Speakers distance behind you????????

Gary Steele · Post by **Gary Steele** » 15 Jul 2006 12:22 pm

Do you guys put your speakers the same distance or do you put one a little closer. Last weekend i forgot to turn one side of my amp up for a few minutes and it sounded good with just the one.
Thanks, Just your Opinion.

Bill Moran · Post by **Bill Moran** » 15 Jul 2006 5:38 pm

I have gone full circle. I have used two
amps, stereo pre amp, amps up high on stands and all kinds of digital efx. looking for that sound you hear on recordings.
I have gone to one Evans amp sitting on the floor. A Boss delay and a Black Box. I don't need a truck to haul everything around and can set up in 15 minutes or so.
Oh yes !! I play a Mullen

Sounds
just like a steel guitar should sound.

Bill

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 16 Jul 2006 6:47 am

Since I'm using a rack rig,I can place my spkrs. anywhere I want. I,usually,place them anywhere from 1' to 5' behind me,l. & r.

HOWEVER,I tried something a while back,that seems to work out pretty good,according to the sound people.

When being "miked" at a large venue,(Hank Fest in Georgiana,Al.) or doing a live broadcast,(E.T. Midnight Jamboree) I place my spkrs. IN FRONT OF ME,TILTED BACK. Both sound engineers said that they had better control of the sound that way,and everybody on the bandstand can hear you also.

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<pre> ~ ~
©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.</pre>

[This message was edited by Smiley Roberts on 16 July 2006 at 07:49 AM.]

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 16 Jul 2006 10:26 pm

One thing that is not desireable is to have your speaker(s) directly into your back and up close! That way, you can't hear them very well and neither can anyone else! I never liked it when someone else blocked my amp. either, for the same reasons. JMO!

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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 Jul 2006 2:01 am

I generally use two amps, one is set sort of behind me offset maybe 2 or 3 feet back at most, unobstructed. The other is set more sideways aiming across the bandstand also unobstructed.

If you set up with your amp directly behind you will hear it fine , but thats where it ends. You will be blocking a majority of the sound. You may be thinking you are playing too loud when in actuality you are not even being heard out front.

My two amps, both AB'd for the Steel, one used only for the Telecaster.

And of course, placement has a ton to do with whether or not you are mic'd and if a sound guy is paying attention to the mix.

I suspect many if not most, are playing smaller venues where there is NO sound guy and we are NOT in the house mix.

There is no "ONE setup is for all".

An understanding of your gear, amp placement and where we fit in with the band is probably the equation for most of us.

t[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 17 July 2006 at 06:58 AM.]

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 17 Jul 2006 5:45 am

If my speaker(s) is miked, then it doesn't matter where it is. It has no effect on anything but stage volume. If I am using tw speakers, I point one sideways across the stage. I don't want my speaker(s) so close it drowns out the main monitor, because I need to hear how I sound in the mix. I don't understand some people's obsession with hearing their own amp. What comes out the mains is the only thing that matters. If you listen to yourself in the main mix, and work your volume pedal accordingly, you take control of your own sound.

If my speaker(s) aren't miked, which happens a lot in small clubs, I want it far away from me in the back line with the other guitar and bass amps, so I can match their volume. The last thing I want is my speaker close behind me tilted up and pointed at my head. Then I'm just playing to myself - might as well be home alone. If I have two speakers, I angle them enough to cover the room.

Of course, with your speaker(s) far away, it's good to have the amp controls right next to you in a head cabinet. This is another reason I don't like combos. They are not flexible for speaker placement.

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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 17 Jul 2006 9:02 am

Distance is a huge factor. Here's a nice little article that addresses distance and power and sound pressure levels.
- http://www.axiomaudio.com/power.html
-

They say that a 6 to 10dB increase in level is considered "doubling" the volume. So essentially a 50 watt amp at 3 feet away is about the same loudness as a 200 to 500 watt amp at about 6 feet away. That tells me that my 22 watt Fender Deluxe at 2 feet will sound about as loud as a 220 watt Webb at 4 feet. I've seen guys who will place their Nashville 400 amp about 5-6 feet behind them and the little yellow limiter light is flashing all night long. If that amp were only 2.5 - 3 feet behind them, then it would be like having an amp at least 4 times more powerful. This is theory, but it comes pretty close to this in practice.

The key, I believe, is to have enough power and the right distance so you can sense the sound in your body, down where the bass and drums are perceived. I've found that players keep turning up until they "feel" the sound in their gut. You can try and place an amp way back and point the "beam" at your head to "hear" the sound, but you'll almost always keep turning up until you can feel the sound over the bass and drums. Just cutting thru isn't enough it seems. The exception to that is perhaps by using in-ear monitors where a clean and clear mix can be established, but even then, it's strange to not feel it in the gut.

Quote:

"[We instinctively know that sound gets weaker as the distance from the source is increased, but by how much? A formula called the "inverse square law" tells us that when the distance from the source is doubled, the sound pressure weakens by 6 dB. Among sound engineers, there's a common saying: "6 dB per distance double."]"

Brad

[This message was edited by Brad Sarno on 17 July 2006 at 10:11 AM.]

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 17 Jul 2006 5:04 pm

One point of what Brad is saying is this. You can take your 20 watt Deluxe and move it from 6 feet away to two feet away, and it will sound like you upgraded to a 400 watt amp - to you. You will cut your volume back accordingly with your volume pedal. But to the audience 30 feet out, it will still sound like a Deluxe, and now a Deluxe with the volume cut down. Moving the amp from 6 feet to 2 feet, you cut the distance to yuorself by 67%. But for the audience, moving it from 36 feet to 32 feet, only changed the distance by 11%. You hear a change from say 90 db to 96. They hear a change from say 50 db to 51 db. Volume does not change linearly with distance, it changes exponentially by the square of the distance.

Gary Steele · Post by **Gary Steele** » 18 Jul 2006 8:41 am

This is great info to know.
Thanks, Gary.