Gig - With NO AMPS, Electronic Drums, In-house PA

RocknRollDave

Played a bizarre wedding gig on Saturday, in that the venue insists on you using their in-house PA and NO amps or acoustic drums.
Basically, we took our mixer, into which everything had to go directly - Bass, electronic drums, all the vocal mic's and my guitar. Then that goes into two XLRs on the wall into their PA which automatically limits the volume. On the plus side, instead of cutting off when you hit the threshold, it just automatically compresses and limits the volume.

Had to use an amp modeller on my Zoom pedal to get a halfway decent guitar sound...and we are talking halfway decent at best, but needs must.

Anyone else played such a gig, with no amps?

Danny1969

I've come across the no acoustic drum thing before, drummers used Vdrums which is kind of OK. I've done a couple of wedding gigs at Ridge Farm Studios where you have to patch into their PA, which isn't ideal but workable. A lot of wedding venues got issues with volume these days which can be a pain in the arse for bands

My Saturday night gig was in a very small pub and I'm starting to think the no amp thing would be ideal for small venues .... I'm not sure what I would use, Vox Tonelab probably 

pintspiller

That's why my most recent pedal purchases have been DI boxes. My first was a Chord, which is useless, then a Behringer which is nice but I don't trust the brand 100%, then a Bart me so I should be covered. 

Haven't used the move though - the bands I got them for fell through. LOL. But the two that work sound good in a DAW

BenSirAmos

I've done this rarely. I think from the audience's point of view, it makes very little difference that you are not playing through a guitar amp. And it means you can do gigs that would not be possible using acoustic drums and individual amps. 

But for me personally, it was a bit dull. It is hard to get excited,

I couldn't perform my usual stage act and I had trouble getting dynamics into the songs.

If I just wanted to be on stage, it is great - but I could just sing to a backing track instead. And I want excitement, creation art and mojo - and I just can't find that with everyone going through the pa. 

ICBM

I've done this sort of thing a few times too, either "acoustic" (but with an electric guitar) and no drums, or with V-Drums. I use a Mesa V-Twin pedal, which sounds pretty good. Years ago I had one of those early Zoom 9002 units that went on your guitar strap, which… didn't . I also used a Mk1 Korg Pandora at one time, but I don't remember for sure if I ever gigged with it.

RocknRollDave

I was lucky in that having in-ear monitoring meant what I heard was near enough what I hear anyway, especially with my cheap bodge of an in-ear set-up, so I didn't suffer quite as much from the oddness of it all as the other guys did who really on wedges normally but we couldnt get a feed to work so they were stuck with hearing the FOH mix only.

As Ben says above, the audience neither notice nor care, so it is all good.

firepaulmusic

If I don't want or need to use a cab I use a Two Notes Torpedo Live to load down my Bogner Shiva head. I just use my normal pedal board and this gives me all the feel, sag, tone just direct to FOH and monitors. Great piece of kit and much more freindly to use than a £2K Axe Fx.....

monquixote

Danny1969 said:

I've come across the no acoustic drum thing before, drummers used Vdrums which is kind of OK. I've done a couple of wedding gigs at Ridge Farm Studios where you have to patch into their PA, which isn't ideal but workable. A lot of wedding venues got issues with volume these days which can be a pain in the arse for bands

My Saturday night gig was in a very small pub and I'm starting to think the no amp thing would be ideal for small venues .... I'm not sure what I would use, Vox Tonelab probably 

I've been doing this with an Atomic Amplifire.

Really great bit of kit, small and not silly money.

Jimbro66

I've not faced this in a band situation, although I'm sure it will become more common, but if I do a short 'guest spot' with a band or maybe go along to an open mike I'll often go through the PA rather than take or borrow an amp. I just take a small pedal board with tuner, Ethos O/D, a delay and maybe a looper. The Ethos is switchable for direct use through a PA with speaker sim output and the sound is reasonably OK if the PA is set up correctly -  and it helps of course to have a decent monitor. Not my preferred sound but it works.

I was in a band about ten years ago when we decided to add a keyboard player. We got a guy who seemed ideal. He fitted in well and was very complimentary about what the band was doing -  for a while. Then he started taking over and dictating: Everyone should go through the PA under his control, except the drums, and there was no need for monitors because PA speakers should be placed behind the band. All protests were brushed aside. The first gig with this setup was a total disaster with constant howling feedback. No surprises there. I was positioned about three feet in front of a PA speaker and my ears were hurting. At the post mortem everyone was to blame except the keyboard player apparently. Rather than go through more of the same I quit. Not a good experience.

Modellista

Unless it's a proper ROCK gig, I'll generally put the guitar straight through the PA.  Can't be bothered carting an amp - it makes the difference between being able to walk around carrying everything in one go relatively easily - guitar, Pedaltrain Nano, rucksack - or having to make two trips everywhere to fetch the blasted amp.  Plus without an amp I can use public transport so I can get merry after the gig.

The audience care not at all from whence the tone cometh.  Everything sounds fine just using the Fender amp sim on a Zoom MS-50G - seriously, I've had compliments on my tone just using that pedal and a Squier.  Nobody knows or cares I'm not using a Mesa or whatever.  The rest of the pedal board plays fine with the Zoom.

The big elephant in the room is - the sound man.  Because I have no amp I'm relying on the sound guy to give me a bit extra guitar in my monitors - you'd think I was asking them to turn water into wine, however easy it may appear on the surface, they always manage to feck it up.  Either too loud or too quiet.  So I'm constantly stood there like a divvy trying to catch the eye of the soundman while they wait at the bar / chat with their mate / fall asleep at the back.  They always insist the front of house mix is fine, but my recordings prove otherwise.  However, it would make no difference to the FOH mix if I brought an amp - it would just make me feel a bit better - so I end up having to play by sense of smell a lot of the time.

/rant

Danny1969

modellista said:

Unless it's a proper ROCK gig, I'll generally put the guitar straight through the PA.  Can't be bothered carting an amp - it makes the difference between being able to walk around carrying everything in one go relatively easily - guitar, Pedaltrain Nano, rucksack - or having to make two trips everywhere to fetch the blasted amp.  Plus without an amp I can use public transport so I can get merry after the gig.

The audience care not at all from whence the tone cometh.  Everything sounds fine just using the Fender amp sim on a Zoom MS-50G - seriously, I've had compliments on my tone just using that pedal and a Squier.  Nobody knows or cares I'm not using a Mesa or whatever.  The rest of the pedal board plays fine with the Zoom.

The big elephant in the room is - the sound man.  Because I have no amp I'm relying on the sound guy to give me a bit extra guitar in my monitors - you'd think I was asking them to turn water into wine, however easy it may appear on the surface, they always manage to feck it up.  Either too loud or too quiet.  So I'm constantly stood there like a divvy trying to catch the eye of the soundman while they wait at the bar / chat with their mate / fall asleep at the back.  They always insist the front of house mix is fine, but my recordings prove otherwise.  However, it would make no difference to the FOH mix if I brought an amp - it would just make me feel a bit better - so I end up having to play by sense of smell a lot of the time.

/rant

It's a common thing these days to rely on the PA, with players using things like the Helix and all. For IEM guys I make this gadget ... it's a pedal that feeds your IEM signal through the same cable that connects your guitar. However it has a special feature, it also takes a stereo line from Your zoom \ Helix \ Axe FX and puts that into your ears via the 2nd volume knob .......... so you can monitor your guitar completely independent of the soundman ........ in fact you don't even need  him to monitor your guitar  





No much good to you as your not on ears though