Gigging w/multiple "amps" - any issues from Sound Guys?

  • So I am doing a gig this Friday and it is pretty heavy material. For some songs I am really liking Guido Recto but for others I like Merits VH4. My concern is, from a soundboard perspective, once the guy has a setting dialed in for my guitars, does it throw the FOH mix off when I go to a significantly different sounding amp?


    How many amp types do the gigging folks here use?

  • My concern is, from a soundboard perspective, once the guy has a setting dialed in for my guitars, does it throw the FOH mix off when I go to a significantly different sounding amp?


    you're over-thinking. ;)


    ideally, your sounds will be gig/band-ready and go to the PA unaltered (no EQ from the FOH).
    It's of course your job to have all the sounds leveled correctly relative to each other, but that's just stating the obvious.


    The big difference is that there will be no hastily mic'ed cabinet on stage that'll be a big part of your sound, but a completely controlled (by you!) signal going directly to the FOH (and possibly the monitor mix)


  • you're over-thinking. ;)


    ideally, your sounds will be gig/band-ready and go to the PA unaltered (no EQ from the FOH).
    It's of course your job to have all the sounds leveled correctly relative to each other, but that's just stating the obvious.


    The big difference is that there will be no hastily mic'ed cabinet on stage that'll be a big part of your sound, but a completely controlled (by you!) signal going directly to the FOH (and possibly the monitor mix)


    I have a tendency to do this...

  • Been gigging with KPA for over 3 yrs and use about 8 different amps on any one night and so far it has never been an issue. Just make sure you level the amps at gig volume preferably at practice with the rest of the band

  • Awesome. I just noticed last night that some of my profiles are fine at home but at rehearsal, going through my power amp/cab, my input is hitting the "red"...


    How the heck does that happen?

  • As some sounds that seem the same volume when playing alone but seem to stick out or get burried in the mix when band kicks in (usually because the presence or absence of mids, you want to check that. But if you've practiced with band with your sounds and they balance well, the should at the gig through PA as well. So no worries. Same thing as if you as a few dirt boxes

  • Actually, I completely disagree on your " over thinking"... I think you are smart to think about things like this. That's something a pro would think about, and one of the reasons Michael Britt profiles through the same cab. If your FOH guy dials in your "space" in the mix on your ac30 profile thru blues, and you switch over to your recto with a 4x12.....well, yes, things are going to be a lot different. I generally use one maybe two amps live for this particular reason. as commercial profilers have gotten better in my opinion amyways, this has become less of an issue. For instance I can gig all of guidos profiles and any xombination of them and not really have any issues. Same goes for berts, and obviously Michael Britts. Lately I've been using tone Hawks profiles a lot live as well. this also is less of an issue if you are a touring pro with your own professionally dedicated FOH engineer who is intimately familiar with your setup smd how you are doing things and the tones you are using throughout the night every night. So I guess it's all relative to your situation and how big of a problem it "could" be...

  • I have played several consert with radical different amps, clean amps and electric, Mesa Dual, Accoustic guitars with cab switched off, Mandolin with built in mic. Comment from soundmen is usually; all sounds sounds good! You have to find levels and eq right for PA speakers.. I always have to adjust some eq in different venues when playing accoustic guitars on high level..usually its the bass responce who vary the most

  • If your FOH guy dials in your "space" in the mix on your ac30 profile thru blues, and you switch over to your recto with a 4x12.....well, yes, things are going to be a lot different.


    I'm assuming a guitarist is choosing a different amp exactly for that reason - to get a different sound, to fill a different sonic space - because this particular sound is complementing a particular part of the arrangement. Different amp/cabs for different 'jobs'.

  • Yeah, I think it's a little of both. I think I switch amp profiles to get a different sound, but in the middle of songs if there's a too-dramatic tonal shift it can sometimes make the guitar disappear while ears are adjusting to the audio vertigo. It's just a little trial and error to find profiles that you can tweak to be different enough to warrant changing and that fit the song but don't disappear or sound thin in relation to other tones. It's a case by case basis in my set list. That being said, I tend to gravitate to a handful of base profiles and just sprinkle the others in a little at a time.

  • Yeah, I think it's a little of both. I think I switch amp profiles to get a different sound, but in the middle of songs if there's a too-dramatic tonal shift it can sometimes make the guitar disappear while ears are adjusting to the audio vertigo. It's just a little trial and error to find profiles that you can tweak to be different enough to warrant changing and that fit the song but don't disappear or sound thin in relation to other tones. It's a case by case basis in my set list. That being said, I tend to gravitate to a handful of base profiles and just sprinkle the others in a little at a time.

    Hey!!! Get off the forums and finish those Wizard profiles I heard about!

  • As a sound man my experience is that it depends. If you're going from a tweed combo to a dual rectifier the sound man has little option but to put you in a pretty small sound space if it's a big band.


    If it's a 4 piece where there's not a lot of competition it won't matter much.


    That being said, you do have a lot of variety to play with as long as your levels are pretty consistent.