Used my Lonestar for the first time with a band...

[polishcomedy]

I rehearsed with a country group today. Drums, Keys, Bass, Vocals. I had to prop it up on a piano bench cuz it was hard to hear what was going on. It sounded very muddy to me. I think next time I'm going to bring a Shure SM57 and mic it...send it to the PA they have there. Do you guys mic your amps at practice? Do you have a problem getting good sound and loud enough volume with a full band?

Also, I get some bad noise out of my system unless I touch metal on my telecaster or touch a metal connector on a 1/4" cable or something. I'm thinking of getting a wristband like computer tech's wear, attached to the guitar to keep it grounded and the noise out. Even my MXR smartgate won't kill it. Any of you guys have this problem?

 

[boogiemon]

Make sure you're using the diode rectifier.

I rehearsed with a country group today. Drums, Keys, Bass, Vocals. I had to prop it up on a piano bench cuz it was hard to hear what was going on. It sounded very muddy to me. I think next time I'm going to bring a Shure SM57 and mic it...send it to the PA they have there. Do you guys mic your amps at practice? Do you have a problem getting good sound and loud enough volume with a full band?

Also, I get some bad noise out of my system unless I touch metal on my telecaster or touch a metal connector on a 1/4" cable or something. I'm thinking of getting a wristband like computer tech's wear, attached to the guitar to keep it grounded and the noise out. Even my MXR smartgate won't kill it. Any of you guys have this problem?

 

[webe123]

I don't know what you mean by it sounding "muddy"! I could probably make mine sound like that, but it has always sounded great ever since I have gotten it....on BOTH channels! It has never sounded "muddy" to me at all!

Could it be you have it EQ'd wrong?

And no, I have not seemed to have the grounding or whatever problems you have with buzzing, my Lonestar classic 2x12 (50/100 watt) does fantastic in a live situation.

 

[Mork]

Do you have a problem getting good sound and loud enough volume with a full band?

Only when the bass player is too loud. I make him turn down rather than me turn up. I don't see the point in rehearsing at gig volumes.

Also, I get some bad noise out of my system unless I touch metal on my telecaster or touch a metal connector on a 1/4" cable or something. I'm thinking of getting a wristband like computer tech's wear, attached to the guitar to keep it grounded and the noise out. Even my MXR smartgate won't kill it. Any of you guys have this problem?

Have you tried a different guitar through your amp? have you tried just your guitar and a good quality lead? Is the jack socket on your guitar corroded?

 

[plan-x]

That grounding buzz is usually the guitar. Gotta keep the bass/mids below 12:00, and treb/pres above 12:00 to cut the mud. Some pedals can contribute to the mud also.

 

[nemesys]

Also, I get some bad noise out of my system unless I touch metal on my telecaster or touch a metal connector on a 1/4" cable or something. I'm thinking of getting a wristband like computer tech's wear, attached to the guitar to keep it grounded and the noise out. Even my MXR smartgate won't kill it. Any of you guys have this problem?

Buzzing that goes away when you touch your guitar is actually YOU becoming grounded when you touch the strings, not the guitar grounding through you (if the guitar is ever grounded through you, you'll know it -- you'll probably make hot electrified water in your pants). Unless you're barefoot on a concrete floor or something like that, you aren't a very good ground path anyway, which is a good thing.

Human beings are just really good antennas, and you're picking up some RF noise from somewhere. Your idea of using a computer technicians wristband is very good; it's a device designed to do exactly what you need to do, keep yourself grounded.

 

[pmtrub]

Do you have a problem getting good sound and loud enough volume with a full band?

Only when the bass player is too loud. I make him turn down rather than me turn up. I don't see the point in rehearsing at gig volumes.

Not necessarily when the bass player is too loud, but we recently realized that if we turned down his bass knob on his amp, suddenly everything else in the room could breath and be heard... suddenly his mid/high end had definition too, weird.... :lol:

 

[MusicManJP6]

That grounding buzz is usually the guitar. Gotta keep the bass/mids below 12:00, and treb/pres above 12:00 to cut the mud. Some pedals can contribute to the mud also.

I was able to test drive a Lonestar combo recently and really liked it. It was muddy until we turned the bass knob down to like 9:00 and then it was much better. It tightened up even more when we plugged up to a 4x12 (the closed back was the key here not necessary the 4 speakers). I was very impressed! It had much more gain than I expected, but a pedal would certainly take it to a whole new level.

 

[djw]

Never had a problem being heard with my LSC, ever. In fact it's been the best amp I've ever had simply for being heard, and this is something I have had a real problem with in the past.

Otherwise, I concur with most of the advice above: cut the lows and tighten your tone; and really check the rest of the elements-- drummer and bass player especially -- aren't hogging the soundscape. Lastly, don't be afraid to turn the thing up.

 

[toneguy86]

Never had a problem being heard with my LSC, ever. In fact it's been the best amp I've ever had simply for being heard, and this is something I have had a real problem with in the past.

Otherwise, I concur with most of the advice above: cut the lows and tighten your tone; and really check the rest of the elements-- drummer and bass player especially -- aren't hogging the soundscape. Lastly, don't be afraid to turn the thing up.

When you add keys to the mix it does add a whole lotta competition for the same sound space even at lower volumes. Cutting the lows does clean the mud some. Others have talked about adding presense and going to diodes rather then tube rectos. I can see the presense to some extent although it does change the feel of the guitar some. What does switching to diodes do though?

Mark

 

[polishcomedy]

We played again tonight. This time I moved my Barber Tone Press to the front of my pedal chain. I really don't think that in and of itself fixed it, but I had no noise issues tonight. I also mic'd my amp with a Shure SM57 and ran it through the PA. Much better sound tonight. I'm doing my first gig with them Sunday!