Live Performance SetUp
Skip, i've posted on this forum before about the rig I'm playing; a 1976 Princeton Reverb with a Boss 59 Bassman Pedal. I've learned to adjust this rig to different situations and am happy now with the sound it produces. I can dial in or dial out the dirt, bass response etc. I've ever learned to hear the difference between distortion that comes from the Drive knob, and that which comes from the Level knob (or my amp's Volume knob for that matter). I prefer the latter.
The question is about micing up for a gig. At 12 or 15 watts, whatever the PR puts out, it can't compete with my band. I mic at the edge of the speaker cone. The struggles I encounter are these;
1. Feedback from stage monitors - I try to dial this out by taking my harp out of the stage monitor circuit (I run the board at our gigs too), but I'm not sure if I'm still getting feedback from the other vocal mics on stage picking up my amp.
2. A booming sort of reverb sound. This is kind of puzzling as I have the reverb on the amp turned off. Again, the only thing I can think of is the amp is getting picked up by the vocal mics, which have reverb on them through the board.
The live performance results are kind of disappointing, as I can get a nice crisp and appropriately distorted tone from the amp itself, but I seem to have a muddy mess when we're playing out.
Hear for yourself.
Any tips for me? I appreciate your help.
Well, I checked out the video and ya'll are wailing pretty good! First question: are you using a wireless rig on your harp mic?
Live sound is a real challenge, especially outdoors. I would also suggest playing straight in to the amp without any pedals- at the volume you guys are playing at the Princeton should break up pretty hard.
Keep the treble down or off, crank the bass, don't use any reverb, and put the mic closer to the middle of the speaker. You might also pull the mic away from the speaker at least a few inches. That amp just doesn't put out much low end and this should help a little.
Dave Barrett, help me out a little on this one and give us your thoughts!