Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Ok, this is the story. I have a big show coming up in January. The issue is my setup. I am breaking down as we speak and buying a copy of Guitar Rig, which is about as useful as they come. (it will do just about any sound or combination thereof.)

What I want to know is the best way to hook this sh*t up. (I have never used it live)

I figure it should be Guitar>LAPTOP>Yamaha EMX 300(powered mixing board)> Marshall JCM 800 (mid 80's w/ 4 inputs)> (2) Peavey 4x12 cabinets. (I also have 2 more Peavey 2x15 cabs, if needed)

Would you use a power amp? (how big? what power rating?) Is there a better way to hook this up?

If I am going to use the house PA, how would I do it correctly?

There is to be a sound guy, but I don't trust in anyone. I'd like to know the better way, so i can do it right the first time.

I would really appreciate any honest input. I am a little confused and bow to those who have used a similar setup in the past.

Thank you greatly in advance.

-S.

Im curious, what have you got in the lap top? and why go to a mixer? I would bypass the mixer and go straight to the amp. But then thru the years Ive got a very basic approach to my setup.

The last gig I did a couple of weeks ago I just ran straight from the guitar , Morely Bad Horsie Wah, and then straight into my Mesa Triple and into a 4x12. I also have an old Sunn Model T head and another 4x12 if Im going to be outside I just slave out of the Mesa to the Sunn. But its really to loud.

You need to learn to trust the sound guy, I used to run sound and 90% of the guitar players played so loud I couldnt put them in the mix. I used to carry a little fender amp (10 watts) with me as a backup. One night my main amp went down and I put the little amp behind my cab miced it with a SM 57 and sounded great. Of course Im the typical guitarist when I got my amp fixed I went right back loud as hell. But you know those 7 or 8 gigs I did with that little amp sounded real good cause the soundman could put me in the PA and let it do its job.

Im just mumbling now.........time to go

After thinking for another minute about your deal.

Since your gig is jan you have some time to play with your setup. You could run your guitar into the pa mixer, loop the computer into the effects loop and drive one of the cabs with the pa mixer. Then come out of the monitor loop and go to the Marshall with a clean signal and go to a cab. Then you would have a good clean guitar in the Marshall and use the pa for your preamp and effects(which Im assuming are in the computer).

Back a few years ago I would run 2 half stacks with effects in one set to a clean sound and the other just a cranked dry guitar sound. I used to do this with a Whammy pedal as my split. It worked well it was just a little noisy. I was always the only guitar so I could get away with stuff that people who work with other guitarist cant always get away with.

Just play with your setup.

I don't need a clean channel. LOL There is no such animal for my purposes.

I may need to switch back and forth, but the foot switch for GUITAR RIG 2 will do that nicely.

The reason I use the powered mixer is that it allows me to fine tune the sound.

I used to use guitar>prescription electronics THE EXPERIENCE> Sweet sounds mojo vibe > dunlop cry baby wah> Marshall head> (2) 4x12's.

Give me what you would do, I never used digital stuff before and I like to think I am truly an analog cadaver, but the GUITAR RIG 2 is under my skin like a virus. It sounds so damn good, I may throw away my stop pedals forever (echo)

Please advise.

I don't need a clean channel. LOL There is no such animal for my purposes.

I may need to switch back and forth, but the foot switch for GUITAR RIG 2 will do that nicely.

The reason I use the powered mixer is that it allows me to fine tune the sound.

I used to use guitar>prescription electronics THE EXPERIENCE> Sweet sounds mojo vibe > dunlop cry baby wah> Marshall head> (2) 4x12's.

Give me what you would do, I never used digital stuff before and I like to think I am truly an analog cadaver, but the GUITAR RIG 2 is under my skin like a virus. It sounds so damn good, I may throw away my stomp pedals forever (echo)

Please advise.

I always start with a wah pedal. In your case I would go thru the exp, effects and then hit the Marshall and 1 4x12.

Do you need 2 cabs? How big is the venue? What about the sound system?

Scott, You got my curiousity up. I found guitar rig at this site

http://www.native-instruments.com/index ... igcontrol3

Im assuming this is what you bought.

Looking at the diagragms. I would think you go to a wah or any stomp pedals first then into the midi pedal. From the backside you could stereo out to your amp and a 4x12 and maybe the pa head to your other 4x12. Looks like this would give you a killer stereo setup. Once you get that guitar rig, post on here what you think about it. That might be on my Christmas list!

JW

Oh I already used guitar rig 2 in private. It replaces all pedal you could want.

I think it will do an ungodly 26 some things at 1 time.

WEird-juicy sounds.. It's like an everlasting gobstopper.

Scott,

I was looking at this thing again and you can set it for a crossover. You could split the signal and kick your lows thru that pa head and 2x15s for some serious low end. Are people using these things for live work, all the testimonials seem to revolve around recording. How much does the software and pedal cost? My days of live playing are probably about gone, and these rig looks really good for recording.

JW

It appears to be a question of the foot switch. If you can get a foot switch, you can get a version of the software online.

The foot switch does all the work, so that if you do not have one your music can have latency issues. (it will be slow) The foot switch removes the latency in addition to it's reg functions.

It looks like whole thing is 350-450, but some many people are jacking up the price. I saw it somewhere for 700, pedal and all. You can an academic version or software only. You can get it for 200 if you know the people.

The versatility is unreal. The weird thing, is that was guitar rig 2. The just had a new one come out, Guitar Rig 3. (gulp) I think I just pee'd a little. lol

Thanks Im still stuck in the stone (tube) ages.

I got to find someone that has one of these to try out.

See Ya

Have A Good Weekend

JW

I recommend that you do not try it. I was an all tube brain, until I tried this.

It's a powerful virus that is more addictive than anything I know of. lol (that covers a lot of things)

How was that show? I like GR but I have my reservations about it. Doesnt mean i can't pull up my exact same setup and get the same sound i get in real life. that's pretty cool. So when I cant record my amp, i can fire up GR and pull up my rig and go to town, but I dont know of anyone yet using it live.

It sounded so good, I didn't want to stop playing.

I ended up running my Jap 1970 50's RI Strat with v neck + laptop > Marshall head > 2 (4x12's) + 2 (2x15's), split like JW was talking about.

I did, however, have a volume problem. After the 1st set I was near deaf and then I really turned it up. I could see the people wincing in pain from the deafening volume, but they were digging the technicolor yawn of the music.

In the end I didn't even get "THE TALK". ( bar owner and loudness )
My ears did ring for 24 hours and the bass player was bitching that he couldn't hear his bass. LOL

I love Guitar Rig, it replaces very pedal I ever had and ever will have. You gotta have the foot pedal though.

Scott

Where have you been?

What does your bass player use for an amp?

4x15s and 8x12s, that had to be loud.

Ive always played halfstacks, recently I added another 4x12 to where I could stack a couple up. The first gig I did was so loud in my ear I had to disconnect the top cab and just run the bottom. I must be getting old.