Funny Story - Wisconsin State Fair

mrockstar

mrockstar

Member
I played the Wisconsin State Fair last weekend. I played two different shows on two of the side stages where they run 2 or 3 bands in 4 hour slots.

I have been playing live with the Axe Fx II since September 2011.

I am running version 11 and I am totally digging it. Always have liked it but version 11 is special.

So after my show Friday, the front of house engineer/stage manager (not my normal sound guy) comes up to me and says "Dude I love the way your cabinet sounds." He points to the stage and he kinda randomly points to some road case on the side of the stage because he cannot find my cabinet. I simply say "thanks man. Glad you like it." He says, "we get a bunch of bands through here and I like the way your rig cuts." I say thanks and tell him I am running through a Fractal.

The funniest thing....I go direct to FOH and monitor through my in ears. I do not have anything on stage. Totally clean no cabinets or floor monitors. I felt bad when the guy was trying to find my cabinets but it made me smile. I thought about explaining that I use about 8 different IR'd cabs but I couldn't even get into it. I wouldn't even start trying to explain how much time I have spent working Fletcher Munson etc... His compliment totally made all the time spent worth it to me.

I think I am one of the few who goes direct to in ears but it works for me. I have a sustainer for some feedback if I need it and I am getting some great "natural" feedback through my Duesenberg depending on where I am on the stage. Sounds strange but it works.

So for those considering an Axe Fx II do not be afraid to go direct and use your in ears. Just take your time...learn from the people on this forum and the wiki. Play at gig levels at home when setting your levels. Work with your front of house person to make sure they are happy and they understand what you are doing. If you give them a great, pure, level signal, they will enjoy setting your guitar in the mix. Keep on rocking.
 
mrockstar said:
I played the Wisconsin State Fair last weekend. I played two different shows on two of the side stages where they run 2 or 3 bands in 4 hour slots.

I have been playing live with the Axe Fx II since September 2011.

I am running version 11 and I am totally digging it. Always have liked it but version 11 is special.

So after my show Friday, the front of house engineer/stage manager (not my normal sound guy) comes up to me and says "Dude I love the way your cabinet sounds." He points to the stage and he kinda randomly points to some road case on the side of the stage because he cannot find my cabinet. I simply say "thanks man. Glad you like it." He says, "we get a bunch of bands through here and I like the way your rig cuts." I say thanks and tell him I am running through a Fractal.

The funniest thing....I go direct to FOH and monitor through my in ears. I do not have anything on stage. Totally clean no cabinets or floor monitors. I felt bad when the guy was trying to find my cabinets but it made me smile. I thought about explaining that I use about 8 different IR'd cabs but I couldn't even get into it. I wouldn't even start trying to explain how much time I have spent working Fletcher Munson etc... His compliment totally made all the time spent worth it to me.

I think I am one of the few who goes direct to in ears but it works for me. I have a sustainer for some feedback if I need it and I am getting some great "natural" feedback through my Duesenberg depending on where I am on the stage. Sounds strange but it works.

So for those considering an Axe Fx II do not be afraid to go direct and use your in ears. Just take your time...learn from the people on this forum and the wiki. Play at gig levels at home when setting your levels. Work with your front of house person to make sure they are happy and they understand what you are doing. If you give them a great, pure, level signal, they will enjoy setting your guitar in the mix. Keep on rocking.
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Great story,what are you monitoring through.
Always a joy to know when the Fractal surprises people.

So when you go direct you don't even use a power amp?

Basically the Fractal in to the PA? Thats it?
 
You got it...straight into the in ear mixer out to the front of house. No power amp. 4 space rack...Power conditioner and the Fractal...one open rack space. Easy.

Thank you Scott...you are one of the guys who has helped me get to this point.

One of the days I will post some video from these gigs.

Another thing...you could always "hear" different guitars through the Axe Fx but with the most recent upgrades especially 11 you can really hear different guitars.
 
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mrockstar said:
You got it...straight into the in ear mixer out to the front of house. No power amp. 4 space rack...Power conditioner and the Fractal...one open rack space. Easy.

Thank you Scott...you are one of the guys who has helped me get to this point.

One of the days I will post some video from these gigs.



Another thing...you could always "hear" different guitars through the Axe Fx but with the most recent upgrades especially 11 you can really hear different guitars.
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Thank you so much for the response :)
 
Great story mrockstar!

mrockstar said:
I go direct to FOH and monitor through my in ears. <snip>

Play at gig levels at home when setting your levels
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I play live using in-ears as well and I'm curious as to how you handle tone crafting. Are you dialing in your tones and setting levels at home on a FRFR monitor or your in-ears?

