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Topic: Playing too LOUD! |
Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 26 Jul 2022 2:34 pm |
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If I set my steel where I can hear it balanced in the mix, my bandmates say I play too loud and want me to dial it down. When I do turn down, I have a hard time playing in tune and hearing myself. I usually set the Steelaire on the floor behind me a couple of feet with 3 1/2 on the Gain and 10 on Volume. If I set it next to me on a chair or facing me directly, would it help?  |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 26 Jul 2022 2:42 pm
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I always play with my amp at ear level (or close) so I can better hear it and better balance with the way too loud, egotistical guitar player. Having my amp on the ground is always a recipe for disaster.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 26 Jul 2022 3:40 pm
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Point the amp at your head and away from the other guys.
_________________
Bob |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 26 Jul 2022 6:07 pm
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| The closer you can place your amp, the better. I put mine on a milk crate immediately behind me; it's loud enough to act as my instrument monitor, and since I'm in front of it, a lot of the sound is blocked, so in an un-miced situation I can usually put the hammer down when I feel like it and nobody complains. If amps are miced, I let the "sound engineer" do what he does best. |
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Sandy Inglis
From:
Christchurch New Zealand
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 12:41 am
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I tried an in ear monitor in just one ear so I could hear my pitch! this worked, but the best solution was to have the offending guitarist moved to the other side of the band stand. He never knew why.
I now sit next to the bass player and drummer and I can hear myself without blowing the roof off!
_________________
01'Zumsteel D10 9+9; Sho Bud D10 SuperPro; 6 String Lap Steel (Homemade); Peavey Nashville 1000; Fender Deluxe 85;
1968 Gibson SG; Taylor 710 CE; Encore Tele Copy; Peterson Tuner; HIWATT T40 C 40W/20W Combo |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 2:00 am
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Luckily, the guitar player in my band doesn't fit into the overly loud and egotistical category.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Chris Brooks
From:
Providence, Rhode Island
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 6:40 am
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| I use a Gator amp stand. About $60 from Sweetwater. |
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Bobby Hearn
From:
Henrietta, Tx
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 6:53 am
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| When I raise my amp to ear level, I feel like I’m playing too loud and end up playing too low. |
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Donn Lewis
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 7:45 am Two words...
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Two words: Mud Stand
https://www.mudstand.com/
Excellent product. Will solve this problem.
_________________
Mullen Discovery 3x4
Milkman half and half 12" combo
Goodrich 120, Steeler's choice seat, Mud Stand, BJ's bar, Peterson Strobostomp HD |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 10:01 am
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| Bobby Hearn wrote: |
| When I raise my amp to ear level, I feel like I’m playing too loud and end up playing too low. |
Dittos. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 11:41 am
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| Bobby Hearn wrote: |
| When I raise my amp to ear level, I feel like I’m playing too loud and end up playing too low. |
This actually might work for me. Lower my volume on stage and try to get the sound man to put me in the mix at a decent level. That's his job, right?...ha-ha, it never seems to work that way though. Why is it that most sound men seem to fight you rather than help? But that's a topic for another thread. |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 27 Jul 2022 2:16 pm
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| Buddy Cage used to have his amp sitting right by his head, pointed at his best ear. I just can't do that, but I mess around with the position in various ways. As Bob says, point the amp at your head and away from the other guys. But to me every gig sounds different, always has and probably always will. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 28 Jul 2022 7:43 am
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old picture, but that’s how I’ve been always doing it , or close to it as possible
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Brendan Mitchell
From:
Melbourne Australia
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Posted 31 Jul 2022 8:49 pm
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| I have always been told "turn it up , we can't hear the steel" these comments come from evrywhere , my wife , main offender , my friends soundmen and unknown punters . I have taken to placing my amp in positions that make it difficult for me to hear it hoping I might play a bit louder . Sat night I put my amp on a chair just behind my right shoulder . I thought the stage sound was good , then about after the second or third song the sound man comes up to me , here we go I thought , and tells me to turn it down a notch ! I'll go back to playing at a volume I think is ok . |
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Graham Bland
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 1 Aug 2022 4:18 pm Amp
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| Buddy Emmons always put his amp flat on the floor…I asked him why one year at the INSGC and he said he could hear the separation of strings better and it didn’t kill the bass response like it does if you set the amp in a chair. |
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Bobby Hearn
From:
Henrietta, Tx
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Posted 1 Aug 2022 6:15 pm
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| That’s interesting because when I elevate my amp, it not only sounds too loud but also sounds way too bright and thin. Maybe depends on your hearing. |
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Tim Harr
From:
Dunlap, Illinois
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Posted 4 Aug 2022 9:20 am
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It may be that the rest of the band needs to turn down or the Monitors on stage need turned down. You should be able to hear your amp just fine where you have it placed.
I put my speakers on my road case for my steel - puts them at a perfect height and position for me.
_________________
Tim Harr
Mullen G2 D-10 (9p/5k)
Retired, US Army Band (Steel/Dobro/Guitar)
Kemper Profiler / LW 89 |
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Tim Harr
From:
Dunlap, Illinois
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Posted 4 Aug 2022 9:33 am
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It may be that the rest of the band needs to turn down or the Monitors on stage need turned down. You should be able to hear your amp just fine where you have it placed.
_________________
Tim Harr
Mullen G2 D-10 (9p/5k)
Retired, US Army Band (Steel/Dobro/Guitar)
Kemper Profiler / LW 89 |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 4 Aug 2022 9:54 am
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My problem is that I play in what essentially is a bluegrass/western band with no drummer or electric bass. I am the only electrified instrument on stage. In order to hear myself and play in tune I always seem to be too loud for them.
I'll try getting the amp off the floor and tilted toward my head. Would it be better behind me or to the side?
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 4 Aug 2022 2:01 pm
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Probably right behind you; that way your body is blocking what's coming from the front of your amp and whatever's going out the back (assuming your amp is open-backed) will go directly back and hopefully dissipate before it reaches your bandmates' sensitive ears.
The pic shows you in line with the other players. You might try setting up a foot or two back as well.
Here's my most recent stage rig pic.
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 4 Aug 2022 9:24 pm
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| Quote: |
The pic shows you in line with the other players. You might try setting up a foot or two back as well.
Here's my most recent stage rig pic. |
Thanks Dave, looks good! I will give that a try. |
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Bobby D. Jones
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2022 10:20 pm
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My family and several friends are blue grass players. When I play with them I try to get on the left of the rest of the band with the fiddle player first to my left, With upright bass behind the line. And put my amp on a stand to the left of me. I hear the band in my right ear, And my amp. in my left ear. So I can equalize volume with them.
I reworked a volume pedal to 270 degree pot rotation, So I have more control of volume so I can match their volume and still up volume to add sustain when needed. Have no complaints of being to loud.
If on stage using PA system, I want a monitor in front of me and mike my amp. So I can equalize my volume. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 18 Aug 2022 12:21 pm This sucks!
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Well, I gave it a good try. Put Steelaire on a folding chair behind me aimed at my head, plugged into PA, moved back as far as far as I could on such a narrow stage.
The sound was very thin, I doubled the bass volume on amp and still not full enough. Sounded more like a banjo in depth and timbre...
On the plus side, no one complained I was too LOUD 
I think I just like to play loud. I love that full, satisfying, warm sound with plenty of mojo. I learned to play at Jeff Newman's school where he showed us how to use 2 amps in stereo. He would say were not only playing in the band...you WERE the band. Maybe it's time for my solo career... 
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Frank Freniere
From:
The First Coast
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Posted 18 Aug 2022 12:54 pm
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| Yeah, I’m a Jeff Newman alum, too: I like the steel loud enough so it hurts - in a good way. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Aug 2022 2:46 pm Re: This sucks!
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| Garry Vanderlinde wrote: |
Well, I gave it a good try. Put Steelaire on a folding chair behind me aimed at my head, plugged into PA, moved back as far as far as I could on such a narrow stage.
The sound was very thin, I doubled the bass volume on amp and still not full enough. Sounded more like a banjo in depth and timbre...
On the plus side, no one complained I was too LOUD
I think I just like to play loud. I love that full, satisfying, warm sound with plenty of mojo. I learned to play at Jeff Newman's school where he showed us how to use 2 amps in stereo. He would say were not only playing in the band...you WERE the band. Maybe it's time for my solo career... |
If you had turned the amp up loud, that thin sound would have only gotten louder. Aiming the amp at your head will cure a player of being too loud, but it will also wise him up to what the tone of the amp sounds to people directly in front of it. Not everyone is hearing it that way, and it probably doesn't sound like that in the PA. But it is still very educational to set up your amp that way.
Read this on speaker directivity,
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/speaker-dispersion.469631/
Especially the comments by Jay Mitchell.
Makes you wonder why guitar amp speaker cabs don’t have the foam donut built into the baffle. |
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