Function players assemble. Best silent stage gear advise needed.

ChrisCox1994

So as all the 2020 wedding gigs are being rebooked for late this year and into next it seems that all the killjoy neighbors have put in their noise complaints while no weddings have been happening...

Around 50% of all the venues we are set to play with our 4 piece band are now silent stage "state of the art in house line array" (yeah sure) and are electric kit + no amplification allowed.

Is the Strymon the best option for a do all "stick it at the end of your already made board" and go solution or are there any other options I should look into? 

We already use in ears so it's not gonna be too much of a change, just flat and vibeless (with little to no bass allowed) for the poor clients who got duped by the venues - it's gross and I hate it. 

Anyway, enough ranting, what's the go to solution to this collectively?

monquixote

A few reviewers have preferred the slightly cheaper and smaller Walrus ACS-1 which is very similar to the Iridium.

The other option if you are on a budget is the Nux Solid Studio which gets great reviews considering it costs bugger all.

Roland

My first thought is a UPS to protect your equipment. I’ve been at two venues with noise limiters. At the first we walked in, the drummer clapped his hands once to check the room reverb, and the lights went out. We walked away. At the second the limiter microphone was wrapped in a duvet and enclosed in a cardboard box. When the wedding guests clapped during the speeches the lights went out.

welshboyo

Roland said:

My first thought is a UPS to protect your equipment. I’ve been at two venues with noise limiters. At the first we walked in, the drummer clapped his hands once to check the room reverb, and the lights went out. We walked away. At the second the limiter microphone was wrapped in a duvet and enclosed in a cardboard box. When the wedding guests clapped during the speeches the lights went out.

I'd be slightly more concerned at a drummer knowing what room reverb is - he must be an imposter and your real drummer is gaffa-taped up somewhere and rocking back and forth in a chair.

Our's just rocks and back in forth in a chair and nobody can even get near him with gaffa tape..

p90fool

Just run a cable reel from the cupboard next to the bogs, at least it works in Ludlow Assembly Rooms.

If the venue can't guarantee an electricity supply then we don't play. If everyone boycotted those places then they'd shut down eventually, or the council would have to see sense. 

We have a zero tolerance policy for people turning our amps on and off, as should everyone else. 

Roland

p90fool said:

If the venue can't guarantee an electricity supply then we don't play. 

My personal policy is not to play anywhere with a noise limiter. However, we’re derailing the OP’s thread. 

One of my reasons for using an AxeFX is that we can control stage and venue volume. I can understand that a modeller and multiFX are not the preferred answer for someone who has built an extensive pedal board. Nevertheless it is a good solution to low volume venues.

xscaramanga

Roland said:

One of my reasons for using an AxeFX is that we can control stage and venue volume. I can understand that a modeller and multiFX are not the preferred answer for someone who has built an extensive pedal board. Nevertheless it is a good solution to low volume venues.

One really nice thing about gigging with a digital rig is that I don't mind being asked to turn down my monitor, because it's not going to ruin my tone. I remember the old days gigging with barely-ticking-over valve amps and wondering how I was going to make them sound right.

So yeah, I'd stick with my AX8 (and I'd guess they must be getting cheap now the FM3 and Quad Cortex are on the market). If I needed to tack something on the end of an already-built pedalboard, I'd use an Atomic Ampli-Firebox. I just sold mine for £180 (because who needs a gigging backup at the moment?), and that's towards the upper end of the going rate. 

failed_astronaut

I'd be interested in opinion on this as well. I'm currently weighing up getting either a HX Stomp, Simplifier or an Atomic Amplifire 6 that's listed locally

I know the Stomp would be the most flexible as it could integrate into my normal pedal board as a multi FX but are the amp sims ok? I'm not a tone snob by any stretch but I want to know that it won't cave in with a bit of Overdrive in front of it.

The Simplifier looks great, obviously it doesn't have effects or any other fancy bells and whistles, but what it does do it seems to do very well.

The Amplifire is the wild card as I don't see many around.

LooseMoose

We're in the process of going over to amp sims for our live sound - the guitarist in the band (not me) is using Neural Cory Wong and I'm using the Ampeg SVT modelling for bass in Amplitube until I find something better!

