Gig last night. I may be cured from direct only rig G.A.S.

[romanianreaper]

My band had a gig last night with two other bands and it was our band (punk vibe), second band punk vibe as well and then a really heavy kind of scream band. Really liked the other two bands and was great hanging out with them.

Our band and the second band were amps and cabs. I used my Orange Super Crush 100 combo and the other band had an Orange Pro 120 (?, the solid state before the SC 100) and Revv head.

The third band came with no amps or cabs and had modellers and a laptop. They were supposed to start at 11 and didn't begin until almost midnight. They were trying to get the levels right during soundcheck and was hard to hear things. Eventually they got the sound right and afterwards told us they had a preloaded setup on their laptop and couldn't get it setup with the venue, etc.

I leaned over to my bass player and said, well I think i'm done with a direct only gig setup. I could do a setup that goes direct, but I think i am going to want an amp and cab of sone type behind me.

 

[Rackman]

Amen. Unless the soundman is on my payroll an amp of some sort is absolutely essential. It is the thing that ensures I'll have adequate stage monitoring. That can be a tube amp, or if using some sort of DSP I guess a powered PA speaker. But one way or another there needs to a a powered speaker on stage I control.

 

[romanianreaper]

Amen. Unless the soundman is on my payroll an amp of some sort is absolutely essential. It is the thing that ensures I'll have adequate stage monitoring. That can be a tube amp, or if using some sort of DSP I guess a powered PA speaker. But one way or another there needs to a a powered speaker on stage I control.

Yep even if you have an FRFR cab, better than just throwing yourself to the wolves, lol.

 

[Rackman]

Yep even if you have an FRFR cab, better than just throwing yourself to the wolves, lol.

For sure. There are awesome live sound engineers out there for sure, but the average "soundman" is a drunk who likes the idea of working in a bar.

 

[VonBonfire]

Amen. Unless the soundman is on my payroll an amp of some sort is absolutely essential. It is the thing that ensures I'll have adequate stage monitoring. That can be a tube amp, or if using some sort of DSP I guess a powered PA speaker. But one way or another there needs to a a powered speaker on stage I control.

I only beleeb in t00b amps.

 

[Rackman]

I only beleeb in t00b amps.

For electric that's certainly my preference. Acoustic I'm thinking DSP/Class D full range has overtaken it by a good margin.

 

[VonBonfire]

For electric that's certainly my preference. Acoustic I'm thinking DSP/Class D full range has overtaken it by a good margin.

I only beleeb in lectric guitars.

 

[HowieJams]

If I were gigging I would need a good old fashioned amp behind me that I can turn around and make adjustments myself.
I personally would bring a Tube amp with either another Tube amp or a Solid State as a back-up.

My new Victory MKX is a lunchbox lightweight 50w tube amp with two EL34s, easy to carry and just bring my Laney Ironhead 60w solid state as a back up.
The Victory and laney both have built in reverb, so I wouldn't even need a Reverb/Delay Pedal.

 

[romanianreaper]

If I were gigging I would need a good old fashioned amp behind me that I can turn around and make adjustments myself.
I personally would bring a Tube amp with either another Tube amp or a Solid State as a back-up.

My new Victory MKX is a lunchbox lightweight 50w tube amp with two EL34s, easy to carry and just bring my Laney Ironhead 60w solid state as a back up.
The Victory and laney both have built in reverb, so I wouldn't even need a Reverb/Delay Pedal.

Dude was wondering how you are digging that MKX. I was researching that last night and think it would be a great amp to have. Checks a lot of boxes. Would have been cool if it had an XLR out.

 

[skoora]

Definitely at least a smaller Orange Crush combo as a backup. I was pretty impressed with the tone on the drive channel, from crunchy to filthy on one at GC I used on a whim, to check out a guitar. Even had a nicely visible tuner on the faceplate.

 

[HowieJams]

Dude was wondering how you are digging that MKX. I was researching that last night and think it would be a great amp to have. Checks a lot of boxes. Would have been cool if it had an XLR out.

Funny story, I love it.
I gave my son-in-law the Sheriff 25 which is awesome also.
Boxed it up and he took it home.

I got home and went to get my MKX and I had the Sheriff, I texted him and he said he was so excited he grabbed the wrong box.
We will swap amps tomorrow.

 

[romanianreaper]

Definitely at least a smaller Orange Crush combo as a backup. I was pretty impressed with the tone on the drive channel, from crunchy to filthy on one at GC I used on a whim, to check out a guitar. Even had a nicely visible tuner on the faceplate.

They did a great job with the Orange Crush amps.

 

[rsm]

It sounds like the las band didn't fully understand the complexity of their computer based rig, or how to make adjustments on-the-fly?


