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Amp tone at home and with the band

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4/20/2000 12:00 PM

Amp tone at home and with the band

It would be interesting to hear your view on this:
When tweaking an amplifier in the quite of the home to an optimal tone and then taking the amp to rehearsal, or a gig, it doesn’t sound that good anymore. I think this is an experience several Ampagers has had. However, it’s hard to start soldering different values of resistors and caps while playing with the band. The rest of the group does not seem to have the same interest and patience concerning old amps as I do…
I think my amp sounded better (when playing with the band) when adding a bit more midrange. (We play Rock and Blues, the amp is a BF DR).
What is your experience – When playing with a band does the amp sound better if tweaked to more midrange, more treble, more bass?

Bjorn

4/20/2000 12:21 PM
jason	I say more midrange (really cuts through the mix) and less bass (that's the bass players job). I'm not much for a crap load of treble so as long as I have some on tap to add in to even out the sound I'm happy. I admit, I'm a mid freak! jason

4/20/2000 12:55 PM

Yep, the ol' "Man...it sounds KILLER at home" dilemma. When we listen to music, we naturally want to hear a relatively full range, which is why people turn up the bass, and maybe add a little treble for sparkle, when they are practicing by themselves at home. When you get with other people, if you leave it that way, you'll be clashing with other people's frequencies. If you heard some guys' recorded tones as compared to their actual tone straight from the amp while recording, some of the time the engineer will sculpt it to fit in it's own space while, or after, getting to tape. "But..I can't play it without that thump!!" Fine, play it that way...we'll eq it later. Most pros realize this, and the importance of getting the tone they need to tape so you don't HAVE to manipulate later.
They know the song dictates the tone. If you have the bass and guitar and/or keyboard reinforcing the same frequencies, it's mud.
To get a pleasing overall sound is a compromise from all the members of the band with their tones..(except maybe the drummer...and theoretically...he should tune also...but it's hard to do with a beer in one hand and a spliff in the other....(just a little humor there)). About all you can do is get the sound you like, and everyone change as little as possible and still not walk all over each other.
Of course, everyone will think that THEIR'S should be the featured part, so getting everyone to play nice together can be difficult.
Just a thought.
Brad

4/20/2000 1:01 PM

I would agree here. Midrange (and treble to some extent) is what determines whether your sound cuts through on stage. This is really critical for lead. I've had similar experiences with dialing in ideal tones at home and then when I start playing with my band I disappear.

Bass is also problematic. In general (and especially with Fenders), you need to dial back your bass as you turn up the amp or it'll start sounding really muddy, farty, and/or flabby. This usually becomes most apparent when you're playing with other people and you start turning up the amp to be heard. You also start competing with the bass player and everything turns to mud. When we first started playing together, the bass player in my band tried to convince me that I should be using 15" speakers so I could get mondo bass. My reply was "that's what you're here for..." When you're going it alone you need to provide the whole frequency spectrum, but in a band context you really just need to provide a piece of the pie...

MJ

4/20/2000 1:44 PM

Over the years of tweaking my sound (including the SS rack era), I've developed a technique which helps with the problem of "sounds good at home (i.e. alone), gets lost with the band". Now days, when ever I'm tweaking/evaluating amps, guitars, speakers etc. I always do it in a room I have specially set up for this (fairly large with your basic "home studio" type acoustical wall treatment etc.) AND always with some music playing through a playback (PA sort of) system.
My system is permanently installed in the room and I just put in a CD of some inspiring tunes and crank it to near what the band level in the room is for rehearsal (not all that loud these days, I'm approaching geezerdom).
I have noticed that the guitar sound I favor when there are other sounds mixing in the room air with it, is often quite different when the music stops and I hear the guitar sound by itself again.

just my two cents,
pt

4/20/2000 12:33 PM
Lee M.	When I'm playing alone, I listen to the guitar tone. When I'm jamming with a group, I listen to the music. It's always been my opinion that tone nuances get lost in the mix anyway. Although I do my share of it, I think there's way too much obsessing about guitar tone. Only guitar players care about it at all and only about 10% them really care about it.

4/20/2000 12:53 PM
MJ Harnish	Only guitar players care about it at all and only about 10% them really care about it. Hence the reason Peavey stays in business. ;O) MJ

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