Amp Set up

[Chaz SIB]

Have a questions for guitarists who do gigs with bands. I am quite new to it and have found difficulty hearing my guitar live, is it best to have the amp behind me or get something like an ear piece? 

[ezbass]

What kind of amp is it and how powerful is it? Raising the amp will help and you can get stands that also put it at an angle, which helps even more. Can the guitar be heard out in the audience area is the important thing. If it can’t, than miking it up and putting it through the PA is the way to go as you can then choose to also have it in the monitors, or in a set of in-ears.

[Dad3353]

There are venues and bands that adopt the amps in front of the players, in the manner of foldback cabs. Obviously not stacks of 4x12's, but combos or one-cab rigs can give sufficient volume and clarity both for the player, the other band members and the audience when placed this way. It's a good way of setting up rehearsal space, too, and makes rehearsal more like a venue stage. Worth considering..? 

[Chaz SIB]

Appreciate this guys, I play with it in front and its easily heard by the audience, shall i put it behind me or like you say change the angle ?

 

[ezbass]

57 minutes ago, Chaz SIB said:

Appreciate this guys, I play with it in front and its easily heard by the audience, shall i put it behind me or like you say change the angle ?

 

Yes, move it behind you and raise it on a crate, or something similar, before getting an angled stand.

[randythoades]

I would also suggest that you could speak to other members of the band. If it is too loud for you to hear then I would say that your stage volume is too loud overall and others may also be suffering.

As @ezbass suggests, you might benefit having more go through your PA out forwards and better on stage monitoring. I don't know your age, but I can tell you from bitter experience that after 30 years of gigging has left myself and 2 of my band mates with hearing issues, and it really is no joke. But it was a revelation to move onto in-ear monitors. It was very odd and difficult to get good levels and help at the beginning, but SO much better to be actually able to hear yourself and everyone else at a volume that was comfortable.

Now we all go through the PA in some way, even the drums and bass guitar. I play directly out of my multi effects into a HK Red box and into PA, or use my 30w Roland Blues cube HOT which has emulated line out into PA (depending which band I am in). It also saves a huge amount of space and set up, no more lugging guitar speaker cabs and head, full bass rigs etc and our general levels are pretty much set at rehearsals so it is just a case of tweaking at each venue.