what if local venues have bad quality monitoring? buy a cab?

R

RyanVegas

Member
Just got my new axe fx ii and wondering what I should do live. Some local venues have crappy monitor systems.

I do have a mackie 1221 but thats just for me to monitor.....
 
As long as Foh is good, it's no problem for local areas I guess, If its toooooooooooooooooooo bad, get in ears.
 
I would absolutely NEVER EVER allow my stage tone to be in the hands of someone else..
your stage tone is everything..
it's what you have to work with..
sound bad.. feel bad.. play bad..
sound great... feel great... slay the crowd..
when it comes to your stage tone:
- do not compromise
- be consistent

my backline only..
and when I'm touring, the tech rider states the cabs I need Marshall 1960b [1960a will do otherwise]
I'll bring the rest myself

also....
try your presets through the FRFR monitors of a few different manufacturures and you'll find that despite the FRFR tag, they will all sound different..
so.. the stage monitors at the venue will likewise sound different..
you dial your presets into your monitoring / backline
and then only use that [req that in your rider]

Note: if like me you can't travel with cabs / monitors
don't go putting anything rare or exotic on the rider..
cos you'll end up with:
"don't know what all that is on the rider.. but he's a guitar play, let's get him one of them big Marshall things.. they all use those"
 
At any provided PA gig, I will bring my Matrix CFR12. That's a wedge so is on-hand for me to have my own personal monitoring.

Of course, if the venue has good quality monitors (plus the sound guy is on the ball!), then I generally won't need to use it. I'll establish that in the sound-check. It will still be there and plugged in, but pretty much turned down. For smaller venues, the combination of the monitors + being able to hear FOH anyway to a degree works well.

If no decent PA available for FOH, I would take a cab -- We're a twin-guitar band and the other guitarist has a traditional rig, so it would sound weird with one guitar being FRFR and one not beaming into the audience.
 
The other issue with depending on the venue for your stage volume is that of monitor mixes. If they can't or won't give you a mix with "more me" in it, you might not get enough guitar in your monitor. I'm not a fan of being loud but it's a lot harder to play when you can't properly hear yourself.
 
For me it depends on what I'm trying to accomplish.

To just schelp into a local dive for little or no money, I will gut it out with cheezy wedges unless they are completely broken.

If its a showcase or a gig that pays decent, then I bring either 1 or 2 powered wedges or a 2x12 guitar cab and power amp.
 
I always bring my own monitor for the Axe. I need to be in control of what I hear, not a pa guy. Plus most small bars (at least around here) do not provide a pa system, you'll probably need one anyway.
 
For those of you using in-ears, do you have a full band monitor mix going to them? I would think if it was just my signal from my Axe, that'd be the only thing I would hear and not the rest of the band. I like a "more me" mix with the others pulled in, but not an "all me" mix
 
If your running FR, get your own powered monitor that can be up to the task of stage back line. This way your covered if they have no PA, PA with no monitor or PA with crappy monitors.
 
For small clubs/pubs I always take an active monitor with me. For the larger stuff almost always in ear with a dedicated sound tech to do the in-ear sound for everybody in the band.
 
woodnwire85 said:
For those of you using in-ears, do you have a full band monitor mix going to them? I would think if it was just my signal from my Axe, that'd be the only thing I would hear and not the rest of the band. I like a "more me" mix with the others pulled in, but not an "all me" mix
Click to expand...

Full band mix in stereo, like this my own guitar is panned slightly left, the other guitar slightly right.
 
Marcus Siepen said:
Full band mix in stereo, like this my own guitar is panned slightly left, the other guitar slightly right.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I'm in my right ear, other guitar in my left, everything else straight up the middle. I avoid putting more than a pinch of bass guitar though otherwise it's easy to hit the limiter on my ears. Also, mic the hi-hat. Even in small clubs... otherwise you'll be watching the drummer like a hawk on some intros.
 
Sidivan said:
Ditto. I'm in my right ear, other guitar in my left, everything else straight up the middle. I avoid putting more than a pinch of bass guitar though otherwise it's easy to hit the limiter on my ears. Also, mic the hi-hat. Even in small clubs... otherwise you'll be watching the drummer like a hawk on some intros.
Click to expand...

What type of mixer and in wireless systems do you use for the in ears? I'm sick of bad monitoring on stage, so really looking to start using in ears.
 
Pick up a CLR... 2 inputs... 1 for guitar, 1 for monitor mix.

If you have a bad monitor mix in monitors, it's going to be JUST as bad *in-ears*... and if they have feedback, it's a prescription for disaster...
 
This is one of the bigger reasons why I opt for poweramp/cab vs FRFR or going direct. You can also set up your Axe FX to do both cab AND PA, so that way you have ultimate flexibility.
 
for me, in-ear monitoring on small stages is tough. i really need to know how my stage volume affects the total room sound, because generally most of the sound the audience hears is from the stage. i've run sound in many small bars here and at times i turn the FOH speakers completely off because the sound from the stage is too loud for the room. and that's not always the band's fault. instruments have a certain volume and many bars have such small rooms, not really meant for instruments.

i use a full range speaker as my "guitar amp" so i can have the tone i need for my guitar sound on stage. it usually serves as the band's "send" for my sound as well. in smaller rooms, i rarely mix much of my guitar into the FOH, but with larger stages the audience can't hear my on-stage volume so it's solely from the FOH.

full-range/direct is just my choice. others choose an amp and guitar cab. it really doesn't matter, whatever you prefer.

i always bring my speaker. many times the monitors on stage are primarily for vocals, so they are EQ'd with tons of bass cut and other EQ necessary to prevent feedback. many times my guitar does not sound good in them at all - whether using an axe-fx or a real mic'd amp/cab.
 
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