took my baby out to play...

[seulb-rd]

i took my d-type out to play last night...first time i played it somewhere other than in my music room/workshop. this was the first time i could crank the amp up in a large room that wasn’t full all sorts of other stuff to absorb, buzz, vibrate, and rattle. the performance of the amp was quite different than what i observed at home. venue was a 1500 sq. ft. restaurant/bar; occassion was monday night open mike. i used a custom built 2x12 convertible cab (open back last night) loaded with a celestion g12h 70th anniversary edition and an eminence red fang, both rated at 30w. no effects, not even reverb. at om’s, i usually do a solo thing playing jazz standards, old r&b, and some blues. other times, i’m backing my singer wife alone or with a pianist. i got there late, so i only had a chance to jam with some other players on some contemporary rock and jazz/latin/fusion.

observation: the clean was phenomenal: bright, clear, good definition. contrary to what guitar players usually get, people asked me to turn it up. when i did, it easily cut through the mix of another amped acoustic guitar, harp, drummer, and congas. i as well as others liked what we heard.

observation: with od a little goes a long way. i had trouble dialing in the tone i was used to at home at higher over all volume. basically, there was more od/distortion than i wanted. i like to set the amp so the od channel is like an extension of the clean: only a slight jump in volume when going into od and the amount of od/distortion is controlled by my attack on the strings and the guitar volume control (btw, i use thumb and fingers only, no pick... hey, it worked for wes ). last night i couldn’t get to that point at club volume. the sound was not bad and no one yelled turn it down when i switched to od, just not what i wanted to hear. last night made clear to me that the guitar and the (at least d-types) amp are not entirely separate entities; they are both part of the instrument. seems to me that changing any control on these amps, including the mv changes the tone. perhaps that’s why santana, rf, et al. mike their d-types.

question: for those of you who are playing 1500 sq. ft. venues and not miking the amps, what settings and or procedure are you using to make your tone consistent? obviously getting there early and doing sound checks would be great, but not always practical. i’m thinking that cutting back on the pre od trimpot might allow me to get more over all volume without more over all od. right now it’s set at <50%, about 10:30 -11:00.

now, having said all that, i need to remind myself that last night i was playing in a much louder group situation than i usually find myself and maybe the point is moot. anyway, suggestions, direction, comments...