Volume and amp placement

[Matthew Schwartz]

Hi friends, I'm having a little trouble knowing exactly how loud I'm playing my steel and knowing exactly where to set my amp to get the best sound out to the audience without blasting everyone out but also not playing so low that no one can hear me. Does anyone else deal with this?

[Pete Burak]

If there's any way possible, set your steel up out in the audience during sound check and give yourself a listen.
Guitar players do it all the time with wireless systems.
I've done it by stringing cords together using those radio shack dual-female-1/4" jacks.

[Lane Gray]

Crucial question: do you mike the amp or fill the room with your amp? If you mike it, just loud enough for you to hear it. If you fill the room, then fills just barely louder than the amp next to you, solos a bit louder than that.
Between songs, check your tuning at full volume.

I usually date musicians or sound women. This approach helps. But you can't have mine.

As to amp placement, most of us want to reach the knobs. This means close to us on a stand or chair.

[Billy Tonnesen]

IMHO, the Venue usually determined how I positioned the Amp and the level of volume. When there were a lot of sitdown jobs over multiple nights I could figure out how to best position and utilize the Amp.
However this could change with the size and noise of the crowd. Some Bandstands project the Music outword into the room, others muffle the Band and it can't be heard in the back of the room hardly at all.
IMHO, there is no set rule how to set the Amp and Volume, it always takes adjustments. Have you ever played on a Bandstand with a hardwood floor and then play on one that is carpeted. Completely differen't sounds.

[Bill Moore]

It sounds like someone in the band is telling you you are too loud. Probably the guitar player who is already playing twice as loud as you, if he can hear you at all, you are too loud! Do what guitar players do, put your amp on the floor not on an amp stand. Make sure it's not aimed directly at you, play loud enough so you can hear it clearly. If they complain, just say OK, and keep doing the same thing.

In the very unlikely instance that everyone else is being responsible about their volume, maybe you really are too loud. Put your amp on a stand, you will play at a lower volume. Speaking for myself, I take comments about volume with a grain of salt. I want to play loud enough so I can hear myself, and fit in with the rest of the band. If the others are not being responsible with their volume, there's not a lot you can do about it. If that's the case, put in the earplugs, and play louder.

[Matthew Schwartz]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it very much.

[Dave Hopping]

I had an "aha" moment awhile back,after having been told for a very long time to move my amp,turn up(mostly up),turn down,turn sideways.I realized my amp was MY instrument monitor-I play fairly quietly-and the best way to deal with musicians who felt called upon to tell me how to do my work was to hang mics on my amps and suggest with excruciating politeness that they take it up with whoever's running sound.

[CrowBear Schmitt]

lying the amp on it's a back at a slight angle (if you have room to do so)can sometimes be useful
since the volume goes upward, you get different dynamics
try it Matthew, you might like it
all too often guitar players play too loud & are probably half deaf too
i never compete w: them - like the fo'bro' wrote : if your steel is'nt loud enough, get the sound man on the case
good bands & musicians know & have a "comfort zone"

[Leo Melanson]

The guitar player in our band has two class A amps on stage, (3) gain pedals and has the guitar mic'd to the PA which is then turned up in all the stage wages, and I am constantly told how loud I am .. with my dinky Peavey 400. Also, the Bass Player has been exiled to my side of the stage because his volume interferes with the guitar. I sit with 4 12" Bass Cab speakers inches from my ear. Maybe I am playing loud .. but here are my excuses:

1. I'm going deaf at my age from guitar amps/drums
2. On steel .. I have to hear the intonation/chords
3. Need top end of the Vol Pedal for swells/chimes

IMHO .. if you can hear yourself AND hear everything else on stage (guitar, bass, drums and vocals) without wedges or monitors .. you should be OK.

[Lane Gray]

Leo, I'd contemplate finding an alternate band. One with a musician playing guitar instead of a jerk in slavery to his own ego.
But that's just me. I've always liked using amps as personal monitors, miking them, and keeping stage volume low. I like being able to talk to the picker next to me and the fiddler next to him. During a song.

[Matthew Schwartz]

Sounds like a good idea to me Lane.

[Scott Appleton]

If the band can play low enough to hear the vocals and balanced enough to hear the instruments then you are at the correct level .. the band should not be louder than the vocals .. in a really loud venue where the PA is massive the sound person will tell you if your too loud
cause he will have you in the mix both stage and house.
In these small clubs with PA"s and sound people who don't know what they are doing just ask the crowd if your are loud enough .. I never rely on the guitar player to set levels .. they hear from a standing position and can't judge well enough what you are hearing. Best solution is for every one to turn down .

[Eric Philippsen]

Ah, ya' gotta love those "it's all about me" guitar players.

Remember this rule: more often than not how loud a band is is determined by the DRUMMER. Yeah, those guitarists aren't innocent either but the next time the band is so loud that you "just friggin' can't believe it" force yourself to pay attention to how hard that drummer is playing. Surprise.

Put another way, being too loud is NOT a consideration if the drummer is playing with brushes, I did a gig where the drummer played with either brushes or a light touch using stick. I tell you, i thought I had died and gone to heaven.