mortega76 said:
This past Sunday we had a gig and on stage the sound guy had me at about 8 o'clock... and I couldn't even hear myself on stage... crazy these sound guys.
As a guy who works BOTH sides of the stage, and having [laboriously] read thru the entire thread, I can tell you that MOST sound guys are not crazy. With no offense intended, you are a sound guys worst nightmare. You are the epitome of "Nigel" and like to turn stuff up to 11 !!
That does not translate well to the guy at FOH. We need TOTAL control of your sound.. not your TONE, but your sound level on the stage and in the mix. If I had a dime for every guitar player I've put on stage that played like you, I'd be living on some island in the the pacific sipping Mai-Tai's!
Let me put it simply.
LOUD does NOT EQUAL GOOD!!!.
GREAT tone can also be achieved at non-deafening levels. Playing like that puts you in a pissing contest with the other instruments on the stage and with the PA system. And [since I'm on a roll here...
] STEREO cabs DO NOT translate well in LIVE music! But that's a whole other rant LOL !
If you have to crank your rig that loud to get satisfying tone, you have serious problems with your fundamentals, and neither the Axe, nor any combination of amp, (SS or otherwise) will solve that -- and that has been stated by some VERY talented people (including FAS) in this thread. Some of the best players I've ever had the pleasure to mix show up with a 5W DocZ or a Blues Cube (or other amp .. I picked those at random BTW), place the amp on a stool/stand pointed across the stage and up at them, and I mic it (or DI, depending on amp). Awesome tone, LOW stage volumes, full control of where the guitar sits in the mix and no-one gets their heads blown off! And the CD quality sound is enjoyed by all.
If you are cranked to 11 on stage, I have NO control over the mix, and while it's your job to play, it's mine to make sure that what the audience hears is not entire crap or MUSH! I have been known to go onstage and turn down the master on a guitar players amp (OMG, cardinal sin!!!)... because the PA system can't compete with it, it's too LOUD for the venue, I've asked you nicely 50,000 times to turn down already, and I honestly don't care if your girlfriend/wife/significant other "can't hear you properly". I've been at this too long to need gigs like that. And yes, I have lost work doing that, but I don't need those kinds of gigs anyway.
Here's the fact.. As the guitar player, you may be in a perpetual search of tone Nirvana. Maybe not. Many are, but they forget that playing live is absolutely NOT about THEIR tone, but about the entire package presented by the band. Sure, YOUR tone is in there, but so is bass, drums, keys and vox!! NEVER FORGET that
it's a TEAM effort and the "Jeez, I got to FEEL my tone" is pure horse-feathers for not knowing what you are doing and being thoroughly unprofessional.
Again.. no offense intended. Unfortunately, you are not alone in this zone.
I'm just calling it as I have seen it MANY times!! (my $0.02)