Unorthodox amp & cab placement on stage, yes or no?

[HotRats]

The last 3 gigs I've placed my amp in unorthodox/unusual/uncommon positions,
2 times I've placed it on the side of the stage facing the other side, last time (due to space restrictions) I've placed it in front of me facing backwards.

I'm talking about gigs with a full PA at work with guitars feeding it.

Here's a picture of last gig placement (taken while setting up so my pedalboard is still on the stage side out of the way)

I do this for 3 main reasons:
1. to avoid amp beaming towards the audience (the smaller the room the more important it is, imho);
2. Improve monitoring on stage for me and for the rest of the band: having different monitoring sources/locations for different instruments is stage monitoring 101, therefore adding your cab as a monitoring source* is an easy and cost free way to improve stage mix.
3. make sound man work easier.

Do you guys do/did this?


*closed back cabs placed on the back of stage facing foreward usually are useless for the rest of the band members or part of them.

 

[laxu]

Makes total sense to me.

 

[HotRats]

I'm asking because I've encountered some resistance among other players in my past bands.

 

[FuzzyAce]

With full PA it makes total sense. I would sometimes run my amp off to the side 90° angle pointing towards me, mic'd up of course. Depended on the stage and size of band. I used the tilt-back legs on my twin reverb a lot too, so it's not directly beaming the audience.

 

[RGB]

Not a whole lot different than using plexi shields, a la Bonnamassa. The ambient sound of the amp is usually better for everybody's ears.

 

[HotRats]

Not a whole lot different than using plexi shields, a la Bonnamassa. The ambient sound of the amp is usually better for everybody's ears.

never tried one of those because they are expensive and take quite a lot of real estate on stage, but yeas they help on point 1 and 3 but
do nothing about point 2 on my opening post.

 

[metropolis_4]

I do the same thing all the time. Usually if I’m on one of the sides of the stage I’ll put my amp on the side towards the front facing back towards the band. I rarely put it behind me facing forward.

Works really well for monitoring and avoiding hotspots in FOH

 

[HotRats]

I do the same thing all the time. Usually if I’m on one of the sides of the stage I’ll put my amp on the side towards the front facing back towards the band. I rarely put it behind me facing forward.

Works really well for monitoring and avoiding hotspots in FOH

 

[2112]

I used to gig with a 4x12 that I'd place on it's side and then point it towards the back of the room, away from the audience so I could turn the amp up. Loved it.

Made gigging with a modeller a lot easier to get used to when I made the switch.

 

[HotRats]

I'm happy to hear I'm not alone.

And I envy you because in all the 2 guitar bands I've been in my 30+ years of playing no one wanted to do that.
They all said, look like shit and bla, bla, bla.

I'm happy I've found a band where sound matters more than look,.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I’ve done:
On its back
Facing a wall
Facing the ground (recommended, excellent beam killer, if you can play 8 ball a bit you can determine the best angle to get the most in your ear via the floor)

Rule of thumb: make sure the beam hits nothing human, unless one of your bandmates is an ass, or your ex is in the audience with a new lover.

 

[sleewell]

we dont mic cabs at a lot of shows. i like the volume to hold me up if i lean back into it.

but if we played somewhere with good monitors i'd have no issues pointing my cab in any direction as long as i had a good mix coming from the monitors.

 

[Baba]

I set up with the cab facing backwards like a wedge, and tilted up at me, whenever I can, for all of the reasons we have all stated.

Sometimes the space doesn't allow for it, but even so, 9/10, I tilt the amp up at my back/head, instead of my ankles. :)

 

[RGB]

never tried one of those because they are expensive and take quite a lot of real estate on stage, but yeas they help on point 1 and 3 but
do nothing about point 2 on my opening post.

The shields allow me to open the amp up more without the beam...the diffused tone of my amps on stage is actually a better monitoring source than the beam of the cab without them.

As to the price, I went to Home Depot and bought some sheets of plexi and added hinges to allow them to fold...actually not expensive at all.

They also don't really take up much room on stage either...they have to be angled a bit to sound good (can't have them flat to the cab), so I have to play with them a bit to get the sound I want, but they work great for me.