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[Steve Garris]

Any guitar players out there? I have a house gig with a 3-piece rock band every Sunday night. The guitar player just brought in a Boss GT-1 guitar modeler/amp, and it made the entire room sound better!

He was stuck using the house's SRM350 monitor for the night, so we are looking to get something really good that will work well for guitar and some vocals. Lightweight and good sound are the key.

So far I am recommending the following, from cheapest to more expensive:
Q10.2
DSR112
NX 10-SMA
FBT StageMaxx 12 MA
NX 12-SMA

He'll be auditioning one of my DSR's next Sunday. We might also try out a K12.2.

Thoughts?

[Ben Ballard]

DSR112 all the way. If you have got the money, then that would be the monitor to go for

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[Bradford "BJ" James]

I still play occasionally and use a GT-100, usually with a DSR112 or DXR10. Either are good choices with the DSR having the obvious advantage, but more expensive.

[Jeremy Young]

There are lots of folks on guitar forums who talk up the RCF NX SMA boxes for use with various amp-modelling gear.  I've never used one but they seem to get great reviews.  Basically you're looking for something transparent so the tone your player is hearing in the wedge matches what's being sent to the mains.  What are you using for monitors for vocals and other instruments on stage?  More of the SRM350's?

[Kemper Watson]

There are lots of folks on guitar forums who talk up the RCF NX SMA boxes for use with various amp-modelling gear.  I've never used one but they seem to get great reviews.  Basically you're looking for something transparent so the tone your player is hearing in the wedge matches what's being sent to the mains.  What are you using for monitors for vocals and other instruments on stage?  More of the SRM350's?

A couple of players here use the RCF as well. Small, light, powerful and pretty flat response

[Dave Garoutte]

A couple of players here use the RCF as well. Small, light, powerful and pretty flat response

Never had anything but compliments for the RCF.  And it looks more pro than a PA speaker purposed to monitors.
You can also modify a squid or powerstrip for powercon and plug it into the speaker and eliminate an extension cord.

[Luke Geis]

I own 4 of the RCF NX12SMA's with another two on the way thanks to Mr. Pyle! While I am not sure how or why all the guitar modeling folks are so hyped up about getting what they call an FRFR setup and utilizing some of the most expensive speakers available, what I can say is that the RCF NX12SMA is no joke. I honestly feel that they should be using the same speakers that they typically encounter on a day to day basis. In this case, it would typically be any speaker found at Guitar Center or found online readily through Musicians Friend or Sam Ash and under the $1k mark.

To keep this short though. RCF NX12SMA FTW! It is just an amazing speaker that is small, light and very powerful.

[Stephen Kirby]

I've never understood the use of a full range speaker for something with a "cabinet emulator" in it that rolls off everything above 5kHz.  Maybe if you're using a guitar synth or an acoustic sim thing.

Jeff Beck uses conventional wedge boxes loaded with guitar speakers around him on stage.  If I could stand playing though a Fractal (have sat in on them with full bands, no thanks) I would build one or two Smither's wedge boxes, and load them with the EMI/Celestion speaker of my choice.

[Chris Grimshaw]

I've never understood the use of a full range speaker for something with a "cabinet emulator" in it that rolls off everything above 5kHz.  Maybe if you're using a guitar synth or an acoustic sim thing.

Jeff Beck uses conventional wedge boxes loaded with guitar speakers around him on stage.  If I could stand playing though a Fractal (have sat in on them with full bands, no thanks) I would build one or two Smither's wedge boxes, and load them with the EMI/Celestion speaker of my choice.

I believe the idea is that digital processing is "close enough" for a lot of people these days. If you need to emulate a variety of sounds, having cabs loaded with a FRFR speaker is clearly the way to do it.
Guitar speakers are part of the instrument, and will all impart their own tonality. What these guys are doing is emulating the cabinets (and other parts of the signal chain), which makes it really easy to change between sounds.

The good emulators don't just roll off above 5kHz and call it good. They'll mimic the exact frequency response, including distortion rises as you push the level.

Jeff Beck has his own sound, and that's fine. A lot of guitarists need to be able to get a similar sound to Jeff Beck, and then Slash for the next song, and then Santana, then Clapton... Without having to:
- Carry each artist's rig,
- Work with the FOH engineer to change which cab is being mic'd for every song.

The purists will say that digital can't ever be as true-to-life as a good valve amp, and they might be right. It's got to a point, though, where a lot of guitarists are just using modellers to get the sound they're after. It's less hassle and more flexible.

Chris

[Douglas R. Allen]

Find an old E.V.  SXA250.   

https://www.electrovoice.com/binary/SxA250%20EDS.pdf
They do sound great used for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5U8no_S2w

Douglas R. Allen

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