adjusting your sound ;on your own.

[eyesore]

hi; ive wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. I'm a solo guitar player , I play thru a fishman soloamp. after I'm set up, I can't tell what I sound like.is it too loud ,too muddy ,tinny no loud enough?? it seems to sound muddy coming from the soloamp; ... ever once in a while someone will say ;"turn it up" or turn it down" .I jus can't tell. what tricks do you guys use? ....my problem is; is that I don't hear very well.

[jwp2]

I have the same problem sometimes with my pa that I lay through. I usually try to dial in a sound (vocals and guitar) that I think sounds good and just go from there. If I feel it sounds too muddy I'll back off the lows(bass) and to thin of a sound I'll either turn up the bass or turn down the highs depending on the overall sound.
As far as volume goes, I'll sometimes just ask the audience if they feel its too loud and most of the time that seems to work. Of course when 10 different people give you 10 different answers you do have to make your own judgment call though.

Good luck, John.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; ive wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. I'm a solo guitar player , I play thru a fishman soloamp. after I'm set up, I can't tell what I sound like.is it too loud ,too muddy ,tinny no loud enough?? it seems to sound muddy coming from the soloamp; ... ever once in a while someone will say ;"turn it up" or turn it down" .I jus can't tell. what tricks do you guys use? ....my problem is; is that I don't hear very well.

You need to either put the amp in a position where it can also operate as a monitor--or get a small powered monitor and run it from the line out of the amp.

Another trick is to use something like a looper pedal to record a bit of your playing. Then you can go out into the house to hear how it sounds and tweak accordingly. Just remember that in small settings, the sound from the amp will be blending with the natural acoustic sound of your guitar.

If, as your last sentence perhaps suggests, the problem is your own hearing, you'll just need to bring someone whose ears you trust to the show and have them listen for you as you tweak.

Louis

Originally Posted by lschwart

Another trick is to use something like a looper pedal to record a bit of your playing. Then you can go out into the house to hear how it sounds and tweak accordingly.

I do this. It's not foolproof, but at least I can hear me playing and not rely on someone else's hearing or playing. Also, unless you are playing at particularly high volumes, place the speaker where you can hear it as well so you know what's going out to the house. Monitors let you hear you, but they are not always indicative of what it sounds like to the front of house.

[guitargabor]

My situation was very similar.

I use a powered stage monitor and it allows you to dial in the appropriate sound level.

Even with a very senior audience,no tomatoes!

[kydave]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; ive wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. I'm a solo guitar player , I play thru a fishman soloamp. after I'm set up, I can't tell what I sound like.is it too loud ,too muddy ,tinny no loud enough?? it seems to sound muddy coming from the soloamp; ... ever once in a while someone will say ;"turn it up" or turn it down" .I jus can't tell. what tricks do you guys use? ....my problem is; is that I don't hear very well.

That is a problem. Have you had it checked to see how bad?

Until I did, I couldn't understand my soundman's (and best friend and music partner) complaints that "It's already screaming!!" when I'd say "Give me more monitor."

So until you address your hearing loss (if that is what you mean) you are walking in a minefield. You get it loud enough to serve as monitoring for yourself and you risk blowing out the audience. You tailor it to them and you're missing what you need to hear.

Check hearing first.

Meanwhile, if at all possible, have someone whose hearing and taste you trust at each venue, and have them let you know when your volume is OK, then trust them and don't mess with it.

P.S. "Muddy" is very probably due to (assuming "I don't hear very well" indicates hearing loss) losing hearing in the higher range, which is where it tends to drop off first, either from age or from too much loud stuff, be it shooting, live music, industrial, etc. That high end loss is why of lot of old farts like mahogany guitars nowadays instead of the rosewood they used to love. They've lost their high end hearing & either don't realize and just think their taste has changed or they realize it but haven't done anything about it, other than switching to a less bassy, possibly more trebly guitar.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; ive wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. I'm a solo guitar player , I play thru a fishman soloamp. after I'm set up, I can't tell what I sound like.is it too loud ,too muddy ,tinny no loud enough?? it seems to sound muddy coming from the soloamp; ... ever once in a while someone will say ;"turn it up" or turn it down" .I jus can't tell. what tricks do you guys use? ....my problem is; is that I don't hear very well.

Hi eyesore…

Several things we do…

• Ask reliable people who's opinion we trust to give us a 'reading' on the room
• I'll lay a passage of a couple minutes of strumming and picking on my looper and go into the room and listen
• Have someone else play while we walk around in the room and listen

[Psalad]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; ive wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. I'm a solo guitar player , I play thru a fishman soloamp. after I'm set up, I can't tell what I sound like.is it too loud ,too muddy ,tinny no loud enough?? it seems to sound muddy coming from the soloamp; ... ever once in a while someone will say ;"turn it up" or turn it down" .I jus can't tell. what tricks do you guys use? ....my problem is; is that I don't hear very well.

