Epic fails?

blacknblack

I played a small public(!) gig with the band today.  Rehearsal / sound check was promising.   Gig was a disaster.   Set list had me playing high gain lead tune in between clean ish rhythm numbers.  Well that was the plan.  What I found of course, when I launched bravely into the lead riff was that I couldn't in a hurry dial in the right gain/vol/master/guitar vol - nowhere f'ing near.  Hideously embarrassing and then panic just stopped the fingers from functioning at all.  too many flaming settings on the amp - I now get what the f*** pedals are for.  Dumbass.  Feel free to take the piss (I am a beginner though), offer some advice or cheer me up by sharing stories of your own defeats.   

Maynehead

Wow, you actually tried to fiddle with your amp mid song? You are indeed brave. I have trouble just stomping on more than 1 pedal at a time!

sounds like you need a channel switching amp, or a boost/distortion pedal, or ideally, both. You can boost the clean channel to get crunch, and boost the dirty channel to get lead, giving you 4 instant tones at your fingertips (or toes as it may be).

Si_

OK.. adjusting an amp setting mid song is just really stupid mate.. it's never going to work.. Learn to use  your volume control or change amps, or use a boost. It was always going to be a failure..


Sorry to be harsh.

Is this how you were doing it in Rehearsal?

Generally you want to make your life as easy as possible when playing live, first, so things don't go wrong, and secondly so you can enjoy yourself more

BahHumbug

...and don't just bang together a set list and assume it will work. Test everything in practice/rehearsal, not during the gig.

David5150

Plus one for nailing settings and things in rehearsal (at gig volumes) One less thing to worry about on the big night

Stick with it mate - it gets easier with experience

vasselmeyer

Either dial in your amp to get the lead tone you need and ride the volume on your guitar to move between your rythm or lead OR set the amp to your rythm sound and use a pedal for the extra gain and volume jump/EQ change you need for lead.

If you ever see a guitarist constantly messing with their amp during a gig, the first thought is always that something has gone pretty wrong somewhere.

ESBlonde

You also need a get out of jail free card. Work out a default 'all the crap stripped away' setting that can just work (whatever tone that may be). It may be shove the guitar straight into ch 1 on 75% volume and control volume with the guitar, or take single gain pedal into amp and again use the guitar volume. I always have a plan and a spare guitar lead to hand at every gig. The idea is not to use it, but the gig won't wait for you to be ready with your pristine bedroom settings which only you will know. In the break you can trouble shoot but make the gig flow. You'd be suprised how few of the audience won't notice your tone but will notice you bending down fekkin with a pedalboard! On a positive note, you survived a baptism of fire! Well done.

paul_c2

Surely it can it be done with pickup selection if you don't have a boost pedal or a channel switch/boost pedal switch for the amp? For example on a Les Paul, the front pickup could be set to 3 and the rear to 10. Flick the switch, get the boost. Or a bit more tricky/subtle in the heat of it, on a Stratocaster style volume control setup - by turning the volume up/down on the guitar (only)?

slacker

All the above is very good advice.

I'll add that any fail event should result in it being sorted. I had no sound from my pedalboard a couple of years ago. Instead of hunting for the offender I ditched the board plugged straight into the amp put it on full (15w) and rode the guitar volume. That's my fallback.

EricTheWeary

I don't gig often and,  generally,  don't rehearse with my own amp. Sound levels can vary from gig to gig a bit as well so I find it very hard to have a consistent set up with my levels -  sometimes I seem louder or quieter than I think I'm going to be. Also rarely have anything resembling a proper sound check let alone trying every combination of pedal and channel. They don't always work in all contexts either -  what is just poking through the mix on a busy number is suddenly deafening on that quiet ballad. 
So I'm using the amp and pedals for different sounds but I'm still mostly using the volume knob on the guitar for levels. It is a compromise at times  but volume knob+ears gives me control. 
I rarely go back to the amp controls during a set -  no time to and in a badly lit environment not easy. Certainly wouldn't attempt to change settings mid song. 
I'd probably sort guitar sounds into You sounds and Audience sounds.  You might want three different guitar sounds on one song but in the context of a  band the differences may be lost on the audience. So,  simplify then simplify some more so you can get the song across to the audience without gear anxiety. At a later stage start messing around with pedals to get the sound you want but not at the expense of the performance (all learned the hard way this BTW!). 
People have a huge variety of ways of approaching all this.  But you have to have a way that works for you.  Invariably that means starting as simple as possible. 
Rehearsing at least once as you would gig is a brilliant thing to do as well.  Book the back room of a pub for an evening,  set up as per a gig and play to the far wall as your audience. 

mudslide73

All good stuff here. I had my board go down when the strip with the mains adapters got kicked off the stage. I managed to get "a" sound after about 16 bars then worked out what the problem was during the rest of the song. Fixed it between the songs. It's just about doing gigs and practices and always having a "good" utility setting to fall back on.. 

