For those of you that go direct to the PA.. do you also have your own FRFR solution on stage?

It's worth it (but maybe you stay away from top of the line in-ear gear) - We play out once or twice a month, and we have more or less the same setup - everybody on IEMs and we use the Mackie DL32r iPad controlled rack mixer. I have never been happier with my monitor situation, setup and teardown is a breeze. We play a lot of small rooms, silent stage (except for drums) means that it is much easier to get consistent sounds in the room with our PA.

The thing with in-ears is that the entire band needs to get on the train. Everybody needs to mic up every time. It can seem silly to put mics on a drum kit in a 50 m2 (500 sq ft) room, but if you don't everybodys monitor mix will fall apart.
 
Nobody running a Friedman ASM?

No gigs planned for me at the mo, but sooner or later I'll need to sort what I'm doing. We all go direct to our mixer with IEMs when we rehearse (electric drumkit) athough that's changing soon as we've found a new rehearsal space where we can play at gig volume.

I like IEMS for gigs but the rest of the band aren't so keen anymore. My priority is what it sounds like FOH but I want to be able to hear myself (and the band) too.

I was thinking a FRFR speaker on stage.

I also need to find a solution for my home playing which is currently through a headphone mixer into my Shure IEMs....sounds great still but obviously will never translate to a gig scenario without adjustments.

I have a lot to sort out!
 
I use a CLR powered wedge.

I've got a Rane rack mixer that takes 4 feeds in and outputs to the CLR.

- Gtr from the Fractal
- Vocal mic split
- Aux send from house mixer
- Gtr split from our lead singer.
 
For solo gigs, direct to CLR PA with sub and FBT 8" coaxial for monitor. Once in a while I go direct to concert system. I plan to use new CLR for monitor for those now. Those concert systems have different wedge EQ every time so I prefer wedge with my EQ vs someone else's.
 
On stage I don't have a cab or FRFR behind me, I do use an Alto TS-210 powered stage monitor wedge facing me that has FOH + More Me. I have tried using IEMs and liked them in general, but our band never really committed to that approach and never got it right. Loud amps on stage, etc. Everyone eventually went back to wedges including me finally. I put ear plugs in at gigs now.
 
I usually use my Flexsys FM12 active wedge. If that is not possible because I have to fly to a festival or whatever I use my Electro Harmonix Magnum 44 with any regular guitar cab that is available at the club. Output 1 always goes to FOH.
 
If the venue has good monitors I just go direct with my ax8. If I felt I needed a personal FRFR monitor for just guitar, I would just bring my Marshall jvm410h and 4x12. To be honest sometimes I just bring my "old fashioned" stack anyways because it is fun. However, ususally stage volume is relatively low and most of my monitoring will come from the venues monitors anyways. Granted, one must get the time to sound check, and have an engineer that will take the time to get the monitors right (most but not all) and get the eq right in the on stage monitors.
 
Davus PG said:
Nobody running a Friedman ASM?

No gigs planned for me at the mo, but sooner or later I'll need to sort what I'm doing. We all go direct to our mixer with IEMs when we rehearse (electric drumkit) athough that's changing soon as we've found a new rehearsal space where we can play at gig volume.

I like IEMS for gigs but the rest of the band aren't so keen anymore. My priority is what it sounds like FOH but I want to be able to hear myself (and the band) too.

I was thinking a FRFR speaker on stage.

I also need to find a solution for my home playing which is currently through a headphone mixer into my Shure IEMs....sounds great still but obviously will never translate to a gig scenario without adjustments.

I have a lot to sort out!
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Yep, I bought an ASM12 in December. I've been running IEMs for well over a decade and always loved the consistency of being able to be anywhere on a big stage and having a perfect mix but decided to get the ASM12 for monitoring and programming sounds at home. I loved what I was hearing sooo much that I have used it on a dozen gigs already this year and it just sounds so freakin great! I hate how heavy it is but soon forget about the lugging when I'm hearing it.
 
flysold said:
Yep, I bought an ASM12 in December. I've been running IEMs for well over a decade and always loved the consistency of being able to be anywhere on a big stage and having a perfect mix but decided to get the ASM12 for monitoring and programming sounds at home. I loved what I was hearing sooo much that I have used it on a dozen gigs already this year and it just sounds so freakin great! I hate how heavy it is but soon forget about the lugging when I'm hearing it.
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Another fellow-Melbournian! Great stuff mate!!

Do you play clean/mid-gain/hi-gain?

Would love to know what cab sims you predominantly use..

Cheers
 
One of the main reasons I decided to go with the AX8 over my Mesa Roadster and 4x12 is the amp is so loud, I had to always turn the cab away, turn the amp down, or place the cab remotely. I have been using IEMs for a couple of years with a Presonus RM32AI (we each control our own monitor mixes via tablets). I was basically getting the mic'ed sound of the amp without the "amp in the room" feel while on stage anyway. So I was getting all the hassles of a half-stack, 12-space case, and elaborate switching system without the personal sonic benefit.

After playing a few gigs with the AX8, Line 6 G70 wireless, and Shure IEMs; I am very pleased with my decision. My monitoring experience is exactly the same and I have 10% of the gear to lug around. I also have a ton more space on stage, especially the really small ones.

The really great thing is that when I want to engage the fire-breathing Mesa, I run the AX8 in 4CM and get all the great tones of both the Fractal and the Mesa combined.
 
Georgy said:
Hey guys

Yep.. probably a repeat thread/question one way or another.. So, I'm going to start embracing the FRFR thing when playing live by going direct to PA/FOH, and I was curious to know if any of you AX8-players were also using/bringing your own stage monitor/wedge/FRFR solution, and not just relying on the PA for your sound? I've seen a few pics in the Show Us Your AX8 Rig thread and lots of players have either a Xitone, or CLR, or ASM etc on stage with them.

