Normally when I get gear, I put to the test in a gig, then report on it. And while this Gig Report is no different, it’s coming three years late. There are a couple of reasons for this:
- It wasn’t as useful to me with my 1 x 12 cab and an amp head, so I only used it for my small combos at first.
- I lent it to a friend soon after I got it, and he had for over three years before I finally asked for it back so I could use it at my gig this past Saturday.
My friend’s feedback was simply that he loved it. He put his Fender SuperSonic on it for several of his gigs, and it elevated his amp just nicely; not only that, he loved the way it looked! As I said in my original article, it looked like a piece of furniture. Even now after my gig, I have it my living room with an amp on it, and it looks great!
In any case, for my gig last Saturday, I brought my big Avatar 2 X 12 cabinet, and wanted to eliminate ground effect, so I needed to get my Ampendage back so I could elevate the cabinet. To make a long story short, I got the stand back from my buddy, and I was all set to go!
The first thing I noticed when I set up my rig was that the tilt-back angle was perfect! I mean perfect. Not sure what the actual angle is, but it was back just enough to elevate the projection angle, but not so steep that I couldn’t set my head on top of it. Like I said, just perfect.
And as far as getting my sound out there, the elevation combined with the tilt angle definitely got my sound out… well… so much so that I was stepping on the rest of the band. The sound guy told me I was WAY too loud, and I even turned my amp down, but I still cut through almost too much according to him. I said I that I think it has to do with my amp cab being up off the floor and tilted slightly up. It made for much better projection than my bandmates’ amps whose amps were pointed straight ahead, and on the floor. Ground effect is real folks…
Also, having the cab tilted up, even ever so slightly, made it very easy for me to hear myself, even when the drums were pounding.
But still, while this stand is incredibly useful, it still looks KILLER!
Yes, raising the speakers off the ground will do as you describe. Even with smaller amps you can hear them better. I have found though that they sound different, being so high off the ground. I had a Achilles 2×12″Closed-back cabinet sitting on my tall “Vintage” 4×12 cabinet and didn’t like the way it sounded, being so far above floor level (about 34″). I normally run my Aracom 100W Plexi type amp on the 4×12″Cabinet with a set of Clearsonic JB Plexiglass baffles
http://www.clearsonic.com/JB-4_Joe_Bonamassa.htm
in front of it to cut the sound down. they also reduce guitar feedback when running really loud. The sound from the speakers hits the shields and shoots upwards and evens the sound out. The 4×12″cabinet sounds pretty much the same from anywhere in the room with these screens. Without them you get a beam effect because of the projection of a closed back cabinet which causes the sound/tone to vary depending on where you stand. When using my 2×12″cabinet I sit on a Auralex Great gramma
http://www.auralex.com/product/great-gramma/
which isolates it from the floor but only raises it about 3″. Coupled with the screens its a good setup, allows you to run the amp louder without it dominated the other instruments. The screens also help isolate mic bleed on other amps. Currently don’t mike up and used a Palmer Guitar directbox
http://www.palmer-germany.com/mi/en/PDI-03-JB-Joe-Bonamassa-Signature-Model-Guitar-Speaker-Simulator-DI-PDI03JB.htm
which has a balanced and unbalanced signal, various speaker simulation settings and a feature that enhances the mid-range. It delivers a pretty consistent sound to the PA/ Recording gear. Coupled with a mike on the speakers I imagine you’d get a really good recorded tone.