Question:
I think you guys are finally getting to me about the whole tube amp thing. My current setup (see below) is a compromise to allow me to use one amp for both acoustic and electric guitars. Currently I am playing in church with only a piano and have been thinking of just micing the acoustic. My current setup gets me close to a natural sound but I think the mic will always be the best sound. On the parallel, my current electric setup mimics a tube sound but no matter what I do it will never be as good. I have been thinking of selling the amp and effects pedals and buying a Fender Blues Jr. I think 15 amps should do me for a the sanctuary setting with about 100 people. I like that it is a small amp but still comes with a 12 inch speaker. I was thinking I could pick one up on Ebay for under $300. The only amp models I use on my RP100 are the clean amp, the Blackface and the tweed. I have tried a Blues Jr in the store and I think I can get a sound similar to the clean and blackface; I don't know about the tweed sound. I haven't tried any other tube amps so I am open to other suggestions. I want something small and portable with a 12 inch speaker. I pretty much play clean and with some mild OD. The only effects I use on the RP100 are a little chorusing, reverb and delay. The delay is somewhat useless in live situations because it doesn't have tap tempo to adjust it to each song tempo. I will probably go without the effects for a while and spend my money on a good amp for right now.
On the other hand.... Part of me wants to sell it all and buy the Taylor 110 which I recently played in a music store and have fallen in love with. It would sound great miced. I just don't know if I could part with my "toys".
Answer:
15 watts
if you can mic it, it'd be perfect.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve 15 watts
if you can mic it, it'd be perfect.
I don't think I would need to mic it if I were just playing along with piano or keyboard, would I ?
Answer:
I have the Crate V16 Palomino, which is a 15 watt Class A tube amp similar (wattage wise) to the Blues Jr. you are looking at. As far as playing with it miked or not, this past weekend, for instance, I played two times, both with acoustic/vocals, bass and drums. The first, a smaller, coffee shop-type room with approx. 50 people, I was able to crank my amp up enough to cut through the mix, even with the acoustic/vocals going through a small PA. At the second, played in a considerably larger room to about 150 people, I had to mike the amp. I don't know if that will help you, though, if you are just playing with a piano. As a side note, I much prefer going miked through the PA, because with a good sound guy the finished sound sounds much more blended and polished.
Answer:
Originally Posted by presbystrat I don't think I would need to mic it if I were just playing along with piano or keyboard, would I ? plawren basically outlines a few of the benefits of mic'ing.
would you need to? Not necessarily, but mic'ing it is going to give you better dispersion because the sound will be coming from the house speaker system. otherwise you're pointing a single 12" speaker at a crowd and hoping for good reflection off of the walls.
Answer:
Originally Posted by plawren53202 I have the Crate V16 Palomino, which is a 15 watt Class A tube amp similar (wattage wise) to the Blues Jr. you are looking at. As far as playing with it miked or not, this past weekend, for instance, I played two times, both with acoustic/vocals, bass and drums. The first, a smaller, coffee shop-type room with approx. 50 people, I was able to crank my amp up enough to cut through the mix, even with the acoustic/vocals going through a small PA. At the second, played in a considerably larger room to about 150 people, I had to mike the amp. I don't know if that will help you, though, if you are just playing with a piano. As a side note, I much prefer going miked through the PA, because with a good sound guy the finished sound sounds much more blended and polished.
Wish I had a sound person. Our board is in the back of the church and there is nobody to run it during the service. Its hard to even get someone to help me with a sound check before the service. We will have to do something about this as we get more serious about contemporary worship. I'll probably wait until we get a new sound system before I address this issue. I currently don't have a monitor either.
BTW: Is your Crate all tube or are the tubes just in the preamp section?
Originally Posted by thesteve plawren basically outlines a few of the benefits of mic'ing.
would you need to? Not necessarily, but mic'ing it is going to give you better dispersion because the sound will be coming from the house speaker system. otherwise you're pointing a single 12" speaker at a crowd and hoping for good reflection off of the walls.
Good point. Something to think about when we update the sound system. Should all the instruments go through the board? I don't know what to do with an acoustic piano. If we ever go to a full band we would probably go to an electronic keyboard.
Answer:
Originally Posted by presbystrat Wish I had a sound person. Our board is in the back of the church and there is nobody to run it during the service. Its hard to even get someone to help me with a sound check before the service. We will have to do something about this as we get more serious about contemporary worship. I'll probably wait until we get a new sound system before I address this issue. I currently don't have a monitor either.
BTW: Is your Crate all tube or are the tubes just in the preamp section?
Good point. Something to think about when we update the sound system. Should all the instruments go through the board? I don't know what to do with an acoustic piano. If we ever go to a full band we would probably go to an electronic keyboard. the Crate Palomino is all tube (i know it's not mine...but I know a little about the amp.
Generally, I would say send as many instruments as possible through the board. The only instruments we don't mic at my church is the bass (because the frequencies carry very well) and the drums. Even so, in a typical situation you run everything. you can mic a piano from underneath or by putting a boom stand and lifting the top of the piano. even if the piano is already loud enough by itself, putting it in the mix will give sound reinforcement and give you an overall fuller sound
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Yeah, the Palomino is all tube.
I would send the piano to the board as well. This past weekend, because our sound guys had a new 32-channel portable digital board they wanted to play with (don't ask me anything about it, I am clueless about sound equip.), they even miked the bass (they had him turn down his amp, though it could have easily carried itself without being miked). As the others said, by sending as much as possible through the board, you get a lot better mix, and the crowd hears all the sounds coming from one source (the PA) rather than from individual amps scattered across the room.
In my case this weekend, that was a significant issue as well, because the venue where we were (our church's Family Life Center game room and cafe) is more long and narrow. The band and the crowd were set up facing each other on the long sides of the room. So if you depended on individual amps in that situation, the crowd on the bass side of the rectangle is going to get a LOT of bass and not much guitar, and vice versa for the crowd on the guitar side of the rectangle.
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You can generally run a bass to the board no problem. Just use the amp's line out. Pianos should be mic'd, as well as any guitars. A Blues Jr. with a simple overdrive pedal should work great for you.
Everything should go through the board, because mainly the person on the soundboard should be be in complete control of the mix. He/she hears everything, so that person needs complete control over the volume of every instrument. That generally means universal board-running.
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i would highly recomend the blues jr. very sweet little amp. i love mine