Many of today's DAWs can be used to automate everything including lights to the music, and even switching your modeler patches automatically if you programmed your setlist and song changes, not to mention playing backing tracks ( ). That is recipe for disaster if something goes wrong, no matter how minor.

It's a different type of complexity that requires a whole lot of other skills an knowledge to make work.


Most of my gigging years we just needed amps to match the live drums; and a vocal PA that could compete; usually the venue had a house PA and sound guy who'd mic us up, and could make or break the sound; often resorted to bribing the sound guy, and we had people in the crowd with a pass to "help" the sound guy.

 

[JDs Couch]

My band had a gig last night with two other bands and it was our band (punk vibe), second band punk vibe as well and then a really heavy kind of scream band. Really liked the other two bands and was great hanging out with them.

Our band and the second band were amps and cabs. I used my Orange Super Crush 100 combo and the other band had an Orange Pro 120 (?, the solid state before the SC 100) and Revv head.

The third band came with no amps or cabs and had modellers and a laptop. They were supposed to start at 11 and didn't begin until almost midnight. They were trying to get the levels right during soundcheck and was hard to hear things. Eventually they got the sound right and afterwards told us they had a preloaded setup on their laptop and couldn't get it setup with the venue, etc.

I leaned over to my bass player and said, well I think i'm done with a direct only gig setup. I could do a setup that goes direct, but I think i am going to want an amp and cab of sone type behind me.

Since I've had my Kemper, I've always gone direct with a monitor out into the effects return of my Mark IIC+ and 4x12. However in a few trusted venues I could skip the amp altogether, as long as the monitor is good and I know the soundguy well.

 

[DanTravis62]

Amen. Unless the soundman is on my payroll an amp of some sort is absolutely essential. It is the thing that ensures I'll have adequate stage monitoring. That can be a tube amp, or if using some sort of DSP I guess a powered PA speaker. But one way or another there needs to a a powered speaker on stage I control.

This is the key point

You can get great sound with modeling, IRs, and direct/silent stage type rigs, but in the natural habitat of the guitar player - playing rock, punk, metal, hardcore, etc - you are very, very rarely going to have the kind of sound reinforcement to be able to actually pull it off well

It sounds like the las band didn't fully understand the complexity of their computer based rig, or how to make adjustments on-the-fly?


Many of today's DAWs can be used to automate everything including lights to the music, and even switching your modeler patches automatically if you programmed your setlist and song changes, not to mention playing backing tracks ( ). That is recipe for disaster if something goes wrong, no matter how minor.

It's a different type of complexity that requires a whole lot of other skills an knowledge to make work.


Most of my gigging years we just needed amps to match the live drums; and a vocal PA that could compete; usually the venue had a house PA and sound guy who'd mic us up, and could make or break the sound; often resorted to bribing the sound guy, and we had people in the crowd with a pass to "help" the sound guy.

Yep, if I was playing in that sort of band, with that sort of stage show, I would have a soundguy/computer guy on staff the entire time, for every gig/tour/whatever.

When people say "LOOK MAN METALLICA PLAYS AXEFX NOW" it's like yeah, and they also have a small army of engineers and millions of dollars worth of sound reinforcement to make it come off like that. For us mere mortals, that's a completely different context, as far as playing gigs.

 

[JDs Couch]

This is the key point

You can get great sound with modeling, IRs, and direct/silent stage type rigs, but in the natural habitat of the guitar player - playing rock, punk, metal, hardcore, etc - you are very, very rarely going to have the kind of sound reinforcement to be able to actually pull it off well



Yep, if I was playing in that sort of band, with that sort of stage show, I would have a soundguy/computer guy on staff the entire time, for every gig/tour/whatever.

When people say "LOOK MAN METALLICA PLAYS AXEFX NOW" it's like yeah, and they also have a small army of engineers and millions of dollars worth of sound reinforcement to make it come off like that. For us mere mortals, that's a completely different context, as far as playing gigs.

True. The last place I played using just the Kemper is a venue where the owner of the club also owns the local sound reinforcement/rental company. They supply PA and backline for festivals all around the area. Needless to say, the sound in the venue is top notch and the sound guys are total professionals.

In other venues I've used a few different strategies:

-Run the Kemper direct and use my Mark IIC + as a power amp and cab only

-Run the IIC+ using the Kemper in 4 Cable mode for effects only, mike the cab as usual. In this case the Kemper basically replaces my old G-System. I used to do this with a Boss GT-3 as well back in the day.

-Kemper DI using my own powered monitor. This just bypasses the potential for a wonky monitor, and gives me a powered speaker with nothing but guitar (good for feedback etc.)