Check your DIs...

[audioslavematt]

I was in the control room mixing the record feed and monitors for a concert featuring a Broadway actor from around here. The first song was an acapella song and then the band joined in. I look down to see the LEDs light up on every channel except the guitar. PFL, absolutely nothing. C'mon it worked an hour ago. I run down to the stage and stand behind the upstage leg. The 1/4" cable going from the out of his pedal board to the DI was just laying there. I quickly snuck out and plugged it back in and ran back up to the control room. Moral of the story: insist on getting enough mics to mic the **** cabinet. DI = not for guitars in 95% of situations. Sad thing: the front of house human never noticed.

 

[SHARYNF]

Not sure that is the correct lesson to learn. There are many instances where a di is the best way to go, Usually the connection should be set up so that the only thing that gets plugged in is the guitar, or if you are using pedal board, then the pedals should have already been plugged in. One suggestion is to check and recheck things, and also have a fold back mic. It looks like the setup was such that the performer could have a connection to the on stage amp, but not to you, which is usually not the best way to go. Some of the di's like countryman allow you to connect in between the amp and the speaker

Sharyn

 

[audioslavematt]

I have to disagree. This guy had five or six stomp boxes. There are lots of guitar effects that rely on the cabinet. It's not a good idea, in my opinion, to DI a guitarist like this without some sort of cabinet simulation, which wasn't used. If it was clean, I would be fine with it, but how often do you see a guitarist play clean?. The bassist went through the DI like intended without me having to say a word to him. It became incredibly obvious he had been gigging for a while when he had the courtesy to tell me he was unplugging his stuff to go to another gig (at the rehearsal the day before). I had a talkback mic for the rehearsals, but I am against using it during a performance, unless everyone is on ears and I know the audience won't hear me. (I'm sure that philosophy will change in the coming years though.) Nonetheless, I think the DI must have got kicked while the musicians were stumbling around in the dark getting onstage before curtain. Fixing it was nothing more than an annoyance and everything else went fine after the first song. The audience and artists were happy, so our jobs were completed satisfactorily. I just wish I could have been on stage.

The wishing for a third split SL,

 

[Eboy87]

Worse things can happen. I've always been of the school of thought that if it's an electric guitar, mic the cab. If it's acoustic, DI it. I know most of the sounds I get playing rely on my little VOX to sound good, and DI doesn't have the same effect as a good tube amp.

Now, people who like to run a quiet stage (think Garbage), run the guitars DI from Line 6 Pods or similar (but if I see the Behringer knock off, I'm gonna throw it against the nearest wall). It just depends on the situation.

 

[Peter]

Really, idealy I try to have a mic infront of the cabinate AND a DI. This gives me flexibilty to balance between the two sounds and allows redudancy! If you are doing a show with a loud stage, a DI can be really great because obviously it will not pickup nearly as much stage bleed as a live mic will. If you have the resources, go ahead and do both, if not, it's something you have to play by year and ear!

 

[PhantomD]

Hmmph I recently had trouble with a crackly DI box - wasn't happy at the end of the show!