cab tone when facing me

[Devon8822]

When im facing the speakers of my cab from the front the tone sounds really harsh, thin, and nasty (this is with all my amps - 6505+, Laney VH100R, Mesa Mark IV)... but when I am not facing or I am beside the amp or it is facing the opposite direction, my tone sounds thick, sustainy, and musical.
I have never heard anyone talk about how massive of a difference facing you speakers makes. Is this normal? Why do people face their speakers towards them? inform me plz. thanks

 

[primal]

When im facing the speakers of my cab from the front the tone sounds really harsh, thin, and nasty (this is with all my amps - 6505+, Laney VH100R, Mesa Mark IV)... but when I am not facing or I am beside the amp or it is facing the opposite direction, my tone sounds thick, sustainy, and musical.
I have never heard anyone talk about how massive of a difference facing you speakers makes. Is this normal? Why do people face their speakers towards them? inform me plz. thanks

It's normal enough that there is a product out there to help prevent it.

http://www.webervst.com/blocker.html

Are your speakers at ear level?

 

[MarkofXlnts]

I play on stage at my church every week, and I have experienced the same thing. I try to keep two things in mind when I set up my amps. First, I make sure I can hear myself on stage through the mix. I always mic my amp and have it facing toward me, so I can use it as my own monitor. We have a lot of instruments and you can get lost in the mix on stage as the acoustics are not very good. Second, the important thing is how my tone translates through the board and the mains. I work closely with the sound man to make sure everything sounds good. If the sound coming through the mains is good I am less concerned about what I hear directly in front of me on stage.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

What kind of cab is it and what type of speakers are in it?

I've recently been finding that in a certain 2x12 I have, the opposite is generally true; i.e., the speakers sound best when I listen to them dead-on and take on a certain fizzy character if I am hearing them off-axis.

 

[Tfunk Ian]

I always make adjustments to a guitar sound with my head directly in front of the speakers, especially if it is being mic'd. The sound coming directly out of the speaker is what is going to be picked up by the microphone so I always make sure that that's what sounds the best to me. If you are just practicing in your bedroom, make it sound good to you where you are normally positioned when you practice. However, most likely that sound will not translate well live or onto a recording, and you will have to dial it in if that is the case. Let me tell you something about sound guys (I am one so this comes from personal experience), above all other things, we HATE terrible guitar tones. The reason for this is because they are almost impossible to work with. That and feedback...

 

[MetalMofo]

yea man...i know what you mean. when i am in front of my speakers, the mids really come out, it does get harsher. but i run my mark 3 master at 5, and lead master at 4 when jamming. your volume may something to do with it. when not in the straight direction of speakers my tone sounds like a suped up beefyness of metallica with a mix of LoG smoothness. idk, its hard to explain, but in front of the speakers it does sound like its harsher, cause my ears are so full of white noise but tone wise the mids come out more, and is SUPER present in front of the speakers. i use a 2x12 avatar with v30's. if that makes a diff.

what speakers do you have, and wut amp?