Question:
I'm not exactly sure where to put this but... I am actually having stage volume issues with my PODxt Live. What I believe could help this is a set of in-ear monitors. Basically,in my youth group's band, we play quite loud and I'm actually having trouble hearing myself. It turns out that my guitar was completely out of the mains in the church's p.a.(the build seats around 300) and it was still too loud. I was wondering if there are any suggestions people have on good systems. I am probably going to have to take care of this before I spend money on a new guitar as this could cause problems for sound people.

I really hope that I can get a job to help support myself and my equipment because this stuff is getting more expensive and my parents aren't exactly raking it in if you catch my drift. So something that is affordable, it doesn't have to be really top-of-the-line yet as I am still and amature so I don't need custom molded ear-buds.
Answer:
well for a couple of hundred you can find a basic wireless unit that will let you do in ear monitoring. another option to consider is to grab a small stand monitor like many orchestras use. some of these have a head phone jack or can be adapted to have on
Answer:
Sounds to me like the rest of your band is as much of the problem as you are. It doesn't take much volume at all in a church setting before they'll have to take you out of the mains...and once that happens the sound person loses control of the mix and is basically useless. If there are live acoustic drums and not an electric kit, the first thing they need to do is get a drum shield. After that they can be mic'ed if needed, but that's doubtful in a church of that size...if so, then only minimally. Everyone else should either be direct to the house or have their amp mic'ed and kept *as low as possible* while still being able to hear themselves. Everyone should stay next to their own amp or sound source (like a monitor) so they won't have to turn up louder. What kind of amp are you playing through and how much power is it? Could just be that you have way too much power for that kind of setting, too, so you can't control the volume well enough at lower levels. Sounds to me that first and foremost you have a stage volume issue that needs to be fixed before you worry about buying an in-ear monitor system.
**EDIT** Also, one of the most important points to follow in that kind of setting is to point your amp or monitor AT YOUR HEAD. Don't point it at the audience and turn it completely away from them if at all possible. Pointing it at your head is the most important step as your ears are what hear the sounds...not your knees, so why do half of the musicians I see have their amp pointed there. Doing that and keepign your amp pointed away from the crowd will first allow you to hear better, letting you turn down some, and secondly allow the sound person to actually put you in the mains and get some sort of mix from the band.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Brent Sounds to me like the rest of your band is as much of the problem as you are. It doesn't take much volume at all in a church setting before they'll have to take you out of the mains...and once that happens the sound person loses control of the mix and is basically useless. If there are live acoustic drums and not an electric kit, the first thing they need to do is get a drum shield. After that they can be mic'ed if needed, but that's doubtful in a church of that size...if so, then only minimally. Everyone else should either be direct to the house or have their amp mic'ed and kept *as low as possible* while still being able to hear themselves. Everyone should stay next to their own amp or sound source (like a monitor) so they won't have to turn up louder. What kind of amp are you playing through and how much power is it? Could just be that you have way too much power for that kind of setting, too, so you can't control the volume well enough at lower levels. Sounds to me that first and foremost you have a stage volume issue that needs to be fixed before you worry about buying an in-ear monitor system.

**EDIT** Also, one of the most important points to follow in that kind of setting is to point your amp or monitor AT YOUR HEAD. Don't point it at the audience and turn it completely away from them if at all possible. Pointing it at your head is the most important step as your ears are what hear the sounds...not your knees, so why do half of the musicians I see have their amp pointed there. Doing that and keepign your amp pointed away from the crowd will first allow you to hear better, letting you turn down some, and secondly allow the sound person to actually put you in the mains and get some sort of mix from the band.
Well, the one thing about my church is that it's also a private school and the auditorium is basically a gym, only there aren't wood floors. And, I don't even use an amp. I'm using a PODxt Live direct into the p.a. We are using two JBL 18" subs, as well as two JBL passive full ranges(I think that those speakers are 15"s). We also have a Bose center cluster that was there before the JBL's were purchased. And I am starting to think that the issue might also be that the drums a quite loud, even with a shield. I am going to try using a couple of those monitors that you mount on a mic stand since with those I can get the sound closer to me. I'll give updates after I have had a chance to try it.
Answer:
So you're too loud in just MONITORS? That's where I was kind of confused since the POD XT isn't an amp...I assumed you were running it into the amp. If you're too loud in the monitor then the soundman needs to turn you down, plain and simple. When he turns you down in the monitor and turns you up in the house it should balance some things out and you should be able to hear still. If you're in a gym setting with subs then I'm sure the bass is nice an boomy, too, so it could probably stand to come down a good bit, especially if an amp is being used, too.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Brent So you're too loud in just MONITORS? That's where I was kind of confused since the POD XT isn't an amp...I assumed you were running it into the amp. If you're too loud in the monitor then the soundman needs to turn you down, plain and simple. When he turns you down in the monitor and turns you up in the house it should balance some things out and you should be able to hear still. If you're in a gym setting with subs then I'm sure the bass is nice an boomy, too, so it could probably stand to come down a good bit, especially if an amp is being used, too.
Yeah, I love playing in there when we have the bass drum running through the subs so that I can really feel the changes. I think I'm also going to try lowering the output volume a little bit on the pedal too. Luckily, the gym doesn't have wood floors, that would be awful. Yeah, I'm going to see how things work out with me being turned down in the monitors and most of the volume coming from the mains. I also like at when I can hear my voice through the mains as well, since we have a rack reverb unit and some of the songs really suit a decent amount of reverb.
Answer:
Well, we had youth last night and now I am pretty sure that I can wait a while for some in-ears. I used a smaller monitor than normal and it doesn't get as loud as the wedge but I can bring it up close to my head so that I don't need to boost the volume in it too much.