Looper pedal.

[jseth]

When I used a more conventional PA system, I never liked using monitors... yet, at the same time, I REALLY wanted to hear what I sounded like... because, in truth, after over 45 years of performing, I have finally realized that there is one person at every gig I have done that really wanted to hear me... and that person is ME!!!

I always set up my PA so that I could hear the main speakers... I'd have them on stands and "****" them back towards me slightly, just so I could hear what the audience was hearing as well...

Now I use a Bose L1 Model II, and one of the many reasons I love this system so much is that the performer hears exactly what the audience is hearing! I set up the Bose with the 'tower" behind me and angled off to my left; ideally, I would have about 8-12 feet between me and the main tower of the system. I keep it off my left side because I play right-handed, and I want the main box of my guitar to be removed from the "line of fire" of the output of the speakers... this helps reduce any feedback from the guitar.

So, you could try that method; put your Soloamp off your left shoulder and a ways away (if possible)... then "angle" the unit so that you can hear where you're sitting, but not blocking the overall output of the PA. You may have to monkey about a bit to get the angle that works best for you...

Another thing is, get yourself a long guitar cord, like 20-30 feet, and then walk out into the audience area after you have things set the way they sound good to you... of course, you will want to careful when trailing a long cord behind you, but you will get a good idea of how your rig sounds "out there". One caveat would be that IF you are using a high-impedance pickup (like a K&K without a preamp), you will get signal loss at 20-30 feet (generally the high end rolls off, along with the low end... and things can sound very muddy)... if you have a preamp or a battery in your guitar, then you are probably okay to do this as a test, but I wouldn't use a 20' cable on stage unless I had to...

Do find out the extent of your hearing loss... once you discover what you aren't hearing, then you can modify the settings on your Fishman accordingly... for instance, I know that I've lost a bit of my high frequency hearing, so if my sound is bright or thin, at all, I KNOW that it's REALLY bright "out there" for folks with more normal hearing... so I can compensate for that.

Having a trusted set of ears in the audience is always good, but I trust myself first...

[krisls]

I am aware of my own slight loss of highs on the hearing front and also have mild tinnitus. No huge problem most of the time, just lose the specific in the noise sometimes. Just find myself tilting my head to the 'cleaner' side.

Placement matters, I have my speaker/s set to the side/s shoulder/head height and mostly don't have to tweak too much. Some for highly reflective or dead surrounds and minor tweaks for volume as things progress. Can do the looper thing if needed but seldom have to. Besides I can't check vocals that way.

It certainly helps if someone you trust is there to give a thumbs up .. or not.

Start modestly and adjust as you need to, should not be much really if you have it set okay from the go.

Kris

Kris

[slewis]

Originally Posted by lschwart

You need to either put the amp in a position where it can also operate as a monitor--or get a small powered monitor and run it from the line out of the amp.

Another trick is to use something like a looper pedal to record a bit of your playing. Then you can go out into the house to hear how it sounds and tweak accordingly. Just remember that in small settings, the sound from the amp will be blending with the natural acoustic sound of your guitar.

If, as your last sentence perhaps suggests, the problem is your own hearing, you'll just need to bring someone whose ears you trust to the show and have them listen for you as you tweak.

Louis

Systems like the SA and the Bose systems, that do also work as monitor systems, don't necessarily solve the problem for you of knowing what the appropriate volume is "out there." I have the same issues and also use an SA220. It's a monitor for me too but as with any system, the projection changes with distance and other factors. I guess, after lots of gigs, I've just gotten accustomed to settings that work with most places and I adjust up or down as the room size and audience size vary. The looper pedal is a good idea because at least it gives you some idea of what the volume is out there that you can check with your own ears. If you find a good guitar level out in the audience area with the looper, and then you find a good matching vocal-mic level stationed at your mic, I'd think you're pretty close to a good level overall. And depending on the venue, I'll ask someone on the staff who I think will put just a little effort into it to give me their thoughts on the volume and mix.

[Andy Howell]

I position an AER amp,is much the same way as the Bose system described. If it is a small room you should be OK with this setup. Otherwise the looper idea seems pretty practical to me.

[Mr Fixit eh]

I use a looper pedal. I also use a hand held recorder to record every performance. This gives me an objective opinion on what it sounded like after-the-fact.

Steve

[cotten]

I use a looper to play back what I just did (all of it at once, and sometimes separately), then go out into the room to see how it sounds. This works, provided a) that you play back the looper at the same volume as you played live, and b) that your hearing is sufficient to be able to tell. If it's not, I recommend getting the proper hearing aids.

cotten