Advice for live gig.

[GDane1]

Thought I would ask here first before facing flamethrowers at TGP.

Our 'other' guitarist quit our band suddenly and without notice. We have a gig at the end of the month (medium size bar gig, no FOH) and I wanted suggestions on making me sound more full. I'm pretty new at using delay.

Should delay be on full-time? Leads with delay on top of delay? (I have two pedals if needed).

Electradyne into 2x12 cabinet - ?second cabinet out to other side of drummer. We're now a 4 piece. Singer plays nothing.

Also, can an octave pedal be used to double the guitar parts, especially for Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go my way" - I play the open part, wanted to double for the octave mimic at 12th fret.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance. G.

[wolf]

my advice is don't over complicate things and add more mids to your tone. guitar tone is all in the mids. adding more will not only fill out the tone but will also bring you forward in the mix.. especially for solos.

[Pietro]

Do what you normally do.

Goose the mids (and a LITTLE of the lows).

Try to play more chord solos and fewer single-note ones.

Have fun.

[tom]

I agree, don't complicate your rig. Play loud and full. Definitely have fun.

[Briggs]

+1 to all of the above. If you start trying to add a bunch of stuff you don't normally use, you will be more distracted and over think your playing. Add miss and lows (judiciously). let the chords/notes sustain and hang out there. That being said, when our elec guitarist is out, I keep both voices on my crowdster+ on pretty much all of the time. IF for certain sections of songs (ala Lenny) you feel a need an octave to add a bit more sound, experiment with it overt he next month, but don't feel like you need to make up for both guitar parts. Don't stress and have fun!

[GDane1]

Thanks for the advice. Luckily we've played at this bar before and know the owner well. Will certainly increase mids and always have fun!

Just too bad my newly ordered speaker cabinet won't be ready for another 6-12 weeks (Forte S/V) :D

[kevin h]

i started working with just bass, drums and myself a couple of years ago and i didn't change my rig at all.

a little slap delay might fill the sound up a bit and you could certainly use an octave pedal to cover the octave up part in the kravitz tune, but i don't think it's necessary.

i find that i spend a little extra time learning the tunes and figuring out ways to cover the extra parts for tunes that need it. as a matter of fact, that has probably been the most interesting part of going to a trio format for me... even though a lot of the cool little things i come up with are probably lost on most of the people listening other than my bandmates.

the most important part is what tom said... have fun!

[Big Harry]

sometimes, the best part of guitar playing is between the notes ....:rolleyes:
also , bass and drums might try to be more musically and rhythmically focused than with 2 guitarists...
good luck !

[GDane1]

Had rehearsal. Everyone was a little more full. Gonna mic my cab mostly for sound spread and monitors. Actually felt sound was much cleaner and enjoyed it more, just can hear any flubs on my part(s), so I do need to guard against being perfect and remember the crowd usually can't tell our mistakes. thanks for all the advice.
G

[picnic]

two pedals I have on all the time compressor and delay. I'd stretch the delay a little longer if I was the only guitar. Play less notes during solos helps. Less is more

[GDane1]

Thanks Picnic. I'm keeping my Malekko 6l6 delay on all the time with mild delay time, and second delay for solos to fill. Don't use compressor but have HF1+/HF3+ in my DT which feels compressed anyway. Also have the Koko boost on the board if needed.

[pipedwho]

I like to run a delay set not too high with a few decays and a few hundred millisecond delay time. Then I run that into a reverb pedal for a little extra ambience. Fills the background nicely without overpowering the primary signal.

[GDane1]

Never used a reverb pedal, electradyne can drown you if you're not careful. I run everything in front of amp, just too many cables to run through the loop. Very low reverb level on amp, will mic it and there's also reverb in PA system.

[pipedwho]

Never used a reverb pedal, electradyne can drown you if you're not careful. I run everything in front of amp, just too many cables to run through the loop. Very low reverb level on amp, will mic it and there's also reverb in PA system.
I don't have a reverb tank in the amp, so the reverb pedal (a Strymon Bluesky) is doing the job of an inbuilt spring reverb. Without any reverb, the guitar does sound a bit dry and overly present. A little reverb fills it out a bit more, and takes the edge off the repeats in the delay pedal.

[dannopelli]

I like what Harry said. Don't assume it is all on you.

[GDane1]

Bassist definitely helping a lot (very talented guy). Drummer not so much. We need to keep him without changes.

We actually had a rehearsal with some friends over to take a listen and they all felt we sounded better (or at least lied well:) ). Apparently the other guitarist played a lot of 'junk' during songs.

I also like our sound better plus we're much more efficient between songs. He played a 70s strat that was never in tune, had to tune between EVERY song.

Things seem to work for the best in the end!

[curtisjames]

so many issues get in the way of what it's really about. remember it's about doing what you love to do. If you have a band that really supports each other.....you can do no wrong. go on and kick some serious gas and have a blast. its your emotion that will say the most. The delivery, and your attitude. we get sooooo caught up in the left brain technical aspects of playing. Remember this is art......remember!? It's your interpretation, and statement. Only you can be you. The best, and last there ever will be. Rock the house...live the dream, play like its the last show you'll ever play. You'll be amazed that the best effects pedal will be the last thought on anybody's mind. Lose yourself in the moment. it will be the greatest day you've had playing before an audience. trust me. this is where genious and perfection exists.

[GDane1]

Thank you for these extremely kind (and truthful) words. :)

[GDane1]

So we played our first four piece Saturday night. It was fantastic!!!

Thank you all for your kind words and support. We had a blast and so did the crowd. The owner of the bar was already asking us when we could come back before we even loaded out. That's always a good sign.

Here's some pics:

guitar (short DT rosewood neck HF1+/HF3+) My #1 gig guitar

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_1603_zps01214506.jpg


Here's my rig (V30/GT-75). Notice the Sennheiser wireless! $99 closeout at GC. Sounded great, but I always thought I would move around alot more with a wireless. Other than soundcheck, didn't go anywhere. :D

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_1602_zps276ef6dc.jpg


Here's the pedalboard. Ended up just using one delay. the pedal in the glare is my Suhr Riot. Have the Mooer Green Mile and Elec Lady to replace my Blues Boy Deluxe and MXR flanger. Both sound great (the green mile sounds killer especially with my PQ equipped Bulldog).

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_1606_zps05903b91.jpg

[GDane1]

Here's the setup pre-gig:

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_1605_zpsbed4c512.jpg


Here's a live shot. We we having a blast. Bass player is rocking (I'm looking over in amazement since he's normally pretty sedate). Singer always brings it.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/gdane4/IMG_1615_zps8b8fb65f.jpg


Anyways, thanks again. May get the balls to post some of the raw sound clips we have (handheld recorder) from the show if something comes out good.

Can't wait for the next show!

[dannopelli]

Cool photos. Glad it went well and thanks for sharing!

BTW, do you keep gig snacks in the grocery bag? Just wondering... ;)

[GDane1]

Yes, snacks and water. Ha Ha. I like to get comfy. Meant to move it. Had a nice spot between the dart boards and under the light/speaker stands!