Your Only As Good As They Hear You!

HoboKen

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Your Only As Good As They Hear You!

Well! You know your good.....maybe not great, but good......You have your "most bestest" Guild Guitar.....your sitting on a stage stool or standing to deliver......you pour your soul into that cover song or an original song and afterwards you await the acknowledgement from the crowd that you "done good." If it comes its because what you played and sang reached each individual's ears that clapped for you, the way you intended it to.

Truer words were never spoken:
1. Your public address (P.A.) system is only as good as its weakest link.
2. You get what you pay for if you are careful when it comes to live sound amplification electronics.
3. If you buy cheap, you will buy twice and it will cost you more in the long run than if you bought quality in the first place.

First you have to ask yourself why it is that most professional performers insist on riders (in writing) as part of a performance contract as to the live stage sound equipment they will use when they come to your town to give a concert. It's because they want to be assured that there will be a minimum quality of the sound equipment provided when they go to walk out on stage. You need to think in the same way if you perform. Many professional contract riders read "No Mackies or less in quality."

Cheap or inexpensive electronic sound equipment will "Hummm" and will color your sound in ways you do not want. That may be acceptable at first, but as you perform more and more, your ear will tell you that your abilities now exceed that of the sound equipment's to get your abilities to reach your listeners ears.

Ask yourself, "Would I be doing this gig with an old plywood Stella or Silvertone guitar? If the answer is "NO!" then why settle for less in the equipment you use to deliver that sound to those who will hear you?
Quality and durability......it takes money to get both.

I've been the one who bought once and then had to sell what I bought to be able to move up to the better quality once my ears starting to talk to me about my choices that were not as Sound" as I first thought.

Coffee House to medium sized venues:
Crest XR-20 Board in a SKB pop-up travel case.
Ashly manual EQs.
dbx Gates and Compressors
Mackie SRM 450 Active (studio monitor quality) Main Speakers
(on a stick) (Note, the newer Active Mackies are not as good as the originals)
RCF Sub-Woofer (RCF makes the Mackie active speakers in Italy)
(Check out the newer QSC Active Speakers!)
JBL Eon 10G floor monitors
Sennheiser 835, Shure M-58, M-57 or 81 mics.
Whirlwind Snake and Cables

(Just starting out? Find a used Fender Passport 250 Plus System and go have fun until your ears start to teach you what you don't want to hear. But, what you will hear as time goes by.....ear knowledge costs you money.....just like the difference between a Stella or Silvertone and a Guild will)

For Large Venues:
Midas 32 Channel Main Board
Crest XR-20 (2) Monitor World Boards
Ashly Protia EQs\dbx Gates and Compressors
Very Large JBL or Electro-Voice (EV) Passive Speakers -
Mains and Monitors
QSC Pro Amps.
Same mics as above
Large multi-channel Whirlwind Snake and Cables...and Direct Boxes

HoboKen
 

Guildmark

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Great post, HoboKen :!:

I'll corroborate your advice about eventually buying twice if you buy cheap. I recently bought some budget speaker stands and mike stands. They lasted about 4 months. The plastic clutches in the booms all disintegrated. The tubes are too thin and are dimpling at the spots where the clamps screw down. I've already replaced the mike stands and the speaker stands are next. My electronics and speakers are serving well at the small venues I play, but I did not scrimp there.

Thanks for addressing this topic!
 

HoboKen

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Some other good brands to look for......

Allen and Heath .....
and Soundcraft.......
have some good boards....not as good as the Midas or Crest boards,
but still pro level. (I'm sorry.....some Yamaha & Mackie boards are good, but not pro level)

dbx has nice EQs....just a little under the Ashlys

QSC just came out with the HPR 122i for both main and monitor speakers at a real good price for 12" ers (stay in the 12" to 15" range sized speakers).

"Sticks": I like the Ultimate friction collar speaker stands (90s)....especially when you are putting 60 or more pounds up in the air!

HoboKen
 

Guildmark

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I'd like to add another point about how to be well heard in a live, amplified performance.

I had been asking some questions about DI boxes (Direct In; Direct Injection - depends on who you talk to). Well I sprung for a cheap one a few weeks ago, as an experiment. A Matchbox passive DI by Rolls - $30.

WOW and DANG! THROW ME IN A ROSEBUSH AND BEAT ME WITH A SHOVEL!

What was I waiting for :?: :!: The improvement was phenomenal. I bought it to use on my D-55, because I have only been using a Dean Markley soundhole pickup, and running that with or without a pre-amp was producing a tinny, noisy signal into the high impedance input of my mixer ( a Yamaha, powered by a Crown amp). Putting the pre-amp into the DI, and then the DI into a low-impedance mic jack produced a clear tone that sounded like you were standing right in front of the unamplified guitar. Marvelous! Clear! Realistic! And loud. It allowed me to boost the gain but keep all the volume levels relatively low, so the balance between guitar and vocal mike was vastly improved.

I think this summer I will finally add electronics to the D-55, but this lesson sank in deep and strong. It was a great fix for not much money. And if it made that much improvement with an inexpensive passive box, I shudder to think how good it could sound with a premium DI. But a premiuim DI might cost more than my mixer did! :)

Support Live Music!
 

HoboKen

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Yep!

Direct In (D.I.) boxes are what's happening.......

I do still like the Whirlwind DIs. They make two. Even the less expensive IMP2 (Bullet-proof at $48)is head and shoulders above all others I think, and the Hot Box ($133) is over the top in being great, but it needs phantom power from your board! Both have a ground lift switch to eliminate ground loop hummm.

HoboKen
 

HoboKen

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HoboKen said, "(I'm sorry.....some Yamaha & Mackie boards are good, but not pro level)"

Just when you thought you knew what you were talking about.....your sons bring you up short and say, "Dad, don't you know that the $30K to $100K Yamaha live sound mixing boards are pro level and maybe even the best digital ones at that!"

Hummm.....for that money I sure hope so! I just don't have that kind of $$ this week. Maybe next week? (Right!)

Oh yes, they also reminded me that we use CAI Countryman DT 85 Direct Boxs....but you have to remember to always put a new battery in it before each performance.

I love advanced sound technology! It's computers and electronics I can't stand!! After all, I'm just the nut on stage flapping his lips and moving his hands and fingers......and they call that being a performer......well, I guess I are one!

HoboKen
 
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