FM9 not allowed?

Dave Merrill said:
Talk to Manchester Music Mill in NH.
They did me two for $825 each.
No sales tax because NH.
I picked mine up in person, so no shipping, but see what they can do.

They're pretty much alright up there :)
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Love the Music Mill!
One of the last stores in New England that has a huge selection of gear, and they're great people to deal with.
 
JRkelley said:
You set yourself up for finger-pointing when you do it that way. You just know it's going to happen once in a while, and it's gonna get scary loud! Probably worse than I could do on my own with my Super Reverb and pedalboard, mic'd or not.
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I'm ok with that.
I easy my volume up on my guitar so the engineer can hear the signal and react quickly.
This is no different than me plugging in my vocal wireless and doing a quick mic check.
If my mic signal is 'hotter' than whatever was formerly plugged into that channel, then it's the same issue/risk.
I've actually had way worse experiences with that. Still...no finger ever pointed my way.

If a finger was pointed my way, I'd be happy to 'point back' that they should be adjusting my input trim before putting pushing my fader up through the PA.

I've been fortunate enough to play a lot of amazing stages with great engineers. Not a single one has ever asked me to turn down my AxeFX signal before they checked my line. I've had 1 or 2 ask me to turn it down as my signal was very hot. Sure - no prob.
 
Sixstring said:
of low end at higher volumes so keeping up with your drummer will be marginal at best. As to covering a room it will depend on the room size!

Personally I would be looking at the PMX 12PM it would be a far better solution than either the ZLX or HR 108. Yes it is expensive but if you are gigging out in small to mid sized rooms the PMX is the ticket! On the floor in front or behind you or pole mounted behind you it will be a lot better at doing the job you are looking to ask the 108 or the ZLX to do.
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I had my pair of PXM-12MPs at a jam one night, and the FOH tech, who seemed pretty good, was out of time to get my FM9 into the FOH for a sound check, so I told him we’d do it old-school and he could tell me how loud he wanted the pair to be based on what he could hear from his position, and I’d adjust my OUT setting.

It turned out FOH had the mains putting out about 106 dB. The PXM kept up nicely but I wasn’t about to stand in front of that volume so I handed my guitar to a friend and let him play. He loved it cause it was shaking his bits.

The PXM stacked vertically are the size of a 2x12 cabinet and set that way take very little stage space, and firing forward can cover a small club well. I often use a single one at another, larger, club, which peaks at 100 dB, and the PXM can easily be heard from the stage during solos. With the FM9 in the FOH system it balances very nicely.

Sixstring said:
Why? The ZLX is a PA top first. PA tops are generally better with listening distances from 10' or better. If you monitor at that distance then thats not an issue.
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Yep. There’s a difference in the dispersion patterns between the two different types of speakers along with the cabinets. The coaxial speakers in the PXM cabinets are designed to spread the sound in a larger pattern so they don’t throw as far. It’s something to consider when picking one or the other.

Sixstring said:
The 108 is going to be lacking in low end when cranked to keep up with your drummer and risk damaging it trying to do so.
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A friend has a pair that he bought when he bought my AX8, and that was his experience. They couldn’t keep up, and his drummer isn’t that loud. He bought a pair of the 112s which could keep up and switched the 108s to vocal monitors only. He later switched the 112s out and replaced them with QSC K12s which are definitely loud enough and much better sounding.
 
BBN said:
I'm ok with that.
I easy my volume up on my guitar so the engineer can hear the signal and react quickly.
This is no different than me plugging in my vocal wireless and doing a quick mic check.
If my mic signal is 'hotter' than whatever was formerly plugged into that channel, then it's the same issue/risk.
I've actually had way worse experiences with that. Still...no finger ever pointed my way.

If a finger was pointed my way, I'd be happy to 'point back' that they should be adjusting my input trim before putting pushing my fader up through the PA.

I've been fortunate enough to play a lot of amazing stages with great engineers. Not a single one has ever asked me to turn down my AxeFX signal before they checked my line. I've had 1 or 2 ask me to turn it down as my signal was very hot. Sure - no prob.
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Thanks for illustrating my point about finger-pointing
 
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As others have stated, probably a consequence of a previous bad experience. I played in a band where the singer supplied a PA for his vocals. First time I showed up with my Elevenrack (my pre-FM3 setup) and asked if I could run it through, he was like “Fuck No!”

Turns out he had a previous bass player who ran into it and destroyed the speakers. The band was super loud and I’m assuming the bass player ran a crazy hot, low frequency into it.
 
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FPFL said:
I still gig with real guitar cabs in part for this reason. Some people will short out on anything other than "what do I put this 57 in front of?"
It's not hard to keep a 1x12 in the car for emergencies either. The Mesa Recto 1x12 is a great little thumper if you need a good sounding cab in a pinch. I never leave home without one, even if I don't think I'm going to need it.
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I have one of these at home in case I need it in a pinch. Bringing it to gigs means a power amp as well though. What do you use for that? I have a little Carvin beast, but now it's a cab and a rack amp that I didn't want to bring... Give a mouse a cookie.
 
