Playing out LIVE - tips? - Forums

Heath,

I have played live for nearly 40 years, and have both set up and run the soundboard for several bands I was in, or was friends with. I started featuring CBGs in my solo gigs about 4 years ago. I have migrated to increasingly smaller amps (the Pignose 7-100, the 200 W 6.5" speaker-equipped ZT Lunchbox, the Fender Champ 600 Reissue, the Roland Stereo Mobile Cube, for example). I also play both acoustic-electrics and electrics.

There are some questions I would ask you, before giving you some advice.

1) How big is the venue, and how many people will you be playing in front of?
2) What sort of mixing board will you be going into? 12 channel or more? XLR inputs + 1/4" inputs? Or something like a 4 or 8 channel Yamaha, Mackie, or Fender Passport?
3) How many Mics will be in use? Drums? Will they be mic'd? How many vocalists? Can the venue soundboard accommodate everything / everyone?
4) Will the mixing board have a snake?
5) Does the venue have DI boxes, and if so, which ones? They vary remarkably in quality (and price). I have used Radials almost exclusively. They are worth the money.
6) Will you need (trust me, you will) a monitor speaker? Does the venue have them? Can one be dedicated to you, or will you have to share?
7) Will you be using any effects?
8) Do you know and trust the ears on the house sound engineer? Not all of them are as sensitive or knowledgeable as you might wish. They need to make YOU sound good. Not LOUDER, but GOOD.

With a CBG equipped with a P90, here's what I would recommend. If you're insistent on going direct to the board, no effects, do yourself a favor, and get at least a 25-ft 1/4" male - XLR male cable (unless you are even further away from the board, or are using a snake). This will dramatically reduce any extraneous environmental noise from house lights, RF, powered speakers, computers, etc. Realize that, going direct to the board, you are completely at the mercy of your sound tech / engineer. You can only control the volume of the signal going to the board, everything else is left to the guy running the mix. And if there are no monitors, then what the house hears will definitely be different than what you hear onstage, even in a small venue that only holds 50 people, or especially outside in an open area.

I would highly recommend going through a DI box between your guitar and the board, or between your guitar and the snake going into the board. You will then have a signal buffer that will reduce the EQ tweaking the sound guy will have to do.

If you are going to use any effects, then your signal chain gets longer. Your effects need to go between your git and your DI box.

I understand not wanting to lug a heavy amp around; that's why I went to much smaller amps. One benefit to going through an amp that is mic'd is that you can use it as a guitar monitor, reducing your onstage volume to something bearable. The mic then runs to the board or snake + board, and allows the sound guy to dial in the house sound without affecting your stage volume. I personally like this setup better, as do a large number of professional sound engineers. I have miked a Pignose both open and closed, as well as my ZT and Fender. The Roland Stereo Cube has the ability to be used as both monitor, and send Line level sound out to the board without disabling the internal speakers; the ZT lunchbox has a switch that allows you to use it the same way.

Replies

Mensh March 10, 2017 at 4:12pm

Wow. That is very cool for $55, Erasmo!
- Ron "Oily" Sprague > Mensh March 10, 2017 at 5:16pm
  
  Rut-roh...he's got GAS!
JL March 10, 2017 at 8:03am

A Helix Line 6 is a good top of the line DI, only $1500
- Mensh > JL March 10, 2017 at 8:30am
  
  A bargain! Why not buy 2, just in case the 1st one breaks?
  - Ron "Oily" Sprague > Mensh March 10, 2017 at 12:10pm
    
    That's a sweet multieffects unit. But $1500 can buy you a nice new guitar...
Cause the Blue rat March 10, 2017 at 6:45am

Sorry, i was kinda in a hurry when I posted last. The EHXtortion is a DI box with flexible distortion. It's got a XLR out that goes directly into a mixer. So your entire setup could be on a pedal board. Plug in a single power supply. Plug your guitar in on one side. The PA on the other. Sound good all night.
Cause the Blue rat March 9, 2017 at 10:11pm

