FM9 not allowed?

hedonfire

hedonfire

Member
Hey everyone, first post (really sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forum or if this is already discussed, yell at me if this is the wrong place šŸ™ƒ).

I just got the FM9 a few weeks ago and have been loving every second of playing it and dialing in tones. I've set up presets for the bands I'm in, dialed in all the fx that I already use, plus some new ones, and cannot wait to use this thing in practice and live!!

...except...I can't.

Is anyone else having problems with jam/practice spaces just outright refusing you using your fm9 (or any fractal device) through their house pa? Like, it's their place and I'll respect whatever rules they set in place and just use my old amp I guess, but I can't wrap my head around why they don't allow it, as the four places I've tried reaching out to near me have all just outright rejected and told me to bring my own powered speaker or "just use a normal amp". Is there some actual reason for not using our units through a mixer and into a pa? The last place I messaged at least gave me a bit of a reason saying that if the PA becomes damaged, it's harder for them to replace. Fair. Why would it get damaged though. Outside of user error and just blasting levels and blowing a driver in the pa, is there any other reason why damage would occur? I just want some justification for all the rejection I've been getting lately and it's really bumming me out since I just spent like 3000 dollars on this thing I can't use now...
 
The only legit reasons I can think of-

A- The venue isnā€™t that big and they only put vocals through the PA and maybe a kick drum. This is the norm for bars because they arenā€™t trying to recreate a concert, just have some music for people to listen to while they drink.

B- The soundmen are just some dudes who know how to flick on the mixer and turn the faders up so the mics come out. Theyā€™re there every night anyway, so might as well give them a job. No experienced soundman is going to say ā€œNoā€œ to that unless the PA just isnā€™t big enough to handle the guitars AND vocals, or they stopped learning anything after 1985.
 
Haha I mean...I get the smaller venues maybe wanting just vocals through a tiny pa, but I'm asking specifically for practice spaces (like rehearsal places that have rooms equipped with a bunch of music equipment, including 1000w pa systems). I guess I could just "go and buy a powered speaker" but that kind of defeats a large part of why I bought this in the first place. I mean, I REALLY love my mark v and mesa 4x12, what I didn't love was lugging it around everywhere! I'll feel really stupid if I end up buying a speaker for this and end up having to lug that around...even if it would still be a lot lighter than my old set up.

It seems to me that these rehearsal places have either a) had some kind of really bad experience in the past with some idiot who just blasted levels, but that's not really the fault of a modeller and just purely user error, or b) are just old heads who think fractal is some devil's concoction.
 
hedonfire said:
Haha I mean...I get the smaller venues maybe wanting just vocals through a tiny pa, but I'm asking specifically for practice spaces (like rehearsal places that have rooms equipped with a bunch of music equipment, including 1000w pa systems). I guess I could just "go and buy a powered speaker" but that kind of defeats a large part of why I bought this in the first place. I mean, I REALLY love my mark v and mesa 4x12, what I didn't love was lugging it around everywhere! I'll feel really stupid if I end up buying a speaker for this and end up having to lug that around...even if it would still be a lot lighter than my old set up.

It seems to me that these rehearsal places have either a) had some kind of really bad experience in the past with some idiot who just blasted levels, but that's not really the fault of a modeller and just purely user error, or b) are just old heads who think fractal is some devil's concoction.
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To be fair, 1000w isnā€™t huge for a PA. Iā€™m not saying that in some kind of elitist/snob kind of way, they just require different power than guitar amps do because of what theyā€™re doing.

IE- this is a 1000w PA-
XP1000-large.jpg


Iā€™ve been to all ranges of commercial rehearsal joints and this is usually what they have inside; a couple 1x15ā€™s with some tweeters and a mixer. Weā€™ve got two higher end places down here and only one of them has what Iā€™d consider a ā€œmostly complete PAā€, I think itā€™s got a couple columns that are 2x15ā€™s and a few floor monitors, no subs.

That said, most rehearsal joints have a 4x12 kicking around, so if you scooped up a TC Electronics BAM200 for $160, thereā€™s a tiny, 200w power amp to power a cab with. It weighs about 2lbs.