I'll tell you why I ask.. I've made/tweaked patches at home on my Atomic Reactor wedge, and they sound great. I know for a fact they will sound different when I play some of those patches at a gig. I also know, depending on the overall sound of the PA etc, some patches may need tweaking. I accept this and I'm ok with it.

So, is it worth bringing your own FRFR solution to gigs? I mean, that's the sound I know and the sound I'm familiar with; so is it worth having that on stage as my 'reference wedge' or 'security blanket' as per se, or should I just tweak my patches to suit? To be honest, I'd like to avoid tweaking before shows if possible, but if I have to I will. I guess, is it worth bringing to gigs?

NOTE: I'm actually using just the stock cabs but I will get some OwnHammer and Red Wirez ones soon, but I just wanna get the hang of stock cabs rather than relying on other cabs and IRs at this point.

Any relevant input or first-hand experience or tips is welcomed guys :)

Thanks

George
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Hey I know I'm late to this thread,
but I got two AltoTS212s when I got my AX8 because at the time I was playing a lot of house shows and DIY spaces and intended to use them to replace my old rig (Mesa 4x12 + Mesa 2x12) to fill the room. But everytime we played a club with a decent PA and sound person, I would still bring one of my Altos, just to make sure I had the stage volume I was used to and so my drummer could hear me and stuff. But, eventually I just started going FOH only and just getting everything through the house monitors. The only thing I miss about that is having to make 2 trips to the van instead of the 1 that I currently have to.
 
Georgy said:
Another fellow-Melbournian! Great stuff mate!!

Do you play clean/mid-gain/hi-gain?

Would love to know what cab sims you predominantly use..

Cheers
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My main gig is Top 40 covers so i have 4 core tones - Acoustic/Piezo, Clean, Overdriven and Dirty.
Each one of those core tones has variations using scenes in the way of effects etc... I own a lot of 3rd party cabs (Redwirez and Ownhammer) and my main 'go to' has always been a Marshall 1960A, cone edge mic'd with a R121. Since having the AX8, I've found that the equivalent cabs sound great so i haven't bothered with my own cab libraries.
 
Even though I use IEM's (sennheiser wireless w/ U12 buds), I still bring my CLR to shows. If I need additional feedback, I can bring the guitar closer to the CLR. IF my wireless craps out for some reason (like I forget to put in new batteries or crap happens, etc), I can pull a bud and still hear my guitar like it is supposed to be. Lastly, if someone stands super close to stage, they still hear my guitar. I keep the volume of the CLR so low that you have to be within several feet of the stage to have a chance of hearing it.
 
I use IEMs at church (seats 1500). For larger venues I use a Line 6 Flextone XL II. i run output 1 into FOH and output 2 to the effects return of the Flextone. The Flextone is a 100w 2x12 loaded with Cellestion speakers. I installed Fender amp legs on it so I could tilt it back.
 
s0c9 said:
Same here.. and as mentioned above, the PA is usually loud enough to be heard.
I run 1964 Ears A8's with ADEL tech (equalization diaphragm in each ear) which sort of acts like an ambient port.
I'm fully wireless in, OUT1 to PA, OUT2 to our IEM mixer (COPY OUT1->OUT2 ON) and fully wireless out.
Big and small (weekend warrior) gigs. .
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+1 here. We also will bring our own mixer (Mackie dl32r) which is small and easy to transport for large venues and run splitter so we control our own IEM mix. Especially in smaller venues, having no back line for the guitars helps us control our overall volume in a way that is always appreciated. And, I'm one trip to and from the car every time.
 
David Brewster said:
+1 here. We also will bring our own mixer (Mackie dl32r) which is small and easy to transport for large venues and run splitter so we control our own IEM mix. Especially in smaller venues, having no back line for the guitars helps us control our overall volume in a way that is always appreciated. And, I'm one trip to and from the car every time.
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We use an X32 rack with a splitter. I said OUT1 -> PA, OUT2 to our IEM mixer in one of my prior posts, but that was my old config. Technically that WAS accurate, but now it usually goes [only] OUT1 to the splitter. One side of the splitter goes to the IEM mixer (x32 rack - see below) and the other goes to FOH.

20170301_172303_w-jpg.1084522
 
I've done a handful or two of shows with Atomic CLR as backline, with only vocals in the PA. I started sending my signal to mixing board and PA in our rehearsals, while pointing the Atomic CLR in wedge mode as a monitor. This made a big difference in making the sound more consistent between my loud tweaking at home and what I hear in rehearsal. It gave me more confidence to build sounds at home and not be disappointed in how it works with the band. It reduced complaints about tone from the other guitar player. But he's half-deaf and overpowers everyone else in the band, and I suspect my ability to cut through the mix is largely affected by him melting our faces off and me not wanting to match his loudness.


If you are gigging, seems a lot safer to have your own FRFR that you can use as an emergency to be your backline. I should qualify, I'm more of a bottom-feeder with no experience in venues with good sound, so take this with a grain of salt.
 
I prefer to bring my FRFR as you just never know what your going to run into. I bring 2 XiTone's and set them up as backline in stereo. One behind me the other on the other side of the drums by my bass players rig. I either set them like a wedge facing up or on their side facing out like a 1x12 cab. Depends on the size of the stage. For big stages I set them on their side like a 1x12 cab. I have two CLR's I keep at home to create my presets on and a Friedman ASM-12 I keep at our rehearsal space. That thing is too heavy and awkward to lug around.
 
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