I have an Electro Harmonix EHXtortion. It's a bit pricy. But has a great smooth distort/overdrive with dual channel setup.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electro-Harmonix-Tortion-JFET-Overdrive-Dis...
ChickenboneJohn March 8, 2017 at 12:47pm

You do not need a DI box, you don't need anything other than a guitar lead. Plug it direct into the PA and you'll get a smooth clean sound. If you want to warm or dirty it up a bit, put it through an overdrive pedal. I've run hundreds of open mic sessions, gigs and festivals where we put the electric guitar straight into the PA. As I said, the "dry" sound will be pretty neutral, so you might want to tweak it a bid with a pedal. Having said all that, It's much better to use your own amp if you need a specific sound.
Ron "Oily" Sprague March 8, 2017 at 10:52am

Heath,

I have played live for nearly 40 years, and have both set up and run the soundboard for several bands I was in, or was friends with. I started featuring CBGs in my solo gigs about 4 years ago. I have migrated to increasingly smaller amps (the Pignose 7-100, the 200 W 6.5" speaker-equipped ZT Lunchbox, the Fender Champ 600 Reissue, the Roland Stereo Mobile Cube, for example). I also play both acoustic-electrics and electrics.

There are some questions I would ask you, before giving you some advice.

1) How big is the venue, and how many people will you be playing in front of?
2) What sort of mixing board will you be going into? 12 channel or more? XLR inputs + 1/4" inputs? Or something like a 4 or 8 channel Yamaha, Mackie, or Fender Passport?
3) How many Mics will be in use? Drums? Will they be mic'd? How many vocalists? Can the venue soundboard accommodate everything / everyone?
4) Will the mixing board have a snake?
5) Does the venue have DI boxes, and if so, which ones? They vary remarkably in quality (and price). I have used Radials almost exclusively. They are worth the money.
6) Will you need (trust me, you will) a monitor speaker? Does the venue have them? Can one be dedicated to you, or will you have to share?
7) Will you be using any effects?
8) Do you know and trust the ears on the house sound engineer? Not all of them are as sensitive or knowledgeable as you might wish. They need to make YOU sound good. Not LOUDER, but GOOD.

With a CBG equipped with a P90, here's what I would recommend. If you're insistent on going direct to the board, no effects, do yourself a favor, and get at least a 25-ft 1/4" male - XLR male cable (unless you are even further away from the board, or are using a snake). This will dramatically reduce any extraneous environmental noise from house lights, RF, powered speakers, computers, etc. Realize that, going direct to the board, you are completely at the mercy of your sound tech / engineer. You can only control the volume of the signal going to the board, everything else is left to the guy running the mix. And if there are no monitors, then what the house hears will definitely be different than what you hear onstage, even in a small venue that only holds 50 people, or especially outside in an open area.

I would highly recommend going through a DI box between your guitar and the board, or between your guitar and the snake going into the board. You will then have a signal buffer that will reduce the EQ tweaking the sound guy will have to do.

If you are going to use any effects, then your signal chain gets longer. Your effects need to go between your git and your DI box.

I understand not wanting to lug a heavy amp around; that's why I went to much smaller amps. One benefit to going through an amp that is mic'd is that you can use it as a guitar monitor, reducing your onstage volume to something bearable. The mic then runs to the board or snake + board, and allows the sound guy to dial in the house sound without affecting your stage volume. I personally like this setup better, as do a large number of professional sound engineers. I have miked a Pignose both open and closed, as well as my ZT and Fender. The Roland Stereo Cube has the ability to be used as both monitor, and send Line level sound out to the board without disabling the internal speakers; the ZT lunchbox has a switch that allows you to use it the same way.
- Mensh > Ron "Oily" Sprague March 10, 2017 at 7:44am
  
  Thanks, everyone, for your replies!
  
  I play at small venues for the most part, and we do traditional blues and Americana - I DO have an BAGGS Para DI, but that's for my Republic resonator. I guess I could always switch it in and out.
  
  What I am looking to do is MELLO the Cigar Box Guitar sound - less harsh, less distortion.
  
  I will get the gitty this week! So freaking excited...
  
  Heath
  
  www.thebluesprofessors.com

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