Obsessed with our live sound!

[starship trooper]

So I play in a band once every week. I am completely convinced that our live sound sounds like garbage. In particular, my guitar sounds way too thin/bright. No matter what, it always sounds like that in the venue we play at.

Unfortunately, I'm a complete noob when it comes to live sound. I have never even miced by amp before, so I guess that's where my thin tone comes from. (We only mic the vocals, but we have enough mics for my amp; it's just too inconvenient to mic everything.)

I can tell our mix isn't very good because, well, the more musically inclined audience members have complained about it.

Some questions:

1) Would micing up my amp and therefore getting access to a mixer allow me to beef up my sound/tame the highs? Silly question, but I feel like it's a lot harder than I think it is.

2) I'm planning on quitting this band eventually, and forming one more suited to my style of music - prog rock. At one point, in the band King Crimson, as I'm sure many of you know, there were two guitarists, two bass/stick players, and two drummers - the "double trio" that made up the band. I want to start a band based on that concept. How difficult would it be to pull off a great mix live?

Thanks for reading,

starship trooper

[Plankton]

Well, the first thing to look at would be your amp. Mic'ing it will only reproduce the sound coming out of it through the PA. I'm guessing you have a Line 6 product, or similar (solid state). They're known for having very thin tone.

Bottom line here is $$$

On q#2, it wouldn't be difficult at all, if you've got the chops.

Bottom line here is 'Talent' combined with 'Discipline'.

[starship trooper]

Originally Posted by Plankton

Well, the first thing to look at would be your amp. Mic'ing it will only reproduce the sound coming out of it through the PA. I'm guessing you have a Line 6 product, or similar (solid state). They're known for having very thin tone.

Quite the opposite; I have a Blues Jr and a Telecaster, and I use some very good distortion pedals (a Rat and a Big Muff clone).

Could there be the possibility that I'm overreacting? Like, I remember one time I asked this audience member two questions: 1) how was the tone? and 2) was the volume too loud/quiet?. The audience member told me that I sounded great, and the volume was fine.

BTW, I put my BJ on an amp stand. It sounds fine from the stage, but every time I walk into the audience during the soundcheck, it doesn't sound as good. So I'm guessing a mic would capture the good sound I'm getting from the stage, and send it through the PA so that the audience could hear what I'm hearing?

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by starship trooper

Quite the opposite; I have a Blues Jr and a Telecaster, and I use some very good distortion pedals (a Rat and a Big Muff clone).

Could there be the possibility that I'm overreacting? Like, I remember one time I asked this audience member two questions: 1) how was the tone? and 2) was the volume too loud/quiet?. The audience member told me that I sounded great, and the volume was fine.

BTW, I put my BJ on an amp stand. It sounds fine from the stage, but every time I walk into the audience during the soundcheck, it doesn't sound as good. So I'm guessing a mic would capture the good sound I'm getting from the stage, and send it through the PA so that the audience could hear what I'm hearing?

In that case, yes by all means mic that sucker up. If you start with good tone, you get good tone out. Sounds like it's just a matter of volume. A bit of EQ'ing on the PA end and you should have something good to work with.

Keep in mind, although I've played many shows, with quite a few different set-ups, I'm no expert.

[Dr_Rez]

Originally Posted by Plankton

In that case, yes by all means mic that sucker up. If you start with good tone, you get good tone out. Sounds like it's just a matter of volume. A bit of EQ'ing on the PA end and you should have something good to work with.

Keep in mind, although I've played many shows, with quite a few different set-ups, I'm no expert.

Agreed. If you get a good sound out of your amp then I would suggest going to the sound guy and telling him what you want. He will most likely be happy to work with you in EQing and getting the sound that you like.