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Why do Guitards turn their amps towards themselves?

#4
Frequently on talkbass, people will post "how do I get my guitarists to turn down on stage" to which the common reply is "make the guitarists point their amps at themselves."

You should view your current situation as a blessing rather than a curse, and just ask the sound guy for a little more of the guitars in the monitors.

S.P.
 
#5
I think the key thing you said there was "Needless to say I couldn't hear a thing they were putting out except slightly in the monitors" It's likely they simply couldn't hear themselves thru the PA and moved their amps so they could hear what they were playing. It's possible it's more the person's running the PA's fault than some kind of ego trip from the guitarists
 
#6
One thing I will say about my guitarist is that they are both amazing players with zero attitude or arrogance. One sounds like Clapton/Page and the other like SRV/Hendrix. So in a since I guess I am blessed. I did ask the sound guy to crank them in the monitors but its just not the same as hearing their amps, IMHO.
 
#8
I say count your blessings and be happy that they do. IME most I've played with don't point it at themselves and it makes for unpleasant consequences, mostly always too loud. In your case, mic'ing their cab would be indicated, giving you some say in their volume in your monitor mix.
 
#12
C.Linton said:
It's possible it's more the person's running the PA's fault than some kind of ego trip from the guitarists
Click to expand...

+1, Based on the picture you provide, the amp appears to be mic'ed (see the small boom on the left) so the fault is the soundguy.

I realize that at some small gigs, the amp is part of the overall amplification, but for larger gigs, the amp exists for the musician to hear, and for the Soundguy to mic so the audience gets a good sound from the PA. Tilting your amp back to face you, allows you to play at even lower volumes onstage. It also allows you to play with feedback effects and mess with the amp without facing away from the audience.

I don't ever face the amp away from the audience, but...
I sometimes find ways to tilt my speaker (4x10, or 2x10) up at me so I can get a better tone, I do this..
-When I'm in a club so small that the audience is going to hear it no matter how I face it.
-When I'm on a gig, where most of the sound is in the PA, but I can't stand far enough away for the sound to get to my ears well.

My 2x10 cab even has a small handle on the bottom designed to pop down as a tiltback.
 
#16
Hi.

You must live in some kind of an alternate universe where guitarists really care about FOH sound and the stage balance.

In this case it unfortunately sounds like the plan wasn't executed to the fullest as You were the one who didn't hear the guitars... but as asked previously, why would you need/want to? An instrumental only band?

I only wish I'd be able to play with the kind of musicians You play with, the ones I usually "work" with like to shoot at the back of their legs and "adjust the volume from the guitar". The suffering party is always the audience, especially their ears.

Regards
Sam
 
#19
I don't like having to rely on monitors to achieve a semi-balanced instrument mix on stage. (too many things can go wrong like you experienced)

Man your way off by your self over there, I'd want the guitarist that plays the most rhythm over on my side of the stage instead of having them both 30" away like that.

Unless your key player is your lead vocalist, moving her to the outside of both guitarist would probably be another good option if those guitarist really wanna be right next to each other.
 

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