hey guys,
since there's a lot of studio-talk regarding guitar amps over here, i thought it would be pretty interesting to discuss some amps in respect to their live qualities.
playing live often requires a different tone and different characteristics than recording. i found that some amps that work extremely well live tend to sound not-so-great in a studio environment, and vice versa.
my main rig right now is just an engl fireball 100 into a 412 cab, recently with a delay in the loop for leads. works really well in my technical death metal band, as it's very tight and focused - just has *that* engl sound. plus it's definitely tailored to live applications as far as features goes - switchable master volumes, fx loop and mid boost.
i used to use my 5150 live, too, and that amp really roars and cuts through very well. definitely a workhorse. the clean channel is subpar though, so it doesn't get used anymore, just studio work.
the jcm800 2210 i used to own was one of those amps that i just couldn't get any decent recorded tone out of, it needed way too much volume to get into it's sweet spot, plus i record a lot of death metal and the jcm800 is just not the right amp for that. live, it kills! it's a perfect band-away amp, cuts through a live mix like a hot knife through butter. very limited features though.
another point though: since my other guitarist in my melodic metal band decided to call it quits, i'm handling all guitar duties all by myself from now on. this made me think about about getting another amp.
i wonder if there's an amp that really fills out the stage and the sound just by itself, giving a full sound even in a one guitar context. i only tried it once with my fireball 100, and while it sounded good i didn't feel that it was made for that. the FB is very controlled, producing a tight sound that works great in a busy live mix with two loud amps on stage, it doesn't step over the other guitarists amp but finds it's own spot in the mix. maybe there's an amp out there that might be considered too "full range" in a two guitar context, but really works in filling out the sound with only one guitar? after all there's a lot of sonic space to cover, no worries about competing with another amp.
anyone got some ideas?
also, on a related note, for that band i'm thinking about using two amps in a stereo setup. i saw decapitated do this with a randall and a laboga, using a morley aby switch. sorta mimics the left/right effect you get with two guitarists too. i think this would work out pretty well - as long as there's not a lot of channel switching going on.
anyone has an idea how to use two amps with an aby switch, and deal with switching from rhythm to clean? you obviously can't hit two amp footswitches at once and switching them both to clean at the same time. turning off one amp and switching the other to clean at the same time doesn't work either. i guess i'd have to incorporate some midi stuff here.
let's say i want to use the fireball and the 5150 together.
what i would need (in midi terms):
patch 1 = both amps rhythm channel
patch 2 = 5150 at rhythm, fireball at master two and fx loop engaged
patch 3 = both amps clean, or alternatively 5150 set to rhythm channel turned all the way down (off basically - 5150 cleans suck), and fireball set to clean, edit: fx loop on too.
i know there's the engl z11 that can switch the non-midi engl heads, but does it work with engl only or can i switch the 5150 too? is it even possible to do multiple switches at once, like changing master volume and turning the fx loop on by pressing only one button?
lastly, is there another alternative to the z11? it's pretty steeply priced.
so, let's start here!
since there's a lot of studio-talk regarding guitar amps over here, i thought it would be pretty interesting to discuss some amps in respect to their live qualities.
playing live often requires a different tone and different characteristics than recording. i found that some amps that work extremely well live tend to sound not-so-great in a studio environment, and vice versa.
my main rig right now is just an engl fireball 100 into a 412 cab, recently with a delay in the loop for leads. works really well in my technical death metal band, as it's very tight and focused - just has *that* engl sound. plus it's definitely tailored to live applications as far as features goes - switchable master volumes, fx loop and mid boost.
i used to use my 5150 live, too, and that amp really roars and cuts through very well. definitely a workhorse. the clean channel is subpar though, so it doesn't get used anymore, just studio work.
the jcm800 2210 i used to own was one of those amps that i just couldn't get any decent recorded tone out of, it needed way too much volume to get into it's sweet spot, plus i record a lot of death metal and the jcm800 is just not the right amp for that. live, it kills! it's a perfect band-away amp, cuts through a live mix like a hot knife through butter. very limited features though.
another point though: since my other guitarist in my melodic metal band decided to call it quits, i'm handling all guitar duties all by myself from now on. this made me think about about getting another amp.
i wonder if there's an amp that really fills out the stage and the sound just by itself, giving a full sound even in a one guitar context. i only tried it once with my fireball 100, and while it sounded good i didn't feel that it was made for that. the FB is very controlled, producing a tight sound that works great in a busy live mix with two loud amps on stage, it doesn't step over the other guitarists amp but finds it's own spot in the mix. maybe there's an amp out there that might be considered too "full range" in a two guitar context, but really works in filling out the sound with only one guitar? after all there's a lot of sonic space to cover, no worries about competing with another amp.
anyone got some ideas?
also, on a related note, for that band i'm thinking about using two amps in a stereo setup. i saw decapitated do this with a randall and a laboga, using a morley aby switch. sorta mimics the left/right effect you get with two guitarists too. i think this would work out pretty well - as long as there's not a lot of channel switching going on.
anyone has an idea how to use two amps with an aby switch, and deal with switching from rhythm to clean? you obviously can't hit two amp footswitches at once and switching them both to clean at the same time. turning off one amp and switching the other to clean at the same time doesn't work either. i guess i'd have to incorporate some midi stuff here.
let's say i want to use the fireball and the 5150 together.
what i would need (in midi terms):
patch 1 = both amps rhythm channel
patch 2 = 5150 at rhythm, fireball at master two and fx loop engaged
patch 3 = both amps clean, or alternatively 5150 set to rhythm channel turned all the way down (off basically - 5150 cleans suck), and fireball set to clean, edit: fx loop on too.
i know there's the engl z11 that can switch the non-midi engl heads, but does it work with engl only or can i switch the 5150 too? is it even possible to do multiple switches at once, like changing master volume and turning the fx loop on by pressing only one button?
lastly, is there another alternative to the z11? it's pretty steeply priced.
so, let's start here!
