Mic the amp live...

[Izzy]

I was looking at AXE's impressive wall of Marsh and remembered Anna Calvi's live video where she has a medium VOX and it has a mic infront of it...why doesn't she just get a wall of VOX amps?

 

( in case you want to see the set up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQtvojHFyTA&list=PLrthr_MmN7NjPaKLVbidDhmNA5zbBQDg_)

 

 

Then I thought, wait a minute, some fo the guys that had amp pics in the main amp thread had mics infront of their amps.

 

Do all guitarists mic their amps live (cause I don't always see it)? What effect does it have on the sound, since its going through two amplification stages? How dependent is your sound on the competence of the guy who cnotrolls the switches?

[Malchik]

The Wall of Stack™ is more or less over compensation these days; and even if you do have the Wall of Stack™, you still usually mic it to the PA. Ironically, the Wall of Stack™ is best suited for lousy medium-sized concert houses where the PA system may not be proficient and you need to blast the crowd. Stadiums can be powered by that small VOX becasue of their impressive PA systems.

 

Any situation where you have a live band and a mixing board, you will mic the amp.

[surfpup]

 

Any situation where you have a live band and a mixing board, you will mic the amp.

 

Not necessarily true. There are times where you mic vocals only and leave the instruments out of the board - small rooms obviously, but it does happen. Done it many times.

[AXE®]

I don't use the wall live. Usually 1 head & 1 cab. but I do mic the cab if there is a need for front of house mix.

 

If it's an outdoor gig with a 5000 watt or larger PA I'll use 1 head & 2 cabs. Side by side it makes for a better stage mix.

 

Small rooms the 1 watt mic'ed and dimed.

[Izzy]

I don't use the wall live.

 

Small rooms the 1 watt mic'ed and dimed.

 

So the wall is just for...the hard of hearing in the house?

 

So the wall in concerts is just...for show?

I'm SO naive

[AXE®]

Variety. Each amp serves a different purpose. Different cabinets loaded with different speakers.

 

Depends on what I want to do. At home I have an AB/Y box and can switch back and forth as necessary or run two different amps and cabs simultaneously.

 

Keeping them stacked like they are at home is just the easiest and most efficient way to use them.

[krock]

The only time Ive not mic'd an amp if when I was playing a small gig and was the only guitarist. Usually I like to go into the board because then I can choose how the sound pans

[RaysEpiphone]

Using a large amp system with multiple amps and cab's is good for larger stage's but you need to balance things out depending on the application(s). Come's down to personal preference really. if I had a stack Id use it if I had room on any given stage or a large room in a studio. In a studio setting you can isolate cab's and get the most out of different sounding amp's and/or speaker's but its some what different on a stage.

[Izzy]

Not necessarily true. There are times where you mic vocals only and leave the instruments out of the board - small rooms obviously, but it does happen. Done it many times.

 

Question, since you say you've done it no mic...

 

In the other thread we talked about distortion and tube amp volume going hand in hand...but you like a warm tone and if you're in a small room...I imagine you mean like a bar with like, 40 people...you still gotta crank it a bit to be heard with drums.

 

How do you get the sound you want without a mic while you crank it up?

[duane v]

I always mic if possible. I will never use the line-out... To me it sounds terrible

 

If micing is not an option, then get a volume pedal and run it through the FX loop so that you can better control your dynamics without having too much effect on your tone

[rct]

A guitar player should have a separate case or bag in which that guitar player carries an SM 57 or three, a good hunnert feet of mic cables, and a stand(s) for the cab mic(s) of choice. That is in addition to whatever mic'age you prefer for your face. Never ever ever ever let a venue tell you "...we got everything, just bring yer guitar...". Never. Walk in with just yer guitar, but be ready to make a few more trips to the Vananagon for more stuff.

 

rct

[tazzboy]

You can do Mic stand or get an audix cab grabber.

http://www.audixusa.com/docs_12/units/CabGrabber.shtm

 

http://www.audixusa.com/docs_12/units/CabGrabber-XL.shtmll

[AXE®]

During a setup.

 

whatta mess.

 

Audix Amp grabber shown.

 

 

[rct]

That Jazz makes me...stiff.

 

rct

[surfpup]

 

How do you get the sound you want without a mic while you crank it up?

 

Own a lot of amps - with different wattage. Master volumes can help - depending on the type. I don't like attenuators so much. But I can choose an amp for a given room that will let me find that sweet spot microphone or not. Then the pedals do the rest. I've used tube amps from 1 watt to 100 watt. Nothing worse than being in a tiny room with a 100 watt head and you can't turn it past 1. Like AXE® said you can always mic the little ones. In m opinion throttling the big ones can sound anemic quick.

[AXE®]

The AFD & YJM will do .01 to a full 100. And sound good at either.

 

I heart them so much.

[Enmitygauged]

Ive always mic'd up the amp and played pretty big venues with the ta-15 as long as the place has good fold back and front of house its gold. Attenuators and broken backs not required.

[D28boy]

The AFD & YJM will do .01 to a full 100. And sound good at either.

 

I heart them so much.

 

Can we see the wall again?

[cookieman15061]

I always mic if possible. I will never use the line-out... To me it sounds terrible

 

If micing is not an option, then get a volume pedal and run it through the FX loop so that you can better control your dynamics without having too much effect on your tone

Gotta agree with duane here. I always hated the line out and mic'd whenever possible.

[badbluesplayer]

The AFD & YJM will do .01 to a full 100. And sound good at either.

 

I heart them so much.

HUH? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

[saturn]

The other reason I prefer to mic my amp whenever I play live, regardless of volume needs, is that all the combo amps I've ever played through are very directional. They're loud and clear if you are right in front, but off to the left or right they might not be heard. Putting it through the PA spreads the sound out better to hear throughout the room.

[AXE®]

Indeed

[btoth76]

Hello All!

 

While You're discussing how to mic an amp for live playing, may I ask what would You recommend for home recording?

 

My amps sound so great I would like to make records with them mic'd.

 

What microphone, recording device (software, sound card, etc.) would You recommend for a bedroom player, who isn't good enough to spend too much for such purpose?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers... Bence

 

P.S.: If I am going off the topic, please ignore this post, but please PM if You have any recommendations.

[RowdyMoon]

I find that it really rounds out the sound better....plus it gives you more tonal options....lets say your getting a good tone that you like but it's at a lower volume and if you turn it up it destorted to much or something gets lost in the volume adjust...with a mic and a PA (or in my case I run mic thru a 50 watt keyboard/all purpose amp) you can duplicate the sound at higher levels with out tone loss ( to a certain degree of course)...hope I make sense and explained it ok

[Greybeard]

After we started micing everything we found that our overall sound got a lot more consistant and controllable in every sized room we played in. Getting used to running a PA with the overall band sound in it is great once you have a baseline for all of the channels. When in a small room we just turn the PA down and in a larger one we just turn it back up. But the key thing is that the mix of the band stays relatively the same across the channels.

 

I've also read that a lot of big name groups put on a show with a lot of big cabinets but that only about two of them are actually on. I believe it was Joe Bonamassa that said he keeps a combo amp in a box with a mic on it so it doesn't get any bleed from any other sound source. Meanwhile, the stage has ten or twelve cabinets sitting there and he listens to his monitor setup while playing.