I have had many varying experiences with "the sound guy":
  • complete absence (running sound myself from stage)
  • complete (and destructive) incompetence
  • arrogant semi-competence
  • and a few that were good and easy to work with

AZ State Fair, 1994, at the newly-dedicated Wallace and Ladmo stage:
I specifically told the sound guy not to send phantom power on the XLR that was connected to my direct box (H&K Red Box Mk II), because it was powered from my rack and phantom power would smoke it. Guess what he did. Nobody at the fair got to hear my guitar unless they were right in front of the stage.

Some club in Tempe? Phoenix? Scottsdale? 1998:
I show up with my wet/dry/wet rig, which sometimes was 100% wet due to the rotary speaker sim, and the sound guy asks which cab gets mic'ed. I replied, "all 3." I end up with the three all around the one mic. Lazy f***er refused to set up the other mics.

Most of the time I ran sound from the stage, for the vocals and maybe a kick drum mic to help that a bit.
 
elvis said:
On the plus side, the sound guys at my last gig were 100% on board with giving me an XLR cable into the board, and they were very impressed with the FM9. Very decent people and very accommodating.
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For sure. Once a sound tech has some experience with good quality modelers (and is not an idiot), they seem to love the direct option. I was talking with a guy about doing sound for us a few weeks ago and when I mentioned I was using a Fractal he had an immediate "Oh thank goodness" kind of response.

The drummer in one of my bands does our sound and he has become a huge fan of the modeling option. I show up and he's already got all my levels perfect as soon as I plug in.
 
One option I have heard people do is to take a DI with you. Then let the sound tech put a mic in front of your FRFR. Then when they aren't looking, unplug the mic (but leave it in place) and plug it into your DI (with your Axe running into it). The DI gets the output down to a level they are accustomed to working with. They will probably never know that you did anything. The danger in this is that they are likely to EQ your channel as if they are mic'ing a guitar amp.
 
xrist04 said:
Chances are, some previous customer ran their modeler / direct box into the "house PA," cranked to insane levels and blew some drivers in the speaker enclosures.
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My understanding is that the mixer should stop this. The speakers only see as much level as the mixer gives them - if a fractal product blows a speaker, wouldn't it be the fault of the mix engineer?

What am I missing?
 
elvis said:
I've had venues tell me they wanted to mic when I had a lovely XLR for them. The reasoning given was the they knew how to handle what came through an SM57. The world moves slowly.
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Yeah... that's just ridiculous. If they don't want guitars through the PA, it's annoying, but fine. But if they want to put guitars in, and won't take your polished studio ready fractal signal and want a single mic out instead... just say "it's my only amp, what do you want?"
 
One way of convincing Luddite sound engineers that the Fractal units are easier to deal with for both the player and the mixer/sound engineer, is to tell them to treat your signal like it was coming from a keyboard. Once they can wrap their heads around that, I've found that they can get a little more relaxed about modelers, at least in my experience. I've done this on a few occasions and it seemed to go down alright. YMMV!
 
Randall d said:
One option I have heard people do is to take a DI with you. Then let the sound tech put a mic in front of your FRFR. Then when they aren't looking, unplug the mic (but leave it in place) and plug it into your DI (with your Axe running into it). The DI gets the output down to a level they are accustomed to working with. They will probably never know that you did anything. The danger in this is that they are likely to EQ your channel as if they are mic'ing a guitar amp.
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Wow! For the most part our band runs our own sound but the venues we play with a house PA have been very easy from a setup perspective. Sound guy keeps us muted, gets levels, brings up the sliders, makes any EQ adjustments. Before hand we let him know we do our boosts and solo’s from stage so he factors that in and we are golden. Done. EQ at the desk on guitars is mostly flat except for a low cut around 100hz.
 
AminorZmajor said:
Wow! For the most part our band runs our own sound but the venues we play with a house PA have been very easy from a setup perspective. Sound guy keeps us muted, gets levels, brings up the sliders, makes any EQ adjustments. Before hand we let him know we do our boosts and solo’s from stage so he factors that in and we are golden. Done. EQ at the desk on guitars is mostly flat except for a low cut around 100hz.
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That's what it should be. Sounds like you have a moderately competent sound guy!
 
This is just absurd. The whole purpose of the FM9 is to NOT have to carry a cabinet around with you. Can you try explaining to them that this is a much better way to control stage volume, or volume in a rehearsal space?
 
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jclemensfl said:
This is just absurd. The whole purpose of the FM9 is to NOT have to carry a cabinet around with you. Can you try explaining to them that this is a much better way to control stage volume, or volume in a rehearsal space?
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People only hear/see what they are prepared to accept or believe. Facts don't matter anymore. Welcome to The Dark Ages, Mk. II....
 
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jclemensfl said:
This is just absurd. The whole purpose of the FM9 is to NOT have to carry a cabinet around with you. Can you try explaining to them that this is a much better way to control stage volume, or volume in a rehearsal space?
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You are certainly not entitled to have the venue or sound person let you use their PA so you don't have to lug gear.
 
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