Playing Live

[indieboy]

I play in a 6 piece and, until recently, we'd been using individual amps on the backline to get our sound. As we're playing bigger gigs we're now all going thro' a Behringer mixing desk before the main PA power amp. Can any of the gurus out there tell me what the best way is to get a signal from my amp to the mixing desk?

I'm guessing the answer is mic the cab. If so, any ideas about what the best mic is (at sensible prices) and where it should be positioned (I've no experience of micing cabs). As a short term fix, I've been using the slave out on my ROV series 2 combo direct to the desk but it sounds crap and tinny. I'm not surprised - I know it's not designed for this. However, is it possible to get some sort of speaker emulator box to get a decent line out signal from the amp??

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[MesallicA]

best to mic the cab, the standard mic for this would be the shure Sm57. Its best to try different micing positions on each speaker to find which one sounds best. I usually have it slightly of axis to he center of the cone, and only a couple of centermeters back.

I know it's not designed for this. However, is it possible to get some sort of speaker emulator box to get a decent line out signal from the amp??

you can do this but its much better imo to mic the cab, and cheaper. Especially in live situations when you get to have your amp cranked and the speakers are moving alot of air, it just sounds better.

 

[disassembled]

To me a good idea would be to do two things: 1. get a shure SM57 or similar and plop it infront of your speaker(mic placement just takes a lot of tweaks and small movements until you like the tone) 2. get a behringer direct box with speaker simulator and connect it to the slave out or between the speaker and the amp to go direct to the board. These 2 solutions will provide you with the most widely used ways to bring the signal from your guitar to the mixing desk.

You may only like 1 of the options at a time or you may like a mixture of the two but both are cheap enough to try for you to decide. The benefit of going direct through the speaker sim direct box is that you are not adding mics which can be a pain to setup or may cause unwanted feedback.

An SM57 is about 70-100 and the behringer direct box is $35 (i own both).

Good luck

 

[Bill Warner]

I also have both an sm57 and the behringer di box with speaker emulator (the red one). I prefer to use the di box becuase it's one less mic to deal with and you dont have to mess with positioning it or someone kicking/moving it during the gig. Just an fyi, if you use the di box I typically find that I need to cut a couple db's around 2.5K to get some of the harshness out. And dont forget it uses phantom power so you'll need some 9v batteries if your board doesn't supply it.

IMO the 57 sounds better but the di box is more practical.

Also, I dont know about using the slave output. I dont think you're getting the signal you want but I could be wrong. I generally just use one of the extra speaker outputs on the amp without any problems. Or you can put the di box between the amp and speaker. Generally on the combos they dont leave you enough slack speaker wire to do this though. Thats why I plug it into one of the 4 ohm speaker outputs.

 

[ned]

With a 57 you will need a mic stand too. I use a Sennheiser e609 Silver mainly because you can just drape it over the amp into position. If needed I use a small piece of gaf tape (doesn't leave residue) to hold it into position.

Either mic will do the job.

Another alternative is to find a H&K Red Box 2 which you insert between the head and speaker cabinet, this acts as a direct box with cab simulator.

 

[indieboy]

Many thanks - great advice and much appreciated.

You've got to love the internet. Guys from Japan, Australia and the US helping a Brit make music. Small world eh?