DrHungry

failed_astronaut said:

I'd be interested in opinion on this as well. I'm currently weighing up getting either a HX Stomp, Simplifier or an Atomic Amplifire 6 that's listed locally

I know the Stomp would be the most flexible as it could integrate into my normal pedal board as a multi FX but are the amp sims ok? I'm not a tone snob by any stretch but I want to know that it won't cave in with a bit of Overdrive in front of it.

The Simplifier looks great, obviously it doesn't have effects or any other fancy bells and whistles, but what it does do it seems to do very well.

The Amplifire is the wild card as I don't see many around.

I was just about to say that I use a simplifier and it sounds wonderful, but it has no reverb and little gain without pedals...and then I saw this!

https://www.andertons.co.uk/dsm-humboldt-simplifier-deluxe-pedal

Not cheap at all but if it sounds as good as the original and all the extra bits are of a similar standard then it would be a great alternative option to an iridium.

monquixote

failed_astronaut said:

I'd be interested in opinion on this as well. I'm currently weighing up getting either a HX Stomp, Simplifier or an Atomic Amplifire 6 that's listed locally

I know the Stomp would be the most flexible as it could integrate into my normal pedal board as a multi FX but are the amp sims ok? I'm not a tone snob by any stretch but I want to know that it won't cave in with a bit of Overdrive in front of it.

The Simplifier looks great, obviously it doesn't have effects or any other fancy bells and whistles, but what it does do it seems to do very well.

The Amplifire is the wild card as I don't see many around.

The helix is way better than the amplifire in sound but especially in usability.

chrisj1602

The HX Stomp is great and what I’m using currently but the Iridium is, in my opinion, so much easier to dial in an amp sound and much easier to tweak while playing.

simonhpieman

ChrisCox1994 said:

So as all the 2020 wedding gigs are being rebooked for late this year and into next it seems that all the killjoy neighbors have put in their noise complaints while no weddings have been happening...

Around 50% of all the venues we are set to play with our 4 piece band are now silent stage "state of the art in house line array" (yeah sure) and are electric kit + no amplification allowed.

Is the Strymon the best option for a do all "stick it at the end of your already made board" and go solution or are there any other options I should look into? 

We already use in ears so it's not gonna be too much of a change, just flat and vibeless (with little to no bass allowed) for the poor clients who got duped by the venues - it's gross and I hate it. 

Anyway, enough ranting, what's the go to solution to this collectively?

Have heard of some horror stories, and indeed been part of some horror stories. Venues happily telling clients "Oh yes, we have bands here all the time." Then, much to the couple's bewilderment, the mic kept going off every time the audience applauded or laughed during the speeches. Then their very expensive, 10-piece soul band with trumpets and all showed up and were unable to play.

We've had similar situations where the bride is asking why we can't turn it up, while the venue owner is asking why we have speakers on stage (our monitors), even though we're already using electric kit and multifx straight to PA. We can work to limiters (though we'd prefer not to, obviously) but there are certain venues we've asked our agent to blacklist.

Absolute disgrace and should be reported to trading standards. If you don't want bands at your venue (in several cases it's the owners who live on site) have the balls to tell your client. Nothing they can do about it at 6pm on their wedding day, is there?

Anyway... I'm all in on Helix. I got a used LT and it's everything I'll ever need. I go stereo out to the PA then a second out to my own personal monitor so I can control my own mix of guitar and vox (I'm lead vox in a trio). I use a TC Voicelive so that has 2 outs, too, one to the PA and one to input 2 of my monitor.

I'm not bothering with an amp anymore, either. Monitor faces me and that's it. We're not on IEMs but I imagine that'll be a necessity before too long.

Helix sounds terrific, though. Snapshots are a revelation. I've kept my pedals but I can't imagine I'll use them any time soon.

Stratavarious

I use my Boss GT 

ChrisCox1994

Yeah, it's essentially fraud on the venues' part. They don't want to invest in proper soundproofing to appease their neighbours. But then again it's ultimately the neighbors' fault for complaining to the council...

Either way we've been dealing with these sorts of venues for 5+ years but this season in particular the amount of strict "silent stage" bookings has skyrocketed..

I'll have a look into the walrus one as I'm only really interested in something I can stick on my board at the end, not switching completely to a digital all it one solution just yet.

BintyTwanger77

DrHungry said:

failed_astronaut said:

I'd be interested in opinion on this as well. I'm currently weighing up getting either a HX Stomp, Simplifier or an Atomic Amplifire 6 that's listed locally

I know the Stomp would be the most flexible as it could integrate into my normal pedal board as a multi FX but are the amp sims ok? I'm not a tone snob by any stretch but I want to know that it won't cave in with a bit of Overdrive in front of it.

