Active wedge in front or behind you playing live??

lordtoneking

lordtoneking

Member
just scored an Atomic CLR and I'm wondering if you guys use them as a frontline with the vocal monitors or sit them behind you? I know its gonna be trial and error, but just wondering what works best in a live situation.
I've only used the ax8 for two shows now. The first show I set up my powered JBL eon to face me like a vocal monitor. This wasn't too bad, but when I stepped off the stage to check sound it seemed like I had no stage sound that the crowd upfront could hear...was just kind of empty on my side of the stage
Last night I put it behind me and I had a hard time hearing myself but yet it was throwing some sound out towards the people in front of the stage which made me feel like they could actually 'hear' what I was playing.
I know it may be a stupid question, but I'm new to this kind of playing and I'm trying to adapt. I'm used to a 4x12 cab and a 100w head behind me.
At any rate, the sound guy loved it...and I was the first one loaded up and out the door after the show! Lol

Can't wait to get this CLR. Maybe that'll answer all my question right there?

Thanks
 
If using a soundman with a PA, you should be sending him a direct line for the house mix and then your personal monitor should be facing you either in front or to the side not projecting to the audience.
 
If you are in a group that you are the only one with out a real amp on stage, I would use it as back line. if all guitars are going none amp I would recommend front wedge so the FOH engineer has full control of the mix for the audience.
 
Will Chen said:
If using a soundman with a PA, you should be sending him a direct line for the house mix and then your personal monitor should be facing you either in front or to the side not projecting to the audience.
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This!

The cool thing about this is you can also do a quick check, roll the volume down (output 2) and should be able to get an idea of what is going through the mains.

I do this just to double check the sound guy.
 
paranoid said:
If you are in a group that you are the only one with out a real amp on stage, I would use it as back line. if all guitars are going none amp I would recommend front wedge so the FOH engineer has full control of the mix for the audience.
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This is the problem right here. The other guitarist has a 100w head and a 4x12 on the other side of the stage. He's dominating the front of stage
 
scottp said:
This!

The cool thing about this is you can also do a quick check, roll the volume down (output 2) and should be able to get an idea of what is going through the mains.

I do this just to double check the sound guy.
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I'm running Output R to my monitor and L to FOH
 
No steadfast rule. I use my monitor behind me for some stage volume to fill out the gap in the pa. Not really loud but if you are in the middle up front without it you would have trouble hearing the guitar. I use ears so, it's only there for that volume and sustain guitar feedback when needed. IMHO, YMMV.
 
I run my friedman asm behind me so I can save the front wedge for vocals - depends on the stage and band though.
 
I tried and tried to have my CLR on the floor as a wedge in front or to the side of me. Can't do it. The CLR is so harsh in the highs that it gave me headaches every time. I now use it as a cab behind...when I use it which is very rare now. I've gone back to my tube amp and cab...I just prefer the sound and feel.

I've had more than a few sound men say they prefer the cab on the backline because it helps fill the space. There wasn't as much thump when I had the CLR up front.
 
if i'm not going thru a sound system I place the CLR as backline. If i am going thru a sound sytem I place it wherever is most convenient. Sometimes in front facing me, sometimes on the side blowing across.

When I first got my CLR I also thought it was kind of trebly or harsh sounding. 2 things I can advise; Program your presets at a fairly loud volume and/or you may need to cut 2k-4k (depending) on your Output graphic. Once you learn how to program your presets for live everything will fall in place.
 
For the most part i use my CLR as a wedge in front.

My vocal mic is hypercardiod, so I've got the CLR behind the mic stand to one side of the mic stand in the mic null facing me.

For me the CLR sounds best in a wedge position with the DSP in Tilt mode. Like that, there is too much vocal mic bleed if it is behind me.

I play with it fairly loud too. Sometimes I position it as a more side fill facing me but away from the rest of the band when they complain its too loud.
 
skyhighrocks said:
I tried and tried to have my CLR on the floor as a wedge in front or to the side of me. Can't do it. The CLR is so harsh in the highs that it gave me headaches every time.
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Maybe you need to dial some of that harshness out of your presets?
I don't find the CLR harsh, icepicky or brittle at all.
I've used it in front and behind but lately I like it to my right side...makes it easy to generate controlled feedback when ever I want.
 
RLD said:
Maybe you need to dial some of that harshness out of your presets?
I don't find the CLR harsh, icepicky or brittle at all.
I used it in front and behind but lately I like it to my right side...make it easy to generate controlled feedback when ever I want.
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I've tweaked at stage volume many times. I just prefer a guitar speaker rather than FRFR....a 412 cab blows air towards the back of my legs while the CLR has a tweeter/horn that accentuates the highs. When that's pointed at the ears, I don't like it. I've used it as a cab but couldn't hear it too well so I rarely use it now.
 
skyhighrocks said:
I've tweaked at stage volume many times. I just prefer a guitar speaker rather than FRFR....a 412 cab blows air towards the back of my legs while the CLR has a tweeter/horn that accentuates the highs. When that's pointed at the ears, I don't like it. I've used it as a cab but couldn't hear it too well so I rarely use it now.
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It's a hard transition for a lot of electric guitar players. Going from listening to a back line amp off axis to a full range speaker in your face is very different.

