I was pondering the other day as I was viewing some pics of some amps & realized...Hmm a lot of axemen probably go out & buy the loudest loud thing they can. But they probably live in apartment, condo, or townhouse type of dwellings so how can they turn up their loud & not bother their neighbors? Or specifically how can I, John, crank up my Crate amp to get tone but play way quiet? Most probably don't care about noising out others. But there are kind caring rockers out there, well at least I would hope so anyway. So you want to get amp turned up to 11 or beyond to get the desired tone but you want speakers to sound like you've set the volume to 3.
I read something somewhere yesterday that 11 or beyond out of control players just go into small clubs with a decent sound system but their amps are too loud. And often the players aren't willing to cooperate with the sound person. One sound guy said he mentioned to a player that the amp was to loud so the player said "You need me to turn it down?" The sound person was shocked that the player offered to do that. I also read that some place their amps on a slanted rack to get it up off the floor & some turn them sideways or all the way around so the amp is louding out in the face of the player so the sound person has a audio chance at creating a better mix.
So in a nutshell the technology is referred to as a power brake or attenuator. More info than you would to know about it is:
Background info...
Loud cool sounding amp & need it to drive the tubes but sound quieter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_attenuator_(guitar)
This seems to be the popular model,$270+, to get for an amp with 8 ohm speakers...which I have on my Crate...
http://www.zzounds.com/item--THDHP
Do it yourself (DIY) stuff...
http://www.amptone.com/g243.htm
http://amps.zugster.net/articles/attenuation
Until later comes, turn it up to 11 but really 3.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Some amps have two switches on them so you can play them at full volume or low volume, but still drive the tubes just as hard. Some of the Mesa/Boogie amps have this option (like a 20 watt mode versus an 80 watt mode).
Regarding clubs, often times the issue is that the drums are too loud, which means the guitar player has to turn up their amp to hear themselves. Not many small venues mic guitar amps, and even fewer small venues will put guitar in the monitors. So unless you can get your drummer to be quiet, your band may just not be appropriate for small venues.
There's also acoustical problems in a lot of venues. If you are catering to a rock 'n roll crowd, but don't have the acoustics to handle a loud drummer and guitars, all you're going to get is loud sounding mud. There's really no in between - either you don't hear the guitar at all, or it turns into ear-splitting noise.
But when you do find a small venue with good acoustics and a sound guy who actually cares to work with the band, it's a nice treat.
Post a Comment