"Amp in the room" tone doesn't matter. Or does it?

[c7spheres]

No shade was perceived. This place is all in good fun and I take every exchange of opposing opinions with a grain of salt. Sometimes the opinion I represent isn’t even my own. I don’t honestly care what people thing about how guitar tone happens. My process and ideas work well for me. If someone else’s is different I may openly disagree, but I don’t need to convince anyone to validate my own position. I like the exercise of arguing.

I'm not sure we disagree or not but I'm talking about people should just get their tone then plug it into a calibrated PA then adjust PA to balance basically. This represents the band as they are. If they sound like crap it will be represented in the best possible detail. lol. If they get control of the PA and can dial it in better and have time more power to them.
- Back to amp in the room tone though, I like the sound with the cabs pointing right at me but about chest level or higher/10ft away and loud as to match a hard hitting drummer.

 

[Thaeon]

I'm not sure we disagree or not but I'm talking about people should just get their tone then plug it into a calibrated PA then adjust PA to balance basically. This represents the band as they are. If they sound like crap it will be represented in the best possible detail. lol. If they get control of the PA and can dial it in better and have time more power to them.
- Back to amp in the room tone though, I like the sound with the cabs pointing right at me but about chest level or higher/10ft away and loud as to match a hard hitting drummer.

I ignore in the room tone for the most part, and only think about it as to what will work in a mix. Eventually I grew to adapt to what work in a mix as the tone I like in the room rather than letting those two things be separate things. I dial an amp based on what I know will be best for a mix, ideally making the sound guy’s job easier. If I’m making his job easy on purpose, he’s likely going to work harder to make me sound good. So, I don’t worry about my amp being heard over the drummer. I have a wedge for that. Or in ears. I let what I know is best for the whole define my idea of what sounds good aesthetically. Rather than forcing what I want to hear as a guitar player on the band, song, engineer…. I put myself into the audience and build from there. What creates the best sound for them becomes what I enjoy hearing from my amp. And I don’t let myself stray from that. That sound becomes the sound that inspires me. Me without a band is uninteresting. And I use the term band loosely. It could be me with tracks. Or a full band. Or a blend. Doesn’t matter. Guitar has its place in the frequency spectrum. Getting to where I love how guitar sounds adjusted for how it occupies a mix and that inspires me as a player simplifies the whole process. Because if that’s the case, I can be inspired regardless of the situation, and I hear on stage, what I practice with. That consistency means I’m always prepared to play at my best, and that feel is the feel I get whether I’m at home or on stage. It’s just how I approach it as a paid player. If you want to do it differently, that’s fine. But for me, that’s how I guarantee a consistent end result.

 

[protest]

Haven't had a chance to check this out until now, but I didn't make it past 4 minutes.

Maybe I'm weird, but I've never listened to an album and loved the guitar tone. I've never listened to an album and been inspired by the guitar tone. I've never chased anyone's tone on any recording. I love songs and I'm inspired by music, not the tone. But I played a Dual Rectifier when I was 17 years old and was blown away.

Maybe I'm the outlier in this situation, but right from the jump I had no idea wtf this dude was talking about.

 

[GreatGreen]

Haven't had a chance to check this out until now, but I didn't make it past 4 minutes.

Maybe I'm weird, but I've never listened to an album and loved the guitar tone. I've never listened to an album and been inspired by the guitar tone. I've never chased anyone's tone on any recording. I love songs and I'm inspired by music, not the tone. But I played a Dual Rectifier when I was 17 years old and was blown away.

Maybe I'm the outlier in this situation, but right from the jump I had no idea wtf this dude was talking about.

I'd say that's a pretty unique position to take on a guitar forum.

 

[owlexifry]

I don't understand how this is something we think about like we have a lot of choice. You play a venue and typically use their PA, their sound guy running everything, in their room- not much choice.

this is a huge point that hasn't really been covered.

- unless your band is specifically paying a good sound tech guy - one who is familiar with the songs and the ideal mix for the band etc. - then none of this shit really matters.

if you're just turning up and relying on the token grumpy venue/house sound guy - you know who im talking about - it isn't really gonna matter how well you set up the mics on front of your perfectly in dialled in guitar rig. that sound guy is gonna ruin everything anyway.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Haven't had a chance to check this out until now, but I didn't make it past 4 minutes.

Maybe I'm weird, but I've never listened to an album and loved the guitar tone. I've never listened to an album and been inspired by the guitar tone. I've never chased anyone's tone on any recording. I love songs and I'm inspired by music, not the tone. But I played a Dual Rectifier when I was 17 years old and was blown away.

Maybe I'm the outlier in this situation, but right from the jump I had no idea wtf this dude was talking about.

A lot of people just overthink shit you know? Just needless nerding out sometimes. Or he badly needs overthought content to spin his YouTube algos.

 

[TheBlackBard]

A lot of people just overthink shit you know? Just needless nerding out sometimes. Or he badly needs overthought content to spin his YouTube algos.

Personally, I think this is in the same boat of bullshit that keeps people from getting better at their instrument.

 

[tayistay]

Amp-in-the-room tone doesn't matter if you always play outdoors. Just sayin.

 

[Choop]

Amp-in-the-room tone doesn't matter if you always play outdoors. Just sayin.

Then you gotta worry about amp-OUT-of-the-room tone! D: