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[Steve M Smith]

I saw DP was during their Mk 2 reunion tour in 1984 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  One of the best concerts to this day.

I also saw them in 1984 - at Knebworth.

EDIT: It was 1985!


Steve.

[Tom Roche]

I also saw them in 1984 - at Knebworth.

EDIT: It was 1985!


Steve.

I believe you're correct on the year.  August 85 for the show I saw.  I'll check my ticket stub to be sure.

[Jamin Lynch]

My gig last Saturday. Shriners ball. Lots of older folks. We furnished all backline.  The band was very good, not loud at all. Big harmony vocals. Fun to work with. Mix of country, swing and classic rock.

That '65 Fender Super Reverb on stage sounded very good, even at low volume. Drummer was in the pocket and under control. Bass was perfect.  NO issues. Real Pros.

So...it can be done.

[Rob Spence]

One of the best gigs I had was when the gtr player asked me if it would be ok for him to put his amp next to the wedge on tilt back legs and could I mic it?

Very pleasant evening 😎

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Jeremy Young]

This thread is great!  Lol. 

I got into sound after being a guitar player for 10 years.  Stage volume was always something our band took seriously (keeping it low to keep the mains in control of the mix).  I built a tube head with a licensed version of the "power scale" circuit developed by London Power.  30w cathode bias head, dialed back to about 7w and then cranked.....it got all that power-tube compression I wanted without the ear bleeding.  Got to open for Big Wreck in an 800-seat theatre with that rig before our band imploded; got lots of positive feedback after the show about my tone (and people going to see Ian Thornley know tone).

My strategies for your issue, now that I'm on the other side of the board:
1. Ask the guitar player to turn down, offer more monitor (only if they turn it down, not if they "pretend" to turn it down)
2. Ask them to turn the amp toward the back wall (with a closed back cabinet).  I find turning it to the side just creates problems for vocalists being able to hear their monitor who might now have a guitar amp in their ear.
3. If they don't heed the instructions, strike the guitar mic while muttering something along the lines of "well I guess we don't need this anymore"
4. Remind them that if people can't talk, they can't pick up dates or order drinks (bar venue application) and won't come to the next "big gig"
5. Realize they're paying me, set up some delays like you suggested with a separate mix, take a breathe and do the best you can with the sh*t they're feeding you.  Don't accept future work (if possible). 
6.  If it's a wedding and it's the groom, do nothing.  It's his day after all.

 

[Gordon Brinton]

...BTW, no one ever did answer my question about whether the amp shields are effective? Should I invest or just stop taking these gigs?

The band that I work for regularly, uses a shield in front his amp, (I think it's a little JVM combo that sits on the floor behind him). Anyway, it works very well for the house mix. It reduces beaming and I can blend him much easier. He also wants guitar in his floor wedge to supplement. However, he complains that it sounds phasey to him where he stands. I suppose that the shield shoots the sound upward which reflects off the ceiling and back to him, (probably causing comb filtering against the monitor). He says that his guitar sounds very different with every step that he takes in any direction.

Thus, worse for him, better for the mix.

EDIT: I wouldn't invest in one just yet. Instead, make one home-made using something either rigid or absorbent as a test to see if you like it.

[Tim Padrick]

The amps start to come alive when they are loud. One full stack requires earplugs when on 4. That little gain insert I bought drives the EL34 tubes hard at low volume and I can get the loud tone on it at very low volume.

Sorry, but that is not what's happening.  The signal level into the grids of the EL34s (or other output tube type) is directly related to the signal level out of the speaker jack.  This the case with any amp I'm aware of.  In the 1983 2205 for instance, the FX return drives V3b, which drives the phase inverter (V5a and V5B), which drives the master volume control, which drives the power tubes.  The distortion you are getting (at reasonable volume levels) is from V3b and/or V5.

[Steve M Smith]

Correct.  The only way to drive the EL34s hard at low volume is with attenuation between the output and the speaker. What you are doing is overdriving the preamplifier valve before the volume control.

Vox have an amp with a different approach.  They use the two triodes of an ECC83/12AX7 in a push pull configuration driving a small transformer.  Probably equivalent to a 0.5w output stage.  The output of this stage is then amplified to make it louder.  The advantage is that the overdrive comes from a push pull stage with a transformer but at low level.


Steve.

[Stephen Kirby]

Steve,
For general purpose use when needed I use a single piece of 1/8" Lexan in front of any of my amps including my Super Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, and Twin Reverbs. The stand is a slotted piece of 3/4" pine. Total cost was about $10. This is something anyone who cares, or who wants to pull their head out of their ass can do. >>snip<<

Bob, mine is just a couple of pieces of 1/4 Lexan with clear tape acting as a hinge.  The tape is the stuff you use to repair plastic inflatable mattresses and the like.  Also something anyone can do.  Around here we have a company called Tap Plastics but I'm sure there are plastics suppliers in any locale.  You can even get the stuff from Home Depot.  Now I fire polished the edges because I know how to do that.  But a little hand grease and sandpaper and anyone can round off the sharp edges.

I kind of like the 2 panel V shape as it doesn't have a flat reflective surface in front of the speaker.  As I said, it funnels the sound up to me pretty nicely.  Daniels rig with the 3 panel arrangement of one large panel and a couple of wings sound more "over there" to me.  It has a nice sound and is playable but less immediate sounding than my "V" shield.  Which may matter to someone who's used to hearing themselves head and shoulders over everything else.

Which is really where this comes from.  Most of these folks are used to playing on their own and only hearing their own instrument.  They get into a band and lose the sense of hearing themselves with all the competing noise.  Often other instruments mask certain frequency ranges the bedroom player is used to hearing from their rig.  All this leads to them turning up to get that familiar experience.  These same players also rarely play arrangements and often the whole band is composed of people trying to play the whole song by themselves.  As they do at home.  Which creates even more of a muddy mishmosh and they all try to turn up to hear themselves.

Or they read somewhere that their hero used a 1969 Super Lead and think that they have to use one too, even though their hero was trying to fill up the Avalon and they at at Joe's corner bar.

[Ned Ward]

Stephen - i know where I'm going in 2 weeks when I'm back up in San Mateo - there's a TAP plastics right there in town. On yours, is the clear tape flexible enough to fold on itself?

Also Bob and Stephen - with the plexi shield, does that work only if you have monitors for the rest of the band, or is there still enough guitar for the rest of the band? We have some guest members for whom this could be great.  And yes Stephen, agree that there is a leap from playing at home to playing in a band - you've got to become a better listener, and in some cases that means turning down so you can hear what others are doing.

As for heroes, yep, I love the sound of Pete's 60's - 80's live Hiwatt rig, but today that isn't a bar rig, club rig, or even a county fair rig now. Surprisingly (maybe because of tinnitus), his current onstage amps aren't that loud - look at the volume settings down the page:
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/fendervibroking.html

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