personal preference dialing an amp question:

[rispsira]

Ive been only using my kemper at home and now am considering giving it another shot of playing with an amp at home (not tracking though im sticking with digital at home for that). In the rehearsal room i use 4X12s but here i have a 2X12.
It is sitting on top of a speaker so it is approximately at ear height when im sitting in front of it.

In the rehearsal room i dial in my amps while standing and moving around in the room.

This time around being at home and looking at my 2X12 that i put on top of the speaker just to save space i was wondering if i should leave it there and dial it in so that it is pleasant in from of me (less harsh for instance) or put it on the floor and dial it in the same way i do in the rehearsal room in which case the amp is set to have more high frequencies and i adjust the mic position according to that.

It made me wonder what you guys preference is for dialing in and tracking in general. Do you leave the amp to be harsh on purpose but not so when youre standing for ex and adjust the mic position accordingly to avoid too much of those frequencies, or kneel when youre reamping for instance and make it sound good right in front of the speaker allowing your mic position to get closer to the center of the cone? (leaving the amp sounding a bit muffled while standing)

(That of course implies that you are using straight 4x12s)

what say you? ?

 

[rispsira]

shit i just noticed this is more appropriate in the FOH section.. sorry about that.. can we move it?

 

[Fbarre]

Usually I keep dialing them in at lower volume while having my head/ears close to the speakers. I listen to what each knob does to the sound and tweak them all until it get the sound out of it that I like best. In my experience this works well with any kind of cab regardless of where it is placed and sounds great especially for recording.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I always have trouble with this as I like to crank my amp to a decent level to hear how it really reacts.

So, it's hard for me to really get my face down in front of a speaker. This said, I normally think I have a good tone dialed in and now and then I'll step out in front at a show at realize my practice settings sound way too harsh for a show settings.

 

[rispsira]

thanks for chiming in guys!

I just tried a couple of amps this way (cab at eye level) and i really enjoyed tweaking more because i could hear more clearly how each knob affects the tone then when i used to stand. (maybe its just my mind playing tricks on me)

All in all i liked this way of working and i feel that it makes somehow more sense to be in front of the speaker and enjoy the sound in the room than have to stand off axis to enjoy the tone :s even though thats been my go to in rehearsal because i had no choice (straight cabs and im standing)

Bryan you mentioned tweaking your sound with the amp cranked and that is what i do as well which is why i opted for the other way (standing) except today i was trying these things at home at a low volume and that is why i was able to do this...

Which leads me to think; Fbarre doesnt it become a problem when you dial in your tone with the amp at a low volume and then crank it up and it sounds different? That is my main issue. I mean with enough experience you might be able to dial in the amount of treble and bass to avoid the problem when you crank it maybe?
and what about the rest of the change in character from higher volume? Or do you consider these things not as important as the eq knobs or in other words the more of them the better so no need to take them into account.. (im talking about added saturation, tightness etc)

I hope i explained well lol

 

[Fbarre]

I usually don't turn up my amps too much because I doesn't like how too much power amp saturation/distortion sounds like, but that's my preference.

Yes the character and frequency response can change quite a bit. Usually still my tones sound better at high volume even when I dialed them in using low volume. I think it's just easier to dial an amp in when it's at a low volume level where you can easily pick out everything including very minimal changes to the tone knobs, and then turning the volume up to where you want it. Keep in mind that as the loudness level increases the frequency response of our ears changes too (Fletcher-Munson Curve) so it might not be very easy to accurately hear your knob tweaking/settings at high volume levels.

What you could of course also try is to use very neutral sounding hearing protection while trying to adjust the amp with your face/ears close to the speakers at a louder volume or close to the volume that you play or record with. I can image this could work quite well. I just never felt the need to experiment with it since I'm completely happy with the tones I get using low to medium volume.

 

[Terminus]

My thing is to turn the gain most of the way down, then turn the master volume up to where it just starts breaking up a little due to the power section pushing harder, then dial in gain and eq. Room/amp placement plays a heavy part, even when you aren't micing it to record and are just jamming it. I always try to keep the amp from being perpendicular to the wall, and at least a foot or 2 from it.

 

[rispsira]

Fbarre: thanks for the reply man. Thats what i meant when i spoke of being able to take into account the percieved change in eq caused by loudness at low volumes. I think it something that gets better with experience to know how much to put in there at low volumes.. Thanks for the tips! I wasnt able to find any hearing protection that didnt muffle the sound even though advertised otherwise.
I do however use in ears for mic placement but not to dial in the amp.
Your preference in respect to power amp saturation makes sense. I think it depends on the amp you are using and in the case of modern high gain heads too much power amp saturation can indeed hurt the tone unlike say a plexi.
Now that i read your post again i realize you mentioned the fletcher-manson in respect to tweaking at high volumes. Then maybe that might explain why i had more luck perceiving the changes at home that i was describing!

Terminus: Thanks for chiming in! Interesting technique ive never thought of that! ill give it a try, thank you.
Btw i knew that the cab better not be placed parallel to the wall, i didnt know it shouldnt be perpendicular either. Logically if it is perpendicular to a wall it is parallel to another but in some studios the walls arent parallel, still it shouldnt be perpendicular you say. I keep it safe by always putting it angled to walls but i didnt know that ill keep it in mind!

 

[Nimvi]

To add to what has already been said: if you have a looper or reamp capabilities, those can help in the setup too. I think it feels remarkably different to set an amp while just listening to the signal, instead of while playing. Feeling the vibrations of the guitar in my body often creates an illusion of things having way more low end than they really do. Especially on low to medium volume levels. Just a thought.

When I'm playing by myself, I just set it to whatever sounds and feels good to me in the moment though. As long as it inspires me to keep going, it's all good.

 

[Terminus]

Terminus: Thanks for chiming in! Interesting technique ive never thought of that! ill give it a try, thank you.
Btw i knew that the cab better not be placed parallel to the wall, i didnt know it shouldnt be perpendicular either. Logically if it is perpendicular to a wall it is parallel to another but in some studios the walls arent parallel, still it shouldnt be perpendicular you say. I keep it safe by always putting it angled to walls but i didnt know that ill keep it in mind!

I'm a dumbass bro, i meant parallel.