DesVegas

Your amp set to a loud, bright clean tone then change the sound with your pedals is certainly the funnest way of doing it ... it does open up a whole new world too if you've not gone down that avenue before.

DaLefty

digitalscream

@blacknblack - ever heard of the term "dress rehearsal"? This is what it's for Seriously, though, you must have at least one rehearsal before a gig in which you play everything as though it was a gig. If you'd done that, you'd have realised pretty quickly that fiddling with your amp on-stage is a recipe for disaster.

This is why I have my rig set up the way it is; my effects are MIDI-controlled, and my amp channels (and volumes) are controlled via a MIDI relay box (Nux PMS-2). All I have at my feet are a tuner and a MIDI footswitch, the point being that while it can be a bit more of a pain to set up on stage than just a guitar and an amp, it means that I don't have to think about anything except which sound I want and stomping on the appropriate button.

blacknblack

@digitalscream ;;
yeah - rehearsal went well.  I didn't touch the amp during the set - was just on the guitar volume.  I've no idea what happened really but I just didn't have the sound I was expecting.  I think I turned down the master volume on the amp when I switched off at the end of rehearsal and didn't get it right again - but that doesn't make sense - dunno - as I say I'm a beginner.  My reference to amp settings etc and confusion is just that in the heat of it I had not a clue what to do about it.  

Thanks all for the useful suggestions and any encouragement.  I will have a better plan next time.  

ESBlonde

You will see many pro or semi pro players put tape or marks on thier pedal boards and amps so that a glance will tell you/them if anything is 'out of whack'. Use contrasting colour tape for poor lighting conditions and some 'tippex' in the dot/groove of the knob. A strip of masking tape with clock positions of the various settings is quick, cheap, non invasive and removeable if you sell the pedal on. Google images of 'pedals with tape markings' for more on the subject.

jaytmon

I'm just remembering the Coldplay Glasto set - the whole band gathered together at the front of the stage at one point for some sort of intimate number, (Everglow?) started playing, and (whether it was planned or not I don't know) something was obviously wrong. Chris Martin muttered something about his keyboard being in the wrong key, stopped the song after a few bars and decided to just play it solo. Fail but also he was totally unruffled and just laughed it off. I tried and failed to find video evidence which should've been easier than typing all this shit.

Rest assured mate, you won't do it again(!) and you'll be able to laugh about it one day

paul_c2

jaytmon said:

I'm just remembering the Coldplay Glasto set - the whole band gathered together at the front of the stage at one point for some sort of intimate number, (Everglow?) started playing, and (whether it was planned or not I don't know) something was obviously wrong. Chris Martin muttered something about his keyboard being in the wrong key, stopped the song after a few bars and decided to just play it solo. Fail but also he was totally unruffled and just laughed it off. I tried and failed to find video evidence which should've been easier than typing all this shit.

Rest assured mate, you won't do it again(!) and you'll be able to laugh about it one day

Adele stopped a song part way through and started it again.

Alnico

If you rehearse at gig volume, take a mobile phone pic of your amp settings. Do this with pedals too if you use them.
It's one more thing to rely on at the gig, you can never have enough of them.

When on stage, i am in a 45 minute zone of my own and i'm only listening for cues in songs, contact points we used to call them - those little riffs which differ from the main body of the song that let you know something is about to change or end. Pink Floyd do this brilliantly and unless you know what you're listening for, seamlessly.
What i'm saying is my set list has settings written at the side of each song and everything is set up with a back up. I know my settings backwards and i have written reference somewhere in case it all goes wrong. Don't forget that different venues require different settings so your mobile phone pic from rehearsal is a starting point and in soundcheck you go from there. NEVER play any gig without a soundcheck. If you're asked to, walk away. Only Jam sessions work like that.
In soundcheck look at the amount of fabric in the room (Sound soaker-upper) and also the height of the ceiling. The bigger the roof, the more Oomph you will need from your amp, the lower it is, the less you will need. More fabric, more treble etc - you will find your own way with that and they are VERY general rules of thumb. I used to find i preferred amps with a 4 band EQ (Inc Presence) but you may not. Also, don't over do the reverb - everyone bloody does this and it ruins your tone, whatever tone you can get in 'The Dog and Duck'.

Checklist:
Back up for guitar - Strings or spare guitar.

Back up for amp - Spare amp (Old school Peavey Bandit - circa £70) or a pedal that is a pre amp which will feed to the PA - Joyo AC Tone - £30 and has a 3 band EQ plus drive, voice and level controls so works like an amp.

