Rex
Dignified but Approachable
Much has been written about FRFR vs the amp-in-the-room sound. Some would say too much. There's something special about the sound and feel you get from a real guitar cab singing merrily behind you. It's a guitarist-only thing, and it can only be experienced by the person wearing the guitar, but it's real.
I'm a die-hard FRFR convert. Have been for years. And I've found amp-in-the-room.
I was playing a carols-and-beer gig at a local brew pub. It was a fun gig. Happy, Christmasy songs that everyone knew and could sing along to. A relaxed crowd in an intimate atmosphere, warmed by a glass or two of some very tasty beer that had been brewed in the back room. Children running around, nibbling appetizers, and singing along when they knew the words. Seven or eight other musicians, half of whom I knew well and had played with many times. I'd never met the other half.
But it was a challenging gig, too. The room was really two rooms, separated by a low wall. There was no stage, so we were lined up against three of the four walls of one of the rooms, Except for the drums and they keyboard, we were standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder. I had to stand sideways to keep my headstock out of the face of the singer next to me.
The PA was tiny and hastily thrown together. There were barely enough channels to go around, so I used my wedge as backline. No FOH for me. Just my trusty AX8 and a borrowed $300 Electro-Voice ZLX-12P standing between me and the crowd. I stood the wedge on end, two feet behind me.
I spent the whole night on one of my go-to presets: a Deluxe Verb patch with factory cab 80, dialed in for a 1000-seat venue. By coincidence, I had spent part of that afternoon plugged into a real, flesh-and-blood pre-CBS Deluxe Reverb.
And there it was. The sound, feel, and overall experience was identical—as near as I could tell—to the sound, feel and experience I got from that real, vintage, blackface beauty. There was nothing lacking. I was grinning the whole night.
The bottom line: If you're running FRFR, and you miss that amp-in-the-room vibe, just stand your monitor on end and point it at your knees. Oh, and you'll need a room, too.
Merry Christmas!
I'm a die-hard FRFR convert. Have been for years. And I've found amp-in-the-room.
I was playing a carols-and-beer gig at a local brew pub. It was a fun gig. Happy, Christmasy songs that everyone knew and could sing along to. A relaxed crowd in an intimate atmosphere, warmed by a glass or two of some very tasty beer that had been brewed in the back room. Children running around, nibbling appetizers, and singing along when they knew the words. Seven or eight other musicians, half of whom I knew well and had played with many times. I'd never met the other half.
But it was a challenging gig, too. The room was really two rooms, separated by a low wall. There was no stage, so we were lined up against three of the four walls of one of the rooms, Except for the drums and they keyboard, we were standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder. I had to stand sideways to keep my headstock out of the face of the singer next to me.
The PA was tiny and hastily thrown together. There were barely enough channels to go around, so I used my wedge as backline. No FOH for me. Just my trusty AX8 and a borrowed $300 Electro-Voice ZLX-12P standing between me and the crowd. I stood the wedge on end, two feet behind me.
I spent the whole night on one of my go-to presets: a Deluxe Verb patch with factory cab 80, dialed in for a 1000-seat venue. By coincidence, I had spent part of that afternoon plugged into a real, flesh-and-blood pre-CBS Deluxe Reverb.
And there it was. The sound, feel, and overall experience was identical—as near as I could tell—to the sound, feel and experience I got from that real, vintage, blackface beauty. There was nothing lacking. I was grinning the whole night.
The bottom line: If you're running FRFR, and you miss that amp-in-the-room vibe, just stand your monitor on end and point it at your knees. Oh, and you'll need a room, too.
Merry Christmas!
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