some days I wonder why I just don't go direct

[sleewell]

like for real, some days I really wonder why I'm hauling around this 4x12 and amp and my helix lololol. it sounds great, don't get me wrong, and that is ultimately the point when you play a few shows per month for fun and for the love of music. however we keep playing these shows where the guitar players in the other bands have either the same LT that I have or the pod go and they go direct and it sounds pretty dang good to me so it honestly has got me thinking. its super loud cave man riffs though so the moving of the air through 4 speakers is a good thing but maybe I can get past that possibly mental crutch and realize its ultimately how you are playing.

i'm lucky that our singer actually helps out a lot getting setup and torn down but it is still very tempting. i've messed around with just my direct signal at rehearsals. i don't think we have nearly as good of a PA or monitors as the places were playing but it still sounds pretty good in a band mix.

we have a show tomorrow night, i think i am going to bring everything but ask to run an XLR into the board to try it alone first before turning my amp off standby.

can anyone please either talk me down off the ledge or push me off it?? its not that I necessarily mind hauling the amp and cab but its like... damn do I really need to be?

 

[JiveTurkey]

What level of PA are you playing through? Is there enough power and enough stage monitoring where you can hear yourself and the other instruments? Is everyone else in the band going direct or just you?

 

[DrewJD82]

I don’t think I’d trust every venue’s PA/soundman to completely ditch a cab. Some of the PA’s down here are whatever some dude was able to throw together because he thinks he’d be good for hosting karaoke at his favorite dive bar.

I was debating it last week until I went and saw the band I’m joining and heard the other guitarist pretty well cranked up onstage, the imbalance coming off the stage was enough for me to not want to even bother.

 

[Will Chen]

I don’t think I’d trust every venue’s PA/soundman to completely ditch a cab. Some of the PA’s down here are whatever some dude was able to throw together because he thinks he’d be good for hosting karaoke at his favorite dive bar.

I was debating it last week until I went and saw the band I’m joining and heard the other guitarist pretty well cranked up onstage, the imbalance coming off the stage was enough for me to not want to even bother.

It absolutely depends on the venue, but it's a catch 22. If you're running a loud cab on stage and sending a direct feed, the sound person is going to control what they can and turn you down in the mix due to compensate for the loud volume coming off the stage. Before I started going full direct I tried to meet halfway setting my amp at the side of the stage instead of the rear. But the real happy medium here is just bringing a full range monitor as that way it can be used as a "more me" thing to compensate for front house mix or set to assist the house mix with a less than adequate PA. Sat in with a group a week or so ago at a patio gig and the "more me" is what I did and had no issue with 3 live amps "on stage" and it sounded great out front.

 

[sleewell]

so we def are not playing at the most amazing places with top notch stuff but they all have pretty good PAs and sufficient monitors for each person, nothing that i would say has been crap. I will say that i have noticed we are getting pretty darn good sound guys as compared to previous years in different bands. it seems like they all actually care and want to get a good mix which is why I am considering.

I am the only guitar player, if we had another guitar player i probably would not be considering.

im not sure on bringing my own monitor. i guess i could.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Is your bassist going to go direct? If so; f it. Give it a go for a gig and see how it goes \m/

 

[Bob Zaod]

Depends on the gig but I prefer to do both. I send XLR on one side to a cab sim out to FOH and one to 1/4" direct to amp return. I haven't touched an IR since 3.5. The new cabs are amazeballs.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Depends on the gig but I prefer to do both. I send XLR on one side to a cab sim out to FOH and one to 1/4" direct to amp return. I haven't touched an IR since 3.5. The new cabs are amazeballs.

just don't A/B the two

 

[la szum]

I don’t think I’d trust every venue’s PA/soundman to completely ditch a cab. Some of the PA’s down here are whatever some dude was able to throw together because he thinks he’d be good for hosting karaoke at his favorite dive bar.

I was debating it last week until I went and saw the band I’m joining and heard the other guitarist pretty well cranked up onstage, the imbalance coming off the stage was enough for me to not want to even bother.

It's so fucking weird going to see a band and getting up close and hearing ZERO guitar or bass
coming off the stage. I hate it!

This era of "Pump everything through FOH and use IEMs for monitoring," is a fucking disease, and we all
know what the cure is.

 

[Whizzinby]

Modeler split to FOH and to a PowerStage/212?

Eliminates the amp, but keeps the cab stage volume.

And…

 

[Bob Zaod]

just don't A/B the two

I cant say I have directly A/B'd them but I have tried my favorite YA IR (2x12 V30 Mesa) in the same patch and wasn't as happy as my carefully tweaked 3.5 cab. Blackback 30 w/57

 

[JiveTurkey]

I cant say I have directly A/B'd them but I have tried my favorite YA IR (2x12 V30 Mesa) in the same patch and wasn't as happy as my carefully tweaked 3.5 cab. Blackback 30 w/57

I was meaning don't A/B the FOH sound with the sound hitting your ears in the sweet spot of your guitar cabinet.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I was meaning don't A/B the FOH sound with the sound hitting your ears in the sweet spot of your guitar cabinet.

