Mic'ing your amp into your back up amp?

Having posted recently about missing my Evil Twin and basically dissatisfied with my awesome tone :roll: mic'd through our PA, I was thinking of mic'ing my number 1 (15W Lightning) on stage, through my back up (20w YGM3) to increase the spread of sound.

Thinking I could have used my Twin (which I had on occasion used as a vocals amp before I sold it) in this capacity too.

Anyone else mic amp to amp in a live situation?

Explain that again ,,, mic`ing through ?

If you want to play through two amps, why not use a A/B/Y pedal that would let you send your signal to either one (A/B) or both (Y)?

Involving a mike seems indirect and messy.

Another thing you might want to do is check out some stereo pedals. A touch of stereo chorus can make you sound MASSIVE!

Explain that again ,,, mic`ing through ?

Putting a microphone in front of my No1 ( a Lightning at 15w) and pushing it through my back-up amp (instead of the PA) to increase the spread of sound. Thereby outputting through a 15w and a 20w during the gig (fuller sound, spread etc).

Get it? :wink:

Putting a microphone in front of my No1 ( a Lightning at 15w) and pushing it through my back-up amp (instead of the PA) to increase the spread of sound. Thereby outputting through a 15w and a 20w during the gig (fuller sound, spread etc).

Get it? :wink:

You will have a huge impedance mismatch if you plug a microphone into a guitar amplifier.
It isn't going to sound great.

Also you've going to get massive amounts of feedback doing this.

Not recommended.

ABY pedal is probably a better option.

If you want to play through two amps, why not use a A/B/Y pedal that would let you send your signal to either one (A/B) or both (Y)?

Because the tone through my Matchless (my No1 which is cranked) is my sound, so with mic'ing through the good cleans of my No2 (back-up) I can spread that and boost my awesome playing! :wink:

Does that make sense? Using my back-up to spread my gig amp?

If you want to play through two amps, why not use a A/B/Y pedal that would let you send your signal to either one (A/B) or both (Y)?

Involving a mike seems indirect and messy.

+1........... or run both thru a stereo pedal

Because the tone through my Matchless (my No1 which is cranked) is my sound, so with mic'ing through the good cleans of my No2 (back-up) I can spread that and boost my awesome playing! :wink:

Does that make sense? Using my back-up to spread my gig amp?

It still sounds like you are looking for a poor man's PA system :wink:

I think you'll come closest duplicating the sound of the first amp if you can run a direct OUT from the first amp as the direct IN to the second. So you would be taking output from the first's preamp and sending that to the second's power amp (skipping the second's preamp). Does that make sense? This is because even a clean guitar amp is going to color the sound, I claim.

Makes sense BDLH,

But my -73 YGM-3 doesn't have a Direct in! Guess like you said I'm looking to bypass our PA, which did no favours to my tone when we DI'd from my Matchless' Line Out.

Just another thought , maybe have a talk with yer soundman. If #1 is your tone and you add #2. You have just created tone #3. (The combination of both amps.) So I dont see that fixing the problem. Have your sound man run your guitar input as flat as possible so he is not coloring your tone. Maybe the mic position was not proper , maybe a different mic. Something ,but if you have your tone on stage the soundman should be able to reproduce it thru the front of the house.

Makes sense BDLH,

But my -73 YGM-3 doesn't have a Direct in! Guess like you said I'm looking to bypass our PA, which did no favours to my tone when we DI'd from my Matchless' Line Out.

I have never had good luck with a DI for an electric guitar , not live.

I'll have a go - maybe the slacker needs to fix his chops rather than me wiggle mine.

Don't play big halls and bars, normally max 100 pax. Thanks for your input, and you BDLH.

I'll have a go - maybe the slacker needs to fix his chops rather than me wiggle mine.

Don't play big halls and bars, normally max 100 pax. Thanks for your input, and you BDLH.

+1 There ya go

I too don't get this. You mic your # 1 into a PA and that spreads the sound for you. If what you are hearing out of your # 1 amp is pleasing to you unmiked, you need to take some care in a) mic placement on your amp and b) eq'ing the channel it takes up on the PA so it sounds good to you coming out of monitors and mains. Problem solved!

Makes sense BDLH,

But my -73 YGM-3 doesn't have a Direct in! Guess like you said I'm looking to bypass our PA, which did no favours to my tone when we DI'd from my Matchless' Line Out.

Run the direct out into the instrument input on amp#2. And if you're playin small bars, that Matchless should be loud enough.:shock:

Run the direct out into the instrument input on amp#2. And if you're playin small bars, that Matchless should be loud enough.:shock:

I'll try it, as long as it doesn't defeat the speaker....and it is loud enough...its about spread more than volume!

Thanks

I'll try it, as long as it doesn't defeat the speaker....and it is loud enough...its about spread more than volume!

Then I'd go for an extension speaker off your main amp.

I too don't get this. You mic your # 1 into a PA and that spreads the sound for you...you need to take some care in a) mic placement on your amp and b) eq'ing the channel it takes up on the PA so it sounds good to you coming out of monitors and mains. Problem solved!

+1 that's really it.

The point of mic'ing a small amp is to spread it around the room. You want "that sound" bigger and more evenly distributed. The best way to do that is not to introduce another heavily colored amp into the mix (like another guitar amp) but the PA, which should be pretty neutral.

So, mic your Matchless and put it appropriately in the mains and monitors until it fits. If this doesn't sound like you want it to, then you need to consider how you are mic'ing the Matchless.

What mic are you using? Shure SM57? Put it on a stand so it points towards the speaker, don't drape it over the top. A Sennheiser E609 is my fave, but remember that the sound that a mic gets directly in front of the speaker may not be what you have in mind - it is often brighter than you think, because guitar amp speakers are very directional at high frequencies. Experiment with placement, even behind the amp to find a sweet spot for you.

I play rooms in the same size range (50-120) and find that a healthy Deluxe Reverb doesn't really need a mic for that. If I use one, it is just barely on to create a tad more presence.

Same as everyone else is saying about checking different mic placements, etc. Also, if you want it to sound bigger on stage, put a little, or a little more if that be the case, into the monitors.

1- Get a 2x12 cab with mucho efficient speakers like Blues or neos that you can run the lightning through.

2- Get a self powered JBL/Mackie PA speaker as psrt of your rig and use a tiny mixer to send a mic signal through from the lightning.