mic'ing guitar amp versus no mic.

[golfnut]

Over the years I've always had a mic on my guitar amp. Over this past year I've been playing for 2 different bands in medium to small gigs. In either band I've yet to have my guitar amp mic'ed. Just like to get everyone's opinions on this. Is it better to mic the guitar amp regardless of how small the club is or is it ok to not mic in medium to small gigs?

[Tim Armstrong]

I've always preferred to have an option rather than not, so I stick a mic on the guitar amp, and then use it or not depending on conditions...

Having said that, I could see playing a small room without!

Cheers, Tim

[Rombel]

I prefer miced, even if the signal gets turned so low it hardly comes out of the box, if anything panned hard left if I'm standing far right.
It allows me to control the volume onstage coming out of a small amp, which is easier on my back as well as the audience's ears.

And whenever a guitar player says playing at low volume kills his tone, ditch him for a guy who is willing to bring the appropriate gear to the gig.

[Tiki]

I use a mike ... 100% of the time. It's better to have it and not need it than it is to need it and not have it.

I keep a Z Bar and SM 57 in the back of my cabinet. All I have to do is put the Z Bar through the handle and run the cable.

I've always justified this in my mind by thinking I get better room coverage if I'm a little bit in the fronts. I also allows my to play underneath the rest of the band and keeps me out of volume wars. My bandmates rarely complain about my volume.

Obviously, you can elect to play without miking ... it's just not what I do.

[woodman]

as Tim sez, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. but in small rooms, i'm pretty confident about not needing it.

i admit, in sound-man situations, it aggravates me when i've got my sweet spot dialed in and he says, "turn down so i can get you in the PA!" the clear solution to me is, if the amp's carrying the room, don't worry about getting it in the PA.

[Tim Armstrong]

Originally Posted by woodman

i admit, in sound-man situations, it aggravates me when i've got my sweet spot dialed in and he says, "turn down so i can get you in the PA!" the clear solution to me is, if the amp's carrying the room, don't worry about getting it in the PA.

Yeah, that's annoying as hell, isn't it? Cart before the horse time!

Although I have to laugh remembering one show in Colorado where the Stevie Ray Vaugnabee who was in the third band of a three-band lineup (I think we were the first band) had a large loud amp CRANKED in this 300-seat theater, drowning out the PA system and the rest of his band. Needless to say, the house sound guy turned his mic off, as there was no reason to have his guitar coming out of the mains, too.

They were running a board mix to a tape recorder, and he was FURIOUS that he wasn't in the mix (except for whatever vocal mics picked up), and no amount of explaining penetrated his poor, dense, rockstar skull...



Cheers, Tim