Oh ok. My amp sounds way better.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I was going direct for a while with a small pedalboard into a stomp and it was honestly great when we played somewhere with a decent PA and monitors.

There's a few places we play, however, which have the same model of PA that Noah had on the ark and I couldn't hear jack shit in those places. I've been a lot happier running my stomp and jvm in 4cm sending an IR to FOH and some quality stage volume from my cab. It's the best sounding stage rig I've ever had.

 

[ragingplatypi]

I don’t do caveman riffing music, so I’m curious if a smaller amp is an option. My ideal setup has been plugging into the effects loop of a small combo and running to FOH, which I love. And I always have IEMs on hand if ‘they’ need me to turn the amp off. I never turn the amp low anymore because if ‘they’ want to control me that bad ‘they’ can figure it all out themselves.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Another thing I’ve found is that when I’m just playing with IEMs, which is most of the time, I still have a great time if the music is good. Going without an amp hasn’t been as big of a loss as I thought it would be and it’s a bonus to travel light.

 

[Baba]

It absolutely depends on the venue, but it's a catch 22. If you're running a loud cab on stage and sending a direct feed, the sound person is going to control what they can and turn you down in the mix due to compensate for the loud volume coming off the stage. Before I started going full direct I tried to meet halfway setting my amp at the side of the stage instead of the rear. But the real happy medium here is just bringing a full range monitor as that way it can be used as a "more me" thing to compensate for front house mix or set to assist the house mix with a less than adequate PA. Sat in with a group a week or so ago at a patio gig and the "more me" is what I did and had no issue with 3 live amps "on stage" and it sounded great out front.

This is what I’m thinking about doing from now on. I had already started pointing my 1x12 at me, like a wedge, but that’s a little much on some stages, so I’m going to use a wedge for room and air, and IEMs for sound reduction and clarity.

It’s hard at some places, but most places I play, it’s no problem. I’ll probably get my own wedge down the road as well, for those rooms that don’t have a working wedge for me, ( it happens sometimes).

 

[EOengineer]

For context, this is coming from a guy that used to show up to gigs with a triaxis/2:90 AND a Dual Rectifier.

DO IT.

I played a gig a couple weeks ago, walked into the venue with a guitar and a Helix backpack. I set up in 3 minutes, played the gig, tore down before the drummer even figured out the set was done…dog bless his stupid soul.

My experience over the last couple years gigging original music is that that stage volumes are getting SO LOW for most venues I can’t really crank my traditional amps up enough to feel them behind me anyway, so why bother. In other words, playing the Helix direct to PA doesn’t feel exactly the same as standing next to a loud cab…but who the hell REALLY gets to use a loud cab on stage anymore outside large pro acts…so might as well just embrace the technology if you can make it work for you.

I def recommend getting a decent powered wedge though, that way you can own your monitoring situation on stage. The biggest issue I’ve had going direct is subpar monitor guys not getting things right. We actually had a guy forget to turn the wedges on after soundcheck recently. There are some real pros out there.

 

[Bob Zaod]

For context, this is coming from a guy that used to show up to gigs with a triaxis/2:90 AND a Dual Rectifier.

DO IT.

I played a gig a couple weeks ago, walked into the venue with a guitar and a Helix backpack. I set up in 3 minutes, played the gig, tore down before the drummer even figured out the set was done…dog bless his stupid soul.

My experience over the last couple years gigging original music is that that stage volumes are getting SO LOW for most venues I can’t really crank my traditional amps up enough to feel them behind me anyway, so why bother. In other words, playing the Helix direct to PA doesn’t feel exactly the same as standing next to a loud cab…but who the hell REALLY gets to use a loud cab on stage anymore outside large pro acts…so might as well just embrace the technology if you can make it work for you.

I def recommend getting a decent powered wedge though, that way you can own your monitoring situation on stage. The biggest issue I’ve had going direct is subpar monitor guys not getting things right. We actually had a guy forget to turn the wedges on after soundcheck recently. There are some real pros out there.

It's pretty much everywhere regardless of type of music. Venues want you at jukebox levels. I had a 5 year or so hiatus from gigging in the late 90's early 2000's. It was not that way in my region at the time when I stopped, but it was getting that way when I came back. It has only gotten worse and worse. Some places just outright wont hire bands any more and just have Joe Schmoe with his acoustic come in and lull people to sleep with Yacht Rock Acoustic covers.

I get surprised here and there. The video's I posted a couple weeks back were at a tiny brewery joint, so we kept the levels down around 92db or so. About midway through the 2nd set when I was singing a song giving my wife a break, the Manager there told her to have us turn up so I did. We finished the night around 98db and they booked us for 3 more dates before we left.

 

[JiveTurkey]

A live show, really at almost every level; should be an event. If you want to sit around and talk in a quiet spot; go to a coffee shop. If a band is playing; expect there to be, well; sound