using the monitor.

I like my monitor to have a lot of me (bass), a little bit of the kick drum, a little bit of the vocals and a very little bit of the rhythm guitar. Our drummer wants me and vocals. One of the guitarists wants a lot of him, a little bit of the kick and a little bit of guitar 2 with no vocals. Everyone is different.

Sometimes.....guys can't hear themselves good enough through a monitor, so the stage amp gives them a little more volume.....It also gives them their tone (as mentioned above).

If your PA system doesn't have the equipment necessary to run a separate monitor mix, then you can use your stage amps to hear yourself better on stage. In this scenario, the monitors will be the mix that the crowd hears.....I couldn't play very well if all I could hear is the FOH mix. The stage amp would let me hear myself better.