The Simplifier looks great, obviously it doesn't have effects or any other fancy bells and whistles, but what it does do it seems to do very well.

The Amplifire is the wild card as I don't see many around.

I was just about to say that I use a simplifier and it sounds wonderful, but it has no reverb and little gain without pedals...and then I saw this!

https://www.andertons.co.uk/dsm-humboldt-simplifier-deluxe-pedal

Not cheap at all but if it sounds as good as the original and all the extra bits are of a similar standard then it would be a great alternative option to an iridium.

I saw the Simplifier Deluxe and it looks perfect for me. Looking for a silent practice solution and this seems to give you a lot more for the same price as an Iridium, including an FX loop.

jhumber

Roland said:

My first thought is a UPS to protect your equipment.

This. Years ago we did a wedding where the venue owner told us the sound-limiter couldn't be triggered...which turned out not to be true. We blew it in the first song, power tripped, then came back on with a pop. Our PA desk fried as a result, and we made it through the gig with the lead vocal run direct into an active monitor we mounted on a stand. On another occasion I had my Kemper's power unit fail when it was plugged into a less-than-great looking wall socket....it got repaired by Kemper, and since then ran on a power-conditioner for any gigs.

Back to the OP: I've done countless gigs with a Kemper over the past decade, and that will remain my default choice if venue-limitations apply. I've also gigged with the first-gen of the Amplifire box, but didn't gel with the sounds too well. If I was starting from scratch now I'd be tempted by something like an Iridium at the end of an already-assembled pedalboard.

Final anecdote: at one venue we had to be silent on stage (with v-drums and all instruments running direct), the bit we weren't told in advance was that the PA speakers were built into the roof.... and many many metres away from the stage. I remember the loudest thing on stage being the sound of the drummer's mechanical kick-drum against the mesh, and a couple stood next to me at side of stage having a conversation that I could hear every word of. Most bizarre...

fretmeister

It's been a long time since I did the function stuff... but silent stages and crap like that...

Doesn't look like I'll want to go back to it.

I'm in a 20-odd piece jazz big band at the moment. The only thing that is amplified is the bass - I suspect 20 bones, trumpets, reeds, piano, bass, drums etc would trigger all of these places too... So I'd just need a good generator for the bass. Can't turn off a trumpet!

Musicwolf

fretmeister said:

Can't turn off a trumpet!

Much as sometimes you'd wish to.

crunchman

Musicwolf said:

fretmeister said:

Can't turn off a trumpet!

Much as sometimes you'd wish to.

2 Chronicles chapter 5 in the Bible:  120 trumpets!

Voxman

During lockdown I got a Line 6 Pod Go which is very good but havent had an opportunity to use at band practice or gigs. Prior to lockdown I was gigging with my Vox Tonelab SE, and I also have a Tonelab LE. 

I have had the opportunity to play them both side by side both through the fx return of my Marshall Valvestate mk1  80V '8080' 1x12, and my Headrush FRFR108. 

Whilst the Pod Go is more sophisticated with regards to Helix modelling, a wealth of amp, cab, fx models plus IR capability, there is just something about the original Tonelabs that sounds and feels that tad more like a valve amp. Its hard to put my finger on.  But if you are looking for an mfx that is built like a tank, with a heavy duty PSU, that sounds great, and is very easy to use on stage with real knobs and dial selectors, you could do a lot worse than check one of these out.

These are becoming harder to find on the used market and prices have been going up. People are realising just how good these still are and are holding on to them. The TLLE is more compact and lighter with 24 bit processing. The SE has 20bit processing, dual treadles, and A/B switching in the same patch of amp and or cab models, which is really useful, as is a dial for cab models rather than having to go in a menu in the TLLE. The LE does have more global line out options inc an EQ in Ln out 2, which can be useful. 

Don't be put off by being older tech, not having IRs etc. These are still blindingly good units and are perfect for function work, particularly if you prefer to have some real knobs and selectors. 

Both have MIDI and the free proper edit programs let you easily create, move around, and load patches for set lists. And you can even access and move around without having to plug in the TLs.

BTW, ignore the later TLST and TLEX which are bedroom toys by comparison.