Playing behind plexiglass

[Pnewsom]

So I played my first gig behind the glass on Saturday evening. It went well.



There was a 2 foot gap between the bottom of the shield and the floor, so I opted to run my JBL EON 612 like a monitor but facing out. It was situated it between myself and the keyboard player.



We could hear ourselves well, and the audience said it sounded great. The only negative was that there wasn't room for my Vibrolux so I just ran my guitar through the the mixer. It was ok, but I'll bring a Princeton next time.



It turns out that the shield is made of Lexan, not Plexiglass, so perhaps we can have a future discussion about the tonal merits of the two materials.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

So I played my first gig behind the glass on Saturday evening. It went well.



There was a 2 foot gap between the bottom of the shield and the floor, so I opted to run my JBL EON 612 like a monitor but facing out. It was situated it between myself and the keyboard player.



We could hear ourselves well, and the audience said it sounded great. The only negative was that there wasn't room for my Vibrolux so I just ran my guitar through the the mixer. It was ok, but I'll bring a Princeton next time.



It turns out that the shield is made of Lexan, not Plexiglass, so perhaps we can have a future discussion about the tonal merits of the two materials.

Maybe there's a tap test to see if it rings.
Or just a dull thud. Ha how was the sound returning back off the glass to you?
I had discussed this idea with a bar manager at a gig on Saturday. They are all trying to figure this out ..trying to survive
In these times..this pub is installing plexiglas
Behind the bar soon.

[Pnewsom]

Varmonter, the tap test revealed some nice overtones, and a pleasing resonance. It seems to take a few tunes for the Lexan to wake up, but I could feel it coming to me as the evening went on.

Actually, the sound was fine behind the shield, helped by the open space above as well as below. It was fun watching my fingers at work on the guitar in the reflection off the glass. The things I think of when I’m playing, lol!

I think I'm going to give my Bose Compact a try tomorrow night when we're back(it's a regular Wednesday, Saturday gig). We don’t need to play loudly, and it takes up less floor space than the EON does. The high frequency section of the Compact may be slightly lower the top of shield, so I'll try raising it or tilting it back a bit to compensate. However, since it's a fairly small room I doubt it will matter too difference much in any case.

A nice thing I noticed was that it’s good to be closer to the audience than I was out on the patio. We’re still at a safe distance, but it’s much easier to read and relate to folks in the same room.

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

Varmonter, the tap test revealed some nice overtones, and a pleasing resonance. It seems to take a few tunes for the Lexan to wake up, but I could feel it coming to me a the evening went on.

Actually it sounded fine behind the shield, helped by the open space above as well as below.

One interesting thing was watching my fingers at work in the reflection off the glass.

I think I'm going to give my Bose Compact a try tomorrow night when we're back(it's a regular Wednesday, Saturday gig). It takes up less floor space than the Eon, though the high frequency section at the top may get a bit shaded by the Lexan. I'll try raising the Compact or tilting it back a bit. It's a fairly small room so I doubt it will matter too much.

I think many of us would like to see a photo of this situation. Glad you've made it work for you.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

Varmonter, the tap test revealed some nice overtones, and a pleasing resonance. It seems to take a few tunes for the Lexan to wake up, but I could feel it coming to me as the evening went on.
.

I can see in AGF future threads discussing ad nauseam the merits of using a tone rite
On our plexiglass shields. Pages of discussion on whether or not plexiglass
Has a break in period or not.. lol

[Brent Hahn]

If there's no lid on the plexi shield, can you get the PA speakers up high enough that you hear more high end?

[Pnewsom]

Brent, there is no lid, but the shield extends above my head by a foot or so, and there's a gap between it and ceiling of about three feet. I'll keep the Bose inside our box situated between my partner and myself. The two foot gap below the shield should let the bottom unit of the Bose be heard, and the only question is how well the high frequencies make it past the shield at the top. I'm sure it will sound nice inside our box, just concerned about the sound outside.

We play there again this evening, and the patrons and staff will let us know how it sounds. If the Bose struggles, I'll go back to the JBL EON on the floor which worked well last Saturday.