Eleven Rack used "Live" for 1st time

[Obsidian Dragon]

So I bought the Eleven Rack back at Christmas and have been using it for practicing and playing around with the sounds for a few months. I'm using a Fender Strat (American Standard) straight into the input (no pedals) and going out straight to into two QSC powered speakers. Pickup was at bridge only and tone turned to 9 and volume at 8. A pretty simple setup right? It sounded good in my garage and during rehearsals so I decided to use it on a gig this past weekend. When we performed, I had a had time hearing what I was playing. I was using a crunch type sound that was included as part of Sweetwater's artist presets (It think it was (JS Rock Rhythm") by Joe Satriani. Anyway, I wanted to turn my volume up but my band mates were saying that it was too noisy and distorted sounding. I was using the exact presets as we used in rehearsal. Some of my friends in the audience also said that the guitar sounded thin and too distorted. I was just playing rhythm chords. So the point of this post to learn how to get my rhythm guitar sound from the Eleven Rack to sit in the mix better. I'm a bass player normally but once in a while I help out playing guitar parts. I appreciate your suggestions.

update

[xy44]

Well for guitars to sit well in a mix you need less bass and more Mids. - This is why a lot of folk are converting to guitar cabs now, not only to get the real amp in the room feel, but also to get that freq responce we are so used too (70hz - 5k)

The distorted sound may have beena technical fault from something else or interference. - as if it was a crunch sound, then there is no reason for it to be full on?? - DID you have the sound (amp sound) too high in the patch?
-did you use Speaker breakup? as at high volume this sounds too harsh, always get rid of this for live use.
-Did you use balanced cables?

Otherwise nothing wrong with your setup.

[nst7]

The cab emulations should be giving the same frequency response as the real cabs. There's no need to use a real cab just for that.

It could be that the cab emulation was turned off inadvertently, which would account for some of the symptoms described.

[TieDyedDevil]

What else was different between the garage and the gig?

Did the band play louder at the gig?

Did you still use the same amplification, or were you using the venue's PA?

[Bubblegum]

This is a little disconcerting. I'll be using the 11 rack live for the first time this weekend at a large outdoor venue.

Anyone else have any experience of taking the 11 rack out of the studio to a gig and getting wildly different results to what they're used to hearing?

I didn't know about the speaker breakup aounding harsh at high volumes either. Can someone please elaborate? I always find the speaker breakup smooths things when set at about 3 or 4 in my rig setups, but haven't heard the patches played at gig levels through a PA.

I really want my 11 rack to be perfect for live. I've got a MIDI track running from a laptop, switching "pedals" on and off, so I don't have to do any tap dancing! I'm counting on the live sound being up to scratch!

[Obsidian Dragon]

Thanks for the replys everybody. I did not change any settings between the garage and the gig. Speaker Cabinet emulation was on. In fact, today I played the same setup back in my garage and it sounds good again. The gig was not a big venue nor outdoors. I was in a room that was about three times the size of my 3 car garage with higher ceilings. I did not output to the house PA nor was it mic'd so the whole signal chain is the same as in my garage. The band was playing at very similar volumes too.

[TieDyedDevil]

There are a lot of possibilities and your answers have ruled out most.

What's left is (1) the room and (2) the patch.

It's possible that being in a larger room with a higher ceiling you're hearing more reverberant sound from the room. That can affect your perception of the guitar sound by making the individual notes seem less distinct.

The feedback you're getting from band mates and audience members is telling; pay attention to them. A guitar that sounds thin, noisy and too distorted is - simply put - too distorted. Turn down the gain and boost the mids (and/or reduce bass and treble).

[TieDyedDevil]

Originally Posted by Bubblegum

Anyone else have any experience of taking the 11 rack out of the studio to a gig and getting wildly different results to what they're used to hearing?

Nope. Works fine for me. I don't even carry my own amplification; I use whatever the venue has for stage monitors.

That said, higher gain levels are going to give you more trouble than lower gain. Your best defense is to program your patches at gig volumes, use the bare minimum of gain that you can for the desired effect and use more mids (and less bass and treble) than you think you'll need.

I really want my 11 rack to be perfect for live. I've got a MIDI track running from a laptop, switching "pedals" on and off, so I don't have to do any tap dancing! I'm counting on the live sound being up to scratch!

That sounds like a cool setup.

Good luck with your gig.

[Bubblegum]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

Nope. Works fine for me. I don't even carry my own amplification; I use whatever the venue has for stage monitors.

That said, higher gain levels are going to give you more trouble than lower gain. Your best defense is to program your patches at gig volumes, use the bare minimum of gain that you can for the desired effect and use more mids (and less bass and treble) than you think you'll need.



That sounds like a cool setup.

Good luck with your gig.

Thanks for the reply.

I'll be relying on the PA and whatever monitoring is being used. I haven't played live for years and before I was using a vintage Fender Concert combo. This is a different thing altogether and vastly different music, playing with a vocalist and a backing track (Disco/Rock).

The 11 rack seems good at creating a sound that works with the backing track well, due to it all sounding like a record (at least on my studio setup).

I guess I'll find out. The gig is going to be an adventure for sure. I found myself roped into to playing at the Phuket Gay Pride festival! The venue is a football (soccer) ground, on the beach!

[blewis]

Originally Posted by Bubblegum

I'll be relying on the PA and whatever monitoring is being used.

Maybe for comfort you should bring one of your QSCs for monitoring?