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I think its well recognized by now that if you take your super high gain bedroom distortion to the show or even to band rehearsal you are pretty much guaranteed that you will not be able to hear yourself and nobody else will either.
I don't care if its a modeler, a SS amp, a hybrid or a tube amp. When you are using a ton of gain and effects... Low volume does not translate well to live loud volume. I have heard Fractals and Ax FX's have the same problem live. Tube amps tend to have the least amount of problem making the transition providing you are using the gain from the amp.
Still.. this is a VERY common problem amongst hard rock and metal guitar players.
I will give an example.
Sovtek Tube Midget 50H head. This is basically a clone of a 50w Marshall JCM800. I am using the low input on the amp which is super clean.
1 x 12 cab loaded with a Celestion T75.
H&K Warp Factor distortion pedal out in front. With this set up I have a ton of gain. They call this pedal the 5150 in a pedal. Its really amazing.
At home.. its tone to die for. It sounds so good I actually get chills playing. From super low volume to ear ringing volumes at home it sounds fantastic.
Take it to a band rehearsal playing 80's and 90's rock songs with a bass player, another guitar player, drums and a singer and its really hard to hear live. Its plenty loud enough... its just not easy to hear. When the band stops playing.. it sounds fantastic. Just like home. When the band starts playing... its hard to hear.
Take that exact same rig and plug my guitar into the high gain input and instead of using the Warp Factor I am using a Zakk Wylde Bullseye Overdrive pedal ZW38 which is NOT a distortion pedal. I am getting about 50% of my gain from the amp and the remaining from the overdrive. At home I think the other set up sounds better. At rehearsal there is no comparison... this rig is extremely easy to hear and it cuts through perfectly. It just sits in the mix better.
I can play as loud as I want at home and its pretty much guaranteed that the better the rig sounds at home.. the worse it will sound live.
I don't care if its a modeler, a SS amp, a hybrid or a tube amp. When you are using a ton of gain and effects... Low volume does not translate well to live loud volume. I have heard Fractals and Ax FX's have the same problem live. Tube amps tend to have the least amount of problem making the transition providing you are using the gain from the amp.
Still.. this is a VERY common problem amongst hard rock and metal guitar players.
I will give an example.
Sovtek Tube Midget 50H head. This is basically a clone of a 50w Marshall JCM800. I am using the low input on the amp which is super clean.
1 x 12 cab loaded with a Celestion T75.
H&K Warp Factor distortion pedal out in front. With this set up I have a ton of gain. They call this pedal the 5150 in a pedal. Its really amazing.
At home.. its tone to die for. It sounds so good I actually get chills playing. From super low volume to ear ringing volumes at home it sounds fantastic.
Take it to a band rehearsal playing 80's and 90's rock songs with a bass player, another guitar player, drums and a singer and its really hard to hear live. Its plenty loud enough... its just not easy to hear. When the band stops playing.. it sounds fantastic. Just like home. When the band starts playing... its hard to hear.
Take that exact same rig and plug my guitar into the high gain input and instead of using the Warp Factor I am using a Zakk Wylde Bullseye Overdrive pedal ZW38 which is NOT a distortion pedal. I am getting about 50% of my gain from the amp and the remaining from the overdrive. At home I think the other set up sounds better. At rehearsal there is no comparison... this rig is extremely easy to hear and it cuts through perfectly. It just sits in the mix better.
I can play as loud as I want at home and its pretty much guaranteed that the better the rig sounds at home.. the worse it will sound live.
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