Turn it up... amp rant!!!

[Chad]

While I don't see big amps completely going away for non-arena bands, I think that a lot of players are, or soon will be looking into smaller amp options. I'm not getting rid of my half stack anytime soon, but I have a feeling that my 20 watt Egnater is going to get used a lot when I play shows. Some of the new small amps sound really good, are easier to move, and are more "club PA friendly".

As for the newer modeling amps, they're getting better with time, and I think we'll see more and more players using them live. I love real tube amps, but I don't think 99% of people listening at a club can really tell the differences between modeling amps and the real deal... At least with most rock music.

Heh...Honestly, I'm not sure if most non-musician audience members can hear a lot of the things that serious guitar players tend to fret about, especially when it's all mixed in the context of a full band.

Yeah, I hear the Egnater Rebel is a cool, small amp. GW this month profiles a Carr amp that I think is 3 (!) watts.

While those small tube amps are a lot more reasonable to deal with, there are still issues. You have to deal with micing and the related issues and inconsistencies, you still have to deal with the inconsistencies and trouble of tubes, & finally how do you know what the audience is hearing? Yes, for maximum inspiration good tone is a bonus, but is that what the audience is actually hearing? With an FRFR (PA monitor) setup, you can actually monitor what the audience is hearing through FOH. It's quite possible that you could have heavenly tone on stage, but due to poor micing and so forth it may not be the same for the audience.

[Chad]

The only downside to my Axe-Fx was my singer was mad because there was no "visual" wow to it on stage because the 1/2 stack was gone. I had the Axe-Fx in a small rack and the QSC powered monitor on a stand facing the drummer. Took me 5 minutes to setup. One XLR cable going to the QSC on stage and another to the front of house PA plus guitar cable. Done!
We're in an 80's band and my singer was complaining that I need the big amp on stage cause there was practically nothing behind me. Our drummer thought it was the best guitar sound he's heard. And btw, last weekend we ran sound for another band playing a huge hall and all they used were small combos onstage. We mic'd everything up and out front it sounded as loud or as soft as we wanted to dial it in at. If the sound system is done right you can use as samll an amp as you want.

Maybe custom build a faux 4x12 and amp head out of balsa wood?

[roodyrocker]

Maybe custom build a faux 4x12 and amp head out of balsa wood?

Now you're REALLY starting to sound like my singer, he wants a fake Marshall stack wall behind us

[slo100]

I use a Palmer speaker emulator instead of a mic so I can get consistent tone regardless of the venue. I won't post the pic of our last gig where the soundman literally placed a 2' x 5' roadcase cover over the front of my 4x12 because he claimed it was making it hard to mix. We were outdoors for goodness sake.

We are running in-ear monitors so it did not impact me sonically but it sure looked silly.

I guess I should take a Hot Plate, run direct to the board through the Palmer, and go cabinet-less. It sure would ease the load-in/out!

[skintaster]

Yeah, I hear the Egnater Rebel is a cool, small amp. GW this month profiles a Carr amp that I think is 3 (!) watts.

While those small tube amps are a lot more reasonable to deal with, there are still issues. You have to deal with micing and the related issues and inconsistencies, you still have to deal with the inconsistencies and trouble of tubes, & finally how do you know what the audience is hearing? Yes, for maximum inspiration good tone is a bonus, but is that what the audience is actually hearing? With an FRFR (PA monitor) setup, you can actually monitor what the audience is hearing through FOH. It's quite possible that you could have heavenly tone on stage, but due to poor micing and so forth it may not be the same for the audience.

I agree with you on most of your points, but I think those issues apply to larger amps as well. All but the tiniest venues have always micd my half stacks, and tubes can be problematic on any amp. I just think that it's cool that there are more options these days.

[roodyrocker]

I agree with you on most of your points, but I think those issues apply to larger amps as well. All but the tiniest venues have always micd my half stacks, and tubes can be problematic on any amp. I just think that it's cool that there are more options these days.

Yup, even my Bogner half stack gets mic'd live for FOH. And this brings up another important point which affects us little guys more so than big touring pros in large arenas. We play local clubs where the electrical systems may not be as adequate as a large concert venue. Tube amps are sensitive to voltage. I ran into this at a local club where during sound check my Bogner would drop in volume to lower than talking levels then jump back up to normal again. I thought something was wrong with my amp but back at the practice area and other clubs it was fine. A friend of mine playing the same club ran into problems with his Mesa Dual Recto, again because of their crappy voltage. Some tube heads are worse than others with respect to voltage but all are affected by it. The Axe-Fx is not as finicky. I ended up buying a Furman regulator for my amps because of this incident. The Axe-Fx is more consistent live.

[Rich#6]

There is an article in the new guitar player on this issue.

[Southpaw]

Yes That is a problem I know. A suggestion would be to build a Cabinet for your 4x12 to harness the sound then turn the amp up to what ever you like for your sound then let the sound guy take it from there.