Mini sound walls for amps?

I, like many of you have encountered the problem with stage volumes and amps....I have run through either a VOX AC4TV, Orange Tiny Terror, or a Blackstar HT-20 during worship....at some point the sound man has turned them all down completely in the house mix.

Our sound man was incompetent, as I was trying to keep up with our insanely loud drummer, but it is understandable why he would think I was too loud (even when I was cautious of volume).

I used to put the amp behind the stage curtains in the back, but we only have two monitors that usually sit in front of the two leaders, and I could barely hear anything but the mufflyness behind me.

Have any of you ever built a miniture sound blocking wall to put in front of your combo or cab? And is it effective?

I would just go the iso cab route, or throw it back behind the stage again, but the monitor issue just sucks, and the AVION systems we have constantly go out in the ears.

we use one at my church and it works well, its just a piece of 1/4 inch hardboard cut like a display poster board with acoustic foam attached.

What we do in our church is keep the amp facing across the stage, so the sound is projected across the stage rather than facing toward the congregation. This helps to take a lot of the edge off the sound. And since the amps tend to put out a very directional sound anyway, it helps the musicians/guitarist to hear the guitar well too. You'd be surprised how much less 'in your face' the amp sounds by just facing it away from the congregation and across the stage, given that the congregation are not present all around the stage!

Our sound man was incompetent, as I was trying to keep up with our insanely loud drummer...



I too have experienced drummers emulate Neal Peart in a P&W band. LOL The result is stage volume problems.

The answer is to take the acoustic kit away and replace with an decent electronic kit, so the struggling volunteer sound-dude can better control the stage volume.

It sounds like you have the amp miked, right? Put the amp on an amp stand, or on the floor, in front of you, tilted up at your head. Optionally, put a baffle between the back of the amp and the congregation. Some sound does come out of the rear of the amp.

You absolutely need to hear your guitar amp - not muffled, but perfectly clearly, or you won't be playing correctly.

Unfortunately, it does sound like you have a sound man who needs some training. Can you suggest this? If the only FOH sound of the electric guitar is coming from the amp that is covered by curtains, there is no way he is dialing in a good mix.

An aside... what do you think about volunteering to run sound every now and then? You will get further in working with the sound man on this issue if you join him.

I just saw Shemika Copeland's guitarist uncover his blues junior and use the cover (foam) to block the amp. BTW, Shemika's band is really good!

That's a really tough situation. I have been in the same boat in the past where I was on a shared wedge mix and could never get enough me to hear what I was playing.

I like GeetarPlayer's idea with those smaller amps if you have a the real estate to put the amp out in front of you. I have seen a couple of great and simple ideas for small but effective baffles to go between the back of the amp and the congregation too like two pieces of MFD glued together in shallow "V". I even saw one in a small club where the guy glued egg-crate foam on the amp side of the board. It did a great job.

Tell your Worship Leader and Congregation that your Church is only going to do bluegrass gospel for now on. It will just be easier if everyone gathers around one microphone and no instruments are electric. Anything beyond one volume control is too complicated for the Soundman so this is the only possible solution. :grin:

Tell your Worship Leader and Congregation that your Church is only going to do bluegrass gospel for now on. It will just be easier if everyone gathers around one microphone and no instruments are electric. Anything beyond one volume control is too complicated for the Soundman so this is the only possible solution. :grin:

Unfortunately, That would probably find overwhelming favor in my church.

not gonna lie, had the same problem then i bought a multi effects processor. literally changed my life its so versatile for P&W. the higher end models are very very very decent.

btw i love my tiny terror for P&W

You absolutely need to hear your guitar amp - not muffled, but perfectly clearly, or you won't be playing correctly.

Unfortunately, it does sound like you have a sound man who needs some training. Can you suggest this? If the only FOH sound of the electric guitar is coming from the amp that is covered by curtains, there is no way he is dialing in a good mix.


Same problem I'm having...*yeesh*
:roll:

It sounds like you have the amp miked, right? Put the amp on an amp stand, or on the floor, in front of you, tilted up at your head. Optionally, put a baffle between the back of the amp and the congregation. Some sound does come out of the rear of the amp.

You absolutely need to hear your guitar amp - not muffled, but perfectly clearly, or you won't be playing correctly.

Unfortunately, it does sound like you have a sound man who needs some training. Can you suggest this? If the only FOH sound of the electric guitar is coming from the amp that is covered by curtains, there is no way he is dialing in a good mix.

An aside... what do you think about volunteering to run sound every now and then? You will get further in working with the sound man on this issue if you join him.

the muffled sound behind the curtain used to be the issue because we have an inadequate number of good stage monitors...only 2 that are both very close to the singers, and the avion in ear system is unreliable (hopefully we can fix that issue in the coming year)....that is why I had to move my amp to the stage (always had it pointed away from the crowd) and it started to create volume issues, and the sound man would always remove me from the mix....that is why I wanted to know if there was a way I could point the amp at me on stage, and still keep the stage volume a little lower (why a sound wall may be a decent option, it would be fun to deck out too to make it match the stage decor).

I've also considered moving my amp back a little and pointing it forward, and a little elevated, then maybe it will resonate through the room (which isn't huge) un-mic'ed. The congregation is also only about 100 or so at this particular service. Ive seen it work at bars and in small venues a number of times, but the acoustics may suck too much.

Soince I think I'm taking over leadership duties next year, I will have more leeway in decision making...I've also considered taking the drum shield away considering the sound guy usually doesn't run them in the system either...sheilds are only good if your are going to run them in the house speakers.

