Some General Question Concerning Live Set Up?

[Doley50]

I have read a few post that touched on this subject, if I have missed an important thread relating to this please let me know.
My current set up is an Ibanez 505 that has an active pre-amp, I run this into my Zoom B3 and send the Left summed mono channel to an Ampeg SVT-III head with a Bag End 1-15, I use this mostly as a side fill, the direct XRL output on the B3 goes directly into our board ( post FX ), feeding a pair of QSC K12's and a pair of Yorkville NX 720s subs.
The band is a 4 piece Pop,Rock and Dance cover band. Drums,Guitar,Bass and Vox. We are not a really loud band, the guitarist uses a line 6 combo for side fill and runs his FX board direct into the board also.
I have no problem getting the tone I want on stage, well except when we played our first show last Saturday, I had to turn my amp up pretty loud, maybe 2-3 O'clock compared to my usual 9-10 O'Clock. This was just to hear myself.
My biggest concern was my FOH tone and Volume, I know if I had some time to work with it I could have got something I liked, however because of no fault of our own, we could not set up until 8:30 and we were suppose to start at 9:00, and we are still working out how to set the PA up quicker but at the moment we are probably at an Hour + ( how long does it take you guys ), my problem is I am trying to delegate certain jobs to each member, but most the times the jobs are to small and they get done and kind of stand around waiting for the next job. ( My Fault I know )
Anyway by the time the PA is all set up and everyone has their sound, I do not get the time to tweak mine, I get a basic level after I do the drums and then get the guitar in then Vox, but I don't like what is coming out of the PA mostly the Subs, I did read a thread that suggested cutting the lows from the Subs, so I may give that a try.
I did a lot of studio recording in the past and while I have forgotten a lot of the different Freq. usage, I have a habit of cutting eq, more so then boosting.
I kind of chalked all this up to, well as we go along I will get the sound I want and the next day we will need a new piece of gear that throws it all out of whack again. LOL.

Any suggestion or info is greatly appreciated

John

 

[bloobass]

For what it's worth, the fastest set up I've done are when everybody sort of has designated jobs: Everybody unloads, then 1 guy runs power to everything, 1 guy runs all the speaker/ monitor cables, 1 guy runs all the mic/DI cables, 1 guy sets up lights. Who ever gets done first takes over for the guy running sound so he can start getting board and what not going. At least one laminated piece of paper listing the channel assignments is a bonus, esp if you're using a snake. Depending on the knowledge and experience of the people involved, it wouldn't be a bad idea to actually do a dry run or 2 during a rehearsal.
Also don't minimize the importance keeping setting up the next time in mind when you tear down gear (proplerly coiling cables and such). In can save a huge amount of time setting up if you don't have to deal with sloppily put away gear!

 

[3l3phantstomp]

Do a fake gig: go to a place that's the average size of your venue (someone's basement, the gym at a school, a field, etc) where you have all the time you need. Set everything up, dial it in. Then have people who's opinion you respect listen to it out where a crowd would be. Once it sounds good to them, WRITE DOWN THE SETTINGS on every knob on your PA, and then have the guitars and yourself write yours down. THhen maybe take quick cell photos of mic placements on drums. This way next time you have to setup 90% of the mystery is solved. Every toom is different, but you'll adjust as you go depending on the room (IE big room settings, small club settings, etc).