The Steel Guitar Forum

I was playing on a show where the sound guy(not knowing what he was doing)wanted eveyone to set their amps in front of them and turn it around pointing back.Didn't look profesional.

Ask,
The second amp for stage volume is often not even used. It depends on the room and soundman. It acts as a monitor without bothering the sound guy. Like side fills on a big stage.

Luke,
Pointing the amps back at the players may actually be a good idea. It looks odd but may make the room sound more balanced.

Bob, the last time I played with guy (soundman)he had to put a small piece of plywood on the backside of my Nashville 400 because the sound was coming out the back of amp,just like it was the front.

he had to put a small piece of plywood on the backside of my Nashville 400 because the sound was coming out the back of amp,just like it was the front.

Buzz Evans does that with his amp at the Continental in Austin. I'm not sure why though. I'll ask him next time I see him.

Your soundman may not be as look as he dumb !

Luke Morell wrote:I was playing on a show where the sound guy(not knowing what he was doing)wanted eveyone to set their amps in front of them and turn it around pointing back.Didn't look profesional.

imho, This is how it should always be done. Amp in front of you tilted up at you like a monitor.
No one needs to hear your amp louder than you are hearing it.
Especially at rehearsals.

Disclaimer, If you have ears on the backs of your knees (mainly a guitar players malady), please disregard, and place amp directly behind you on the floor with no tilt.

One of the small venues my regular band plays has a great sound man, and we put our amps in front of us pointing back for use as monitor only. It keeps stage levels comfortable, and the FOH is always a good mix. I wish we had that guy with us all the time.

I can't believe you can get electric guitar players to aim their amps at their heads. They freak out up here when I do that and tell them I want to hear it so I don't play too loud...there's a new idea.

Of course, people should not fool around with someone else's amp knobs. Occasionally sound people ask me to turn up, and if I'm too loud for the mix, I obviously need to work with them so I can properly blend in. I have caught people wanting to turn my knobs, but I shoo them away and ask them what they want.

Lots of guitar players aim their amps at their heads so they can hear themselves - that's the whole point of the Fender tilt-back legs, which is the perfect system if you want to maintain coupling with the floor. Myself, I usually use a folding K&M acoustic guitar stand - I think it's the one here - http://www.firstqualitymusic.com/p_17580.aspx - there are both acoustic and electric versions. The acoustic version will lay back a medium-sized amp - this decouples just a bit from the floor to keep the bass from getting too heavy. They're cheap and fit in my gig bag. A NV 112 lays down at a perfect angle for me. I find this works fine for both steel and guitar. I've used amp stands in the past, but they tend to sit too high for my tastes.

If I'm in a FOH system and there's room on the stage, I prefer to have the amp in front of me or to my side facing away from the lead singer and sound people. But sometimes there isn't room in front of me on a small stage, or on a not-loud gig my house sound is coming from the back line, so that doesn't work. That situation always requires a compromise to keep the sound level appropriate both for the FOH and my monitoring. I very much prefer to work with a decent sound system, and for a small room, that doesn't have to be a huge and complex system.

I personally think placing amps to the side or in front of players looks very professional - to me, it shows that they're thinking about how it ought to sound, not some preconception about how it ought to look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1OgzKgrtM

fwiw, I've played gigs where I had to have my Musicians Earplugs in, and have told folks from the bass player to the soundman to the freakin' chick singer to feel free to adjust my amp (Twin Reverb) any way they want (and they do).
I hate having to wear earplugs.
At that point its pretty much a lost cause, tonally.
I usually fear I'm playing too treble-ee or too loud or too soft.

"Amp Wedges" work well also. These are simply solid wedges of what I believe to be synthetic rubber with ridges to resist slipping. The angle is adjusted according to how far under the amp the unit is placed. Store easily in the back of the amp.

I like the fact that the other band members cue off you, and what you play. They are not aware of this, so when they tell you to turn down, you do just that. Then the drummer blows a arrangement because he can't hear you, He gets really pissed. Then as the night goes on, more mistakes are made just because some one told you to turn down.

Don't touch my amp, my temper know goes to 11

UPDATE!!!! I had agreed to a play two dates with this band, the second being October 16th. I got an email from the band leader today saying he had cancelled the gig for the 16th. On the way home I got a call from one of the other band members saying the gig was still on....minus the knob twisting leader! I gather he was a bit of problem to more people than just me. Who says there is no justice?

Band Leader: perhaps the most inflammatory term in the music scene.

Band Leader: perhaps the most inflammatory term in the music scene.