11-Rack "Live" to a PA???

[udamann88]

Hey guys......

I've spent some time making-up 8-Rigs for live use (w/ a GCP to control it)........I've balanced all the volumes & took a good look at the meters to make sure I'm not overdriving anything or clipping at all......I'm set to use it this weekend in a 2400 capacity performance center.......I like what I'm hearing at home thru the small monitors at a loud volume......but........a little nervous about live use.....

I will be using it w/ the direct XLR out (in the back) direct to the PA....I've made all my Rigs mono (for easy of 1st time use)...& plan on just using the Left output (set to full Rig of course)......I will start w/ the master/phones volume at about 7.5.........This will give me some room to change things up or down......& I have used the Rig balancing as well so all the Rigs are close in volume (well in my mind they are)..........I will be using in-ear monitors as well....

So any of you guys that are playing into a (large) PA w/ your 11R these questions are for you........

Did I miss anything at all here?

Is there anything that you guys do to your Rigs or the volume(s) at all to make it work for live use?

Connecting it to a PA.......What or how have you done it?......Any problems (w/ a good unit that is....I said unit..lol)?

Any feedback from the sound guys at all? Besides "Holy Crap that 11-Rack sounds HUGE"!

Any discussion in the live direct to PA world would be.......ah.......Great.......

I've read a lot of post about live use & feel that I've got about 90% of this down, but I'm not a smart Mann at all (I ate a lot of paint chips as a kid).......So....

I call on the power of the 11-Rack brotherhood!!!!!!!!!Activate!

[derker]

I'll be doing the same thing Friday night at a 1k cap club/bar, and I'm looking forward to it. I've never played a show direct, but the band's been rehearsing completely direct (11r for me, Axe Ultra for the other guitar). Our practice space has a PA with JBL 2x15 tops, 2x18 subs, Rane crossover with Peavey IPR and QSC poweramps... I've tweaked my 11r pretty extensively at 'loud drummer' levels, trying to even out the volume between my patches, using ParaEQ for high/low filtering, etc...but I usually end up cutting every EQ band on our mixer (a Behringer cheapie). Friday will be a test where I'll be able to find out whether my tone is okay, or our practice PA is bass heavy.

[singtall]

sounds like you have it covered. the only thing you can do is set up at home with loud monitors like you already did.

hopefully the sound man is not a nut job that insists on eq'ing the PA with a big smiley face eq. many of the sound guys here carry a driverack or similar tool to eq the PA to the room. when that happens, my tone is always pretty dead on. when you get the nutjob sound guy, go the the mixer and cut the lows and upper highs and you will be fine.

[udamann88]

Originally Posted by derker

I'll be doing the same thing Friday night at a 1k cap club/bar, and I'm looking forward to it. I've never played a show direct, but the band's been rehearsing completely direct (11r for me, Axe Ultra for the other guitar). Our practice space has a PA with JBL 2x15 tops, 2x18 subs, Rane crossover with Peavey IPR and QSC poweramps... I've tweaked my 11r pretty extensively at 'loud drummer' levels, trying to even out the volume between my patches, using ParaEQ for high/low filtering, etc...but I usually end up cutting every EQ band on our mixer (a Behringer cheapie). Friday will be a test where I'll be able to find out whether my tone is okay, or our practice PA is bass heavy.

Great info for me son..........I wish you nothing, but the best & please give me (ok, us) a full report on Monday........Or tuesday if you're hung-over....

Peace! X

[udamann88]

Originally Posted by singtall

sounds like you have it covered. the only thing you can do is set up at home with loud monitors like you already did.

hopefully the sound man is not a nut job that insists on eq'ing the PA with a big smiley face eq. many of the sound guys here carry a driverack or similar tool to eq the PA to the room. when that happens, my tone is always pretty dead on. when you get the nutjob sound guy, go the the mixer and cut the lows and upper highs and you will be fine.

Yo singtall..........More great info......The sound guys where I'm playing are usually very good, but we'll see......

One thing that I did learn w/ my Vetta was to make every Rig at Gig volume or close to it.........

I was a little surprised when I played at 7.5 on the master/phones volume what my presets sounded like........(Not as good).....I usually play w/ the 11R at about 5.5 or 6.5 max........

At 7.5 you hear EVERYTHING.......

I set all the presets around 20% from hitting the clipping line on the meter when hitting a hard chord...........Then leveled the Rigs out after that......

Oh....& did I mention that the main Rig is the MOD SOD.......w/ some Verb & a touch of delay........It's for a Trans-Siberian type tune.....Very chromatic.....lol

I'll report back on Monday as well..........

[derker]

Originally Posted by udamann88

Great info for me son..........I wish you nothing, but the best & please give me (ok, us) a full report on Monday........Or tuesday if you're hung-over....

Knowing the geek within myself, I'll be here by 2am posting about how awesome it was.

[Chad Pippin]

I play live direct to PA often. I would start with your master around 5. I have found that in the upper region of the master volume acts differently than the rest of its range. It seems to be harder to dial in for me. Not sure exactly why this is. Sometimes I have a hard time hearing the difference between say 7.5 and 9, but between 5 and 6.5 there is quite a bit of difference.

[jesling]

I use my 11R live almost every weekend. I run two XLRs to the snake at the back of the stage (with one running thru my Mackie powered wedge for a stage monitor). I always set my 11R volume at 6. No real reasoning behind that. At the PA I pan the channels about halfway left and right. Again no reason in particular, I just like the slightly stereo feel. I have my guitar in main stage monitors just slightly so the rest of the band can hear me. Then once everyone gets playing I turn up my mackie powered wedge enough to get a good stage level mix for myself.

[Chad Pippin]

Also, I would recommend using reverb only when you want it to be an actual effect. When I play at home with headphones I like a bit of room to make things not so harsh, but I learned the hard way about using reverb live. Things sound a ton better without it, unless you specifically want it as an effect.

[udamann88]

Great stuff guys......I'm taking all of this to heart & feel pretty good w/ where I'm at right now........I'll go wit what I've got and see how it sounds or what the sound guy says........

I love all the talk about this......The 11R is such a flexible tool.......& add the GCP & it's priceless......

Thanks again.....