Re: [Harp-L] What's so bad about micing to a PA?

[David Brown <nonidesign@xxxxxxxxx>]

PRoblems:
1. Often a small amp will not provide enough on stage volume to be used as a
monitor. If you mic the small amp, and run that signal through the PA into a
sperate monitor onstage, feedback often becomes a problem. I've used a
Kinder AFB to solve this problem with mixed results.
2. Reliability: This  can be a problem with any vintage amp. I love
Kalamazoos ( I have a Kal 2) but let's face it, they are a relatively cheap
quality amp. Guys like Greg Heuman do a great job of modding them to, among
other things, increase the Kal's reliability and sound.
On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:33 AM, sam Blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> When playing out on a gig I've gathered over years of reading this list
> that
> while some players may mic their rig through their PA, it's somehow
> preferable to have a nice loud, and usually big, honking rig to play
> through, skipping the PA reinforcement altogether for your harp.
>
> So my Holland West Side Andy, coupled with my Kinder AFB+ is definitely
> loud
> enough to hold its own I have a hankering for something else.  My little
> practice amp is a Kalamazoo and I've grown to really love the sound of this
> little guy.  How is micing this amp (maybe setting it back out of the way
> so
> as not to have its original sound production mingle with the cacophony on
> the floor) not as good as a big loud amp.  I'm not an expert on live stage
> sound but it seems to me if you have something small that gives you a sound
> you really like and you can bring it up to size (and get it through you
> monitor to boot) with your PA what's not to like?  And I have to add that
> the Kalamazoo is as light, or lighter, than my little bedroom space heater.
>
> We have a Mackie board with Powered mains and monitors.  It's a nice
> system.
> Am I going to loose something that playing my big amp gives me?  This isn't
> a jam, I front  the band and can always tell the other guys to turn it
> down,
> which they are more than willing to do as we don't like to play super loud
> (we want patrons to be able to talk and hear themselves think).  So what do
> I stand to loose in micing a small amp that I like and leaving the big
> heavy
> guy at home? And is a 57 or 58 the best choice for this job?  I have a Sure
> 48 that's supposedly less pressure sensitive (supposed to be for drums) -
> would this work better?  Calling all experienced live performers with live
> sound set-up experience - what's you take on this?
>
>
> Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh
>
>