Terry.
 
Terry,

Very good question.

I actually have a little PA at my place. When I first start auditioning amps/effects I go through flat studio monitors. Easier on my ears. Then when I start loading the patches for playing live, I will play into a mixing board and out to some EV speakers...old sx500s. I have the eqs on the board set to normal. I wish I could spend more time doing this but I am really just checking the meter bridge to make sure everything is level or close and generally listening to see if I like the patches. It isn't really "gig level" but it is still pretty loud. Sounds so much different through a pa (even a small pa). I am lucky to have a small pa rig at home.

At gigs I will have someone videotape some song snippets and see how my different patches come through. I try to do this often. I also ask my sound guy what is working and what isn't working. I really lean on my sound guy to help me with the my eqs...both globally and locally. It is a huge trust thing but he doesn't really mess with my eqs on his board (my board channels) ...anymore..because I am giving him a nice eq'd signal.

I keep adding patches and repeating this process because Cliff keeps adding really cool stuff but now my global eqs are set so that helps going out to the FOH and speeds up the process.

I try to listen as much as possible and to see what sounds good out front. It is funny because my old favorite patches in my ears are now my least favorite patches out front... I hope that makes sense.

Time is the biggest thing. I wish I had more of it. Hopefully someone gets something out of this.

Next thing...I can't wait to load Pete Thorn's presets. It is so amazingly cool he gave those to us. I have to remember to buy his cd.
 
mrockstar said:
I played the Wisconsin State Fair last weekend. I played two different shows on two of the side stages where they run 2 or 3 bands in 4 hour slots.

I have been playing live with the Axe Fx II since September 2011.

I am running version 11 and I am totally digging it. Always have liked it but version 11 is special.

So after my show Friday, the front of house engineer/stage manager (not my normal sound guy) comes up to me and says "Dude I love the way your cabinet sounds." He points to the stage and he kinda randomly points to some road case on the side of the stage because he cannot find my cabinet. I simply say "thanks man. Glad you like it." He says, "we get a bunch of bands through here and I like the way your rig cuts." I say thanks and tell him I am running through a Fractal.

The funniest thing....I go direct to FOH and monitor through my in ears. I do not have anything on stage. Totally clean no cabinets or floor monitors. I felt bad when the guy was trying to find my cabinets but it made me smile. I thought about explaining that I use about 8 different IR'd cabs but I couldn't even get into it. I wouldn't even start trying to explain how much time I have spent working Fletcher Munson etc... His compliment totally made all the time spent worth it to me.

I think I am one of the few who goes direct to in ears but it works for me. I have a sustainer for some feedback if I need it and I am getting some great "natural" feedback through my Duesenberg depending on where I am on the stage. Sounds strange but it works.

So for those considering an Axe Fx II do not be afraid to go direct and use your in ears. Just take your time...learn from the people on this forum and the wiki. Play at gig levels at home when setting your levels. Work with your front of house person to make sure they are happy and they understand what you are doing. If you give them a great, pure, level signal, they will enjoy setting your guitar in the mix. Keep on rocking.
Click to expand...

What stages were you on? We were at the Miller Sport bar Stage on Friday, August 2nd, right before Rhythm Method. I do the same thing, direct, IEM. This was my third year at the fair with an Axe Fx. 2nd with IEM. Loved it!

I was about to ask what band you are in, and then noticed it said right above my post. Doh! I'll have to stop out and see you play sometime.
 
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That is funny as we were playing at the Tavern on the Park at the same time as you. Old - Miller Lite park stage. Sunday Night the 4th we played the Bud Pavilion. Did you play with Xeno and Bad Boy at Summerfest? We played right before Xeno on the BMO stage. Hopefully I can check your bands out soon too.
 
Fro said:
What stages were you on? We were at the Miller Sport bar Stage on Friday, August 2nd, right before Rhythm Method. I do the same thing, direct, IEM. This was my third year at the fair with an Axe Fx. 2nd with IEM. Loved it!

I was about to ask what band you are in, and then noticed it said right above my post. Doh! I'll have to stop out and see you play sometime.
Click to expand...

.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner
 
Love to hear this, as well. I run the same way, no cabinet, everything is through my band's in-ear rig. I set up presets through an FRFR cab at home (Atomic Reactor) and also bring it to the shows, just in case. All the times I've run into one of my guitar-playing buddies, they say "sounds fantastic, where are the cabs?"
 
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