I find having my combo amp (AC15 or Blues Jr) on an amp stand in front of me and pointed basically towards my head tends to really help me hear myself without having to have it cranked to intolerable levels. The stand I have leans the amp back at around a 10 degree angle about 2' off the floor, which is plenty to get the sound going up instead of straight across. In our particular church there's some reflection off the back wall but as long as my amp isn't too high in the FOH mix it seems to work not too bad.

I, like many here so far, have my little Bugera 5 watt facing me as a monitor. BUT, I also have my signal split right after my pedal board. One side to the PA and one side to my Bugera. I control my stage/monitor/live to me sound. So, you need a way to get a direct out to your soundguy independent of your amp. Not so easy if your only mic'ed.

I, like many here so far, have my little Bugera 5 watt facing me as a monitor. BUT, I also have my signal split right after my pedal board. One side to the PA and one side to my Bugera. I control my stage/monitor/live to me sound. So, you need a way to get a direct out to your soundguy independent of your amp. Not so easy if your only mic'ed.

I don't see why this is necessary. Nothing wrong with mic'ing an amp. The only difference is when you change your amp volume it affects the FOH feed. The sound man can deal with that. It doesn't change the stage noise issue. Also, not many people can get a good tone out of a direct line out of their pedal board without spending a lot more money. One more... you lose the controls on your amp that contribute to your tone (such as channel switching). Many downsides to doing it this way, and I don't see any upside. Am I missing it?

Just went to a great small (but rapidly growing) church in town called TurningPoint....their music was really fantastic for such a new church (probably because they were fed muscians and a worship leader from Lexington's mega church) and I was told they actually built sound foam pannels on the walls and turned the amps toward them....they had a Reason Bambino and a Matchless Sptifire mic'ed up and the stage volume was at a good level and sounded great in house...definitely considering going this route....

they also had a pretty quality electric kit, but the cymbols defintiely don't sound like a real drum kit, and I played with the same drummer later that night at another church service and he seemed to agree......I think the real problem with stage volumes is the drums and not the guitar like so many soundmen seem to think. In average sized churches that use acoustic drum kits you have to set your levels so you can hear yourself with the drummer, and you don't want the drummer to be all the volume on stage.

I'm really passionate about solving these issues and giving everyone the best worship experience possible next school year during the college services (this is assuming I'm going to be the worship intern, being that no one else is applying for the position). I think church music should sound every bit as good (or as close as you can get with your talent levels) as the music you hear when you go to a show where you have to pay covers and ticket prices to get in. I simply cannot stand when church goers put contemporary music on the backburner even though it is obvious that is one of the things that is promoting growth in the church this decade. My church has too many old boring people that control everything.

I used 1/8" tempered hardboard to make a box that was 4" deep and filled with fiberglass insulation, it worked pretty well, I just used the line out on the amp. What kind of problems have you been having with the aviom? For the most part, ours have been great, the only issue we have had is people hanging stuff from the output jacks and then the jacks break

I used 1/8" tempered hardboard to make a box that was 4" deep and filled with fiberglass insulation, it worked pretty well, I just used the line out on the amp. What kind of problems have you been having with the aviom? For the most part, ours have been great, the only issue we have had is people hanging stuff from the output jacks and then the jacks break

It may just be that we need new earbuds...I would use them this year as the lead electric player and they went out about 2 songs in...I was getting no sound in them at all. Our drummer used them weekly and had no issues, but I believe he had his own earbuds.

In fact, that's probably exactly what it is...I may try and talk to our heads of music soon and see if they can't pitch in and help that problem.

In a pinch you can use regular earbuds, they are better than nothing. The gray version of THESE (http://www.staples.com/Memorex-CB25-In-Ear-Color-Earbuds-Black/product_792413) are what I use pretty much every week. They may not be Shure's or Sennheisers, but they work.

......I think the real problem with stage volumes is the drums and not the guitar like so many soundmen seem to think. In average sized churches that use acoustic drum kits you have to set your levels so you can hear yourself with the drummer, and you don't want the drummer to be all the volume on stage.Some room sare simply not made for this. You are pushing the envelope of the room, just like we do at my church. When they built this new sanctuary, the WL told the builders that we have a couple of acoustic guitars, a couple three singers, and some lite drums or lite latin percussion. Then that guy left and moved to another state. What we have now are two electrics and one acoustic, elec bass, full trap kit, elec keys, and 3-4 singers, and a boatload of contemporary tunes on a list. The room was not designed for that, but the guys keep wondering why it is so hard to mix and get good sound. Doesn't help having a soundman with a tin ear.


I think church music should sound every bit as good (or as close as you can get with your talent levels) as the music you hear when you go to a show where you have to pay covers and ticket prices to get in. I simply cannot stand when church goers put contemporary music on the backburner even though it is obvious that is one of the things that is promoting growth in the church this decade. My church has too many old boring people that control everything.AMEN to that! I still don't understand why the party rockers should have all the great sound and all the polished chops while the church bands sound like junior high kids in the garage who may or may not know the songs on any given day. We have one team (out of 4) that could be good enough to play small local and regional "concert" type events, but the WL ignores all suggestions to take the band outside the box.

I have been wanting to try the amp shield thing myself, kinda ala Joe Bonamassa and his plexi glass shields. I too am trying to stand next to a drummer and hear what I'm doing without blasting the entire stage.