I am used to making my presets sound good with a CLR wedge but it took some time programming with them. I program with them on sticks slightly above head level with the DSP in Free field mode. I play live as a wedge in DSP Tilt mode.
 
As a wedge in front of me, when I'm playing through a sound system.

The CLR is also my vocal monitor. I split my vocal mic's cable and run one line into the CLR's 2nd input.
 
As long as you hear yourself, you should be good. At the biggest stage in while, the sound guy forgot to turn my monitor feed on so I was "blind" for the first song with 0 stage volume. Listening from the stage, I could've sworn I was off in the mains too, but noooo, all the clams were blasting the audience loud and clear, I just couldn't hear it. :D


Btw, with a 4x12, you're blasting the audience with the usual piercing shrill death by 4x12" -laser beam, that sounds great to your knees. With the CLR, you're getting a glimpse of your true tone.

skyhighrocks said:
I tried and tried to have my CLR on the floor as a wedge in front or to the side of me. Can't do it. The CLR is so harsh in the highs that it gave me headaches every time.
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skyhighrocks said:
I tried and tried to have my CLR on the floor as a wedge in front or to the side of me. Can't do it. The CLR is so harsh in the highs that it gave me headaches every time. I now use it as a cab behind...when I use it which is very rare now. I've gone back to my tube amp and cab...I just prefer the sound and feel.

I've had more than a few sound men say they prefer the cab on the backline because it helps fill the space. There wasn't as much thump when I had the CLR up front.
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Hey Rich, how's it going? ;-)
You're kind of scaring me. The only time I've heard the CLR's was at another member's house when he was helping me setup my ax8 when I first got it. His CLR was much more warm and clean sounding in comparison to the JBL that I took over to use until I bought a CLR. Everything we did was at low volume though and never got to hear it at 'volume'. I can't handle piecing highs or a brittle sound. That would be a deal breaker for me
 
aziz said:
As long as you hear yourself, you should be good. At the biggest stage in while, the sound guy forgot to turn my monitor feed on so I was "blind" for the first song with 0 stage volume. Listening from the stage, I could've sworn I was off in the mains too, but noooo, all the clams were blasting the audience loud and clear, I just couldn't hear it. :D


Btw, with a 4x12, you're blasting the audience with the usual piercing shrill death by 4x12" -laser beam, that sounds great to your knees. With the CLR, you're getting a glimpse of your true tone.
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Most of the stages we play on, the audience isn't at ear or face level with the cab....which is usually set wayyyyy back. My tone sounds great out front as I usually go out there for soundcheck to hear it.
 
lordtoneking said:
Hey Rich, how's it going? ;-)
You're kind of scaring me. The only time I've heard the CLR's was at another member's house when he was helping me setup my ax8 when I first got it. His CLR was much more warm and clean sounding in comparison to the JBL that I took over to use until I bought a CLR. Everything we did was at low volume though and never got to hear it at 'volume'. I can't handle piecing highs or a brittle sound. That would be a deal breaker for me
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Good to see you!

You may like it! I do like it for certain applications but I've found I can't use it at normal gigs. I just prefer the traditional way. I'm not a fan of hearing my guitar the way I would hear it in the studio. I like hearing the in the room vibe when you're playing with amp/cab in the same room. I don't get that with the FRFR stuff. The last gig I used the CLR, I couldn't hear my guitar at all and it was up half way. I turned it up (was giving FOH their own volume so it didn't affect them). After I turned it up, it became much more shrill and was putting out a really high pitched squeal. The sound guy came to the side of the stage to ask if I was hearing something. We figured it out that it was the CLR. I was using a Helix so that may not have helped. One of the reasons I sold it.

I just plugged into the CLR with my AX8 and I can instantly hear a difference from the Helix...big time in the tone department. I've been so busy dialing in my FX to use with my amp that I haven't had time to try this yet. I was pretty sour on it from my last gig. Definitely warmer than the Helix going through it.
 
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Depends on the situation. I'm playing with 2 bands that are pretty old school. 1 is a bunch of old guys that I'm pushing towards IEMs, and the other is some younger kids that can't afford a proper PA and I'm certainly not going to buy a full rig (although I'm thinking about it for future situations). With them, I use my powered speaker as backline. Until I have a group with a good PA (or buy my own) , that's my only choice.
 
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