Back up guitar leads - double every lead you have and keep them *properly* coiled tied with velcro wraps for quick access if needed - hang them off the side of your main amp.

Picks - leave them fucking everywhere on stage. Never run out of them and always have a few where you can grab them in a split second. Put a strip on your guitar or a nearby mic stand if you sing.

Batteries - even if you don't need them, someone else in the band might - carry them. It's why poundshops exist !

Tools - Wire cutters, pliers, etc - All the stuff you might need if something goes wrong. Whatever you have will eventually go wrong so barring the amp, look at all the job you may do in your guitar and carry the tools. A small toolbox should be an essential part of your gigging kit.

Towel - See the Hitch hikers Guide for the gen on towels and how immensely useful they are but for me, wiping my hands off in between songs is an absolute essential or it's like playing the guitar underwater, as far as the strings are concerned. Also, women won't find you sexy if you're bouncing around the stage giving everyone a free shower. Keep a nice towel at the back near your amp and take 10 seconds between songs to chill out, dry off and take a drink. OF WATER !

Alcohol - Just fucking don't. Drink later when you've played a great gig. Stay straight and get high on the music.

A properly written out setlist. - If you use a muti fx unit, write the patch number for each song in red (Or parts of) next to the song written in black. Make sidenotes on your setlist - it's YOUR list so make it up for YOU to understand.

There's probably more and loads of the guys here will have their own things that they do but the key phrase to remember is.........
"If it can go wrong, it absolutely will try to at a gig so if / when it does, be ready for it".

Also, dying on stage is an essential part of killing it on stage later on. In that way, you passed the test with flying colours, we have ALL done it.

Welcome to the Forum. Mayhem. Forum.

PolarityMan

blacknblack said:

I played a small public(!) gig with the band today.  Rehearsal / sound check was promising.   Gig was a disaster.   Set list had me playing high gain lead tune in between clean ish rhythm numbers.  Well that was the plan.  What I found of course, when I launched bravely into the lead riff was that I couldn't in a hurry dial in the right gain/vol/master/guitar vol - nowhere f'ing near.  Hideously embarrassing and then panic just stopped the fingers from functioning at all.  too many flaming settings on the amp - I now get what the f*** pedals are for.  Dumbass.  Feel free to take the piss (I am a beginner though), offer some advice or cheer me up by sharing stories of your own defeats.   

The best one is the classic switch to clean tone for the solo instead of lead tone...not that i have done that...multiple times ...or anything...ahem

Alnico

If you haven't found it already, we have a thread for recording or regaling stories of live cock ups.

It's HERE and it should make you feel much better.

Voxman

Don't feel too bad and don't let this put you off.  All experience is good because it's all a learning curve- even when things go wrong, ...and we actually learn more from when things don't go to plan rather than from our successes.  And we've all been there from one extent or another.

As you've discovered, playing live is very different to playing at home or jamming with your friends/band-mates.  There's a lot to think about - song order, remembering what to play, getting the timing right of your playng, getting the sound balance right, getting the tones and changes right etc.  So, particularly when starting out, your best friend is simplicity.  The simpler you can keep everything, the easier it will be, the less stress you'll have, the better you'll play, the better you'll all sound - and MOST importantly...the more you'll enjoy it.  And enjoyment is KEY...otherwise what are we doing it for.

You don't say what gear you have.  If you have a two channel amp with a footswitch to change channels (clean to distortion), that will make your life easier.  But if you have just a single channel amp where you have to raise & lower the gain to get distortion, crank it up but use your guitar's volume control to clean up the distorted tone.  If you have a guitar with 2 p/ups, 2 volume and two tone controls and a toggle switch (eg les paul style lay out), you can roll off the volume to clean up your tone with one p/up (eg neck p/up) and keep your bridge p/up cranked for lead, using the p/up toggle selector to switch between the two. If you only have a single volume control (eg Strat type layout) then a quick turn of the volume control will do a similar thing.

But I'd advise against trying to make major tone tweaks with your amp. Set your amp for volume and EQ at gigging volumes and in the mix' with your bandmates - and pretty much keep them there. At a soundcheck pre-gig you can tweak overall volume & EQ levels if needed.  Unless you're micing up through a PA, always raise your amp off the ground and angle it slightly - this will give you more volume, better tone, and a wider spread to the audience.

Using volume and tone roll off with the guitar controls can massively change your tone so it's a great technique to use, especially if you don't yet have a pedal board to help you switch between different tones.  This was only an amateur home-made vid, but I made a you-tube vid using my PRS (single volume and tone control) with a single channel amp (no effects at all - not even reverb) where I kept the amp settings the same and tonal differences were from the guitar only - you might find it of some interest/help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8uYPvM60yU