Quote:
Originally Posted by jchan
I think the main point is that during live shows, high end is your friend. When playing home solo, a full range speaker sounds nice and smooth but once you are playing live, guitar needs a good midrange and enough high end to sit well in the mix with the drums and loud bass. The WGS speakers sound fine at home but the problem is too smooth during a live gig isn't always the best.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jchan
You really shouldn't make a final decision on a speaker IMO until you have had it out live.
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I agree with you. In general, it's hard to judge your gear and settings until you play it with the band.
I'm curious if you mic your amp at gigs? I have a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker that I thought sounded pretty good in my Mesa 1x12 3/4-back cab on stage. But then at one gig I used a Rocktron Velocity S112 speaker cab. That has a very dark speaker that I think really only sounds good when its pointing at your head. The soundman made a comment about how my tone was much better that night, it wasn't "harsh" like my usual tone. Note that I never point my mic at the center of the speaker where the sound is always too harsh and bright.
These days I always try to point the speaker at my head so I can hear a better representation of what the microphone is hearing. When I do that, I end up toning down the treble. I'm also more inclined to use my WGS Veteran 30 speakers due to their smoother, darker tone.
But the problem with dialing in the tone to sound good on-axis is that it often sounds muffled off-axis. My other guitarist plays a Marshall 1936 cab which is a closed-back 2x12. The highs really fall off quickly when you move to either side of the cabinet.
I try to alleviate that problem by using:
- Weber Beam blockers (
Weber Beam Blocker -- high frequency diffuser)
- Jay Mitchell's idea (
http://jay-mitchell.com/dirmod.html).
- A front-vented (a.k.a detuned) cab like a Freda Live (
Freda Live! Guitar Cabinets featuring Powersound design - Home) or Port City Wave (
|| Welcome to Port City Amps ||).
- From what I read, a Mills Acoustics cab seems to have good dispersion too (
Custom Guitar Speaker Cabinets, Bass Speaker Cabs, MILLS Acoustics).
- Open back cabs disperse the highs well too, but I don't like the inconsistency of bass response depending on your environment.