My live rig is an FM9 into two 2x12ā€™s, my live presets have a tap off the amp block that feeds a cab block so if Iā€™m playing somewhere that DOES allow for the guitar to be in the PA, I can give them a direct signal. But 25 years of gigging has shown me that I canā€™t trust a place is going to have a PA that A) I can plug into or B) I WANT to plug into. 80% of the bars Iā€™ve played in that have their own PA donā€™t give a shit what it sounds like as long as people can hear the singer, so even in the case thereā€™s enough room in that PA to handle a guitar, doesnā€™t always mean Iā€™d want to because theyā€™ll replace speakers with whatever cheap pieces of sh*t they can and no matter what, your guitar is going to sound like a pile of ass.

It might be the safer bet to pick up a 2x12 or something with enough power to hear yourself with. Trusting that every venue you show up to can/will accommodate you is risky business, my friend!
 
And in all fairness, assuming there's any actual thought involved on the venue's part, if they think you're going to go for dual stack volume through their crap PA, I can see why they might not want that, for the sake of keeping it alive.
 
If they said they are fine if you bring your own powered speaker, or your own amp, it sounds like they just donā€™t want people plugging into their PA and potentially blowing it etc.

Sounds like nothing against a modeler. If you bring your own CLR or something seems they are happy to let you do what you want with it.

Canā€™t say Iā€™d blame them as a bar or venue owner because letā€™s say someone does plug in, pops the tweeters as power up, etc etc,

I would probably do the same thing, Iā€™m not letting just anyone plug into my gear unless Iā€™m controlling the levels, the power up order etc.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Bring an EV PXM and rise above that crap. Not too heavy, sounds great, plenty loud unless you're nuts.
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I'm considering some options, but don't want to drop another thousand dollars on a speaker (here in Ontario, the pxm-12mp retails for 1199.99. Any thoughts on the ev zlx12p?
 
JasonE said:
This makes no sense to me at all. More places are going to silent stages, especially small places, so they can control the volume levels. If their PA speakers won't handle it, they are running junk.
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Maybe they are running a junk system, but what do they get out of investing in an expensive rig ?

Are they charging people a cover to come and play thru their rig ? Do they sell alcohol?

No venue is going to spend money on a nice PA unless it benefits their bottom lineā€¦.

End answer is get a nice powered monitor and then youā€™ve always got your own monitoring, stage volume etc covered
 
lqdsnddist said:
If they said they are fine if you bring your own powered speaker, or your own amp, it sounds like they just donā€™t want people plugging into their PA and potentially blowing it etc.

Sounds like nothing against a modeler. If you bring your own CLR or something seems they are happy to let you do what you want with it.

Canā€™t say Iā€™d blame them as a bar or venue owner because letā€™s say someone does plug in, pops the tweeters as power up, etc etc,

I would probably do the same thing, Iā€™m not letting just anyone plug into my gear unless Iā€™m controlling the levels, the power up order etc.
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Some of them are fine with bringing our own speakers, and I'm considering some options now. However, some have literally told me to "use a normal amp". They might as well have just told me to go fuck myself XD
 
hedonfire said:
Some of them are fine with bringing our own speakers, and I'm considering some options now. However, some have literally told me to "use a normal amp". They might as well have just told me to go fuck myself XD
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Iā€™d think a powered wedge or a normal amp is probably all the same to themā€¦.

Probably donā€™t want someone coming in with an entire PA rig with bass bins etc lol
 
Their place their rules..why fight it?

There are any number of powered speaker solutions that you can get that are half the weight of your mesa rig.. and you would do better as you can dial your tones in on your own rig.. after all, you are not gonna sound the same thru a Samson/Behringer/bose/EV/QSC PA when you have zero control over its EQ.. not to mention they may not have monitors for you.

just buy the rest of your rig and carry on
 
Wow! Glad I live in the Midwest USA - we rehearse at our drummerā€™ house. Acoustic drums, but we all use IEMs. Always had a reheareal space for bands - someoneā€™s basement at their house, used to use a small PA and amps, then Fractals and monitors, and now Fractals and IEMs.
 
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