Quote:
Originally Posted by Nama Ensou
Quoted for truth!
Anyone running sound, on any level, would do well to at least learn signal chain basics 101.
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Yes, but some of the more popular open mics manage to be popular (for various reasons)
despite the lack of a sound person with signal chain smarts. Sometimes its helpful for the players to have some signal chain smarts of their own, and to be able to offer guidance when needed.
I recall one very popular open mic where the volunteer soundman was using an old Fishman G preamp (fixed gain of 9db, or something close to that) with all the guitars, including the active system guitars. One guitar was severely overdriving the preamp and I had to tell him to just take the signal directly into a line input. (He probably presumed the distortion was coming from the guitar itself.)
This open mic had previously employed the host's Fishman Platinum preamp (with an adjustable gain/trim control) with all the guitars for purposes of EQ adjustments, level adjustments and impedance matching (with the passive pickups). When that preamp got stolen, they mistakenly hoped the Fishman G could do the same job. Live and learn. That extremely beloved open mic would never have come into existence if the host (and his soundman buddy) had had to pass a signal chain exam. Fortunately. they were willing to just jump in and learn on the job.