Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Here's my opinion.
If your stage makes you look like a fullstack is appropriate, then by all means, bring it.
If not, you're gonna look like a jackass!
Here's my opinion.
If your stage makes you look like a fullstack is appropriate, then by all means, bring it.
If not, you're gonna look like a jackass!
rashayritto
Off-Topic Lurker
butnut
New member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Just picked up a Marshall 4 12 cab today. Hope to get that Bogner Achemist head as soon as it comes out. I love my gig setup of 3 12" combos and a single 12 ext speaker as I get a nice mix of all 3 amps. I just wanna simplify and just flipped when I heard the Alchemist clips so I'll be using 'one' amp instead of 3. We both mic our amps with a Sennheiser and Shure SM, get a nice mix from the mains and monitors. I dig the Alchemist is a 40 watter, that's less than all of my combos.
Just picked up a Marshall 4 12 cab today. Hope to get that Bogner Achemist head as soon as it comes out. I love my gig setup of 3 12" combos and a single 12 ext speaker as I get a nice mix of all 3 amps. I just wanna simplify and just flipped when I heard the Alchemist clips so I'll be using 'one' amp instead of 3. We both mic our amps with a Sennheiser and Shure SM, get a nice mix from the mains and monitors. I dig the Alchemist is a 40 watter, that's less than all of my combos.
xxxplorer
Well-known member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
I LOVE the look of a full stack... or even better a wall of em. And while not very practical, there is a sense of seriousness I get when I look at one! If I am in a full blown 80s thrash or metal band then I would have my 800 parked on two dummy marshall cabs (unloaded with the back open for a beer cooler hehe) and my Earcandy Buzzbomb miced up... that way it would sound great and look cool, and my cabs would just be a fancy fridge.
I LOVE the look of a full stack... or even better a wall of em. And while not very practical, there is a sense of seriousness I get when I look at one! If I am in a full blown 80s thrash or metal band then I would have my 800 parked on two dummy marshall cabs (unloaded with the back open for a beer cooler hehe) and my Earcandy Buzzbomb miced up... that way it would sound great and look cool, and my cabs would just be a fancy fridge.
Ayrton
New member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Sigged!
Lew nailed it, a full stack is all about having a big unit.
Sigged!
Lew nailed it, a full stack is all about having a big unit.
T
theodie
Guest
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Hey, huge tittays are GREAT to play with and to look at but, they are an overkill!
Gimmie HUGE ta-ta's and a full stack please!
Hey, huge tittays are GREAT to play with and to look at but, they are an overkill!
Gimmie HUGE ta-ta's and a full stack please!
jhale667
New member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
During my brief stints as a guitar tech (I moonlight occasionally), NONE of the pros I have worked for used the top cabs of full stacks as anything other than props...sure, they look cool, but who wants their head cut off during a show?
Having said that, I usually take my Boogie head and a single 4x12 to my cover gigs...not into combos...I own two slant 4x12s, and on the rare occasions I use both these days, I run them side-by-side.
What can I say, I like big yabbos, and also feeling like I need to tuck it in my sock...
During my brief stints as a guitar tech (I moonlight occasionally), NONE of the pros I have worked for used the top cabs of full stacks as anything other than props...sure, they look cool, but who wants their head cut off during a show?
Having said that, I usually take my Boogie head and a single 4x12 to my cover gigs...not into combos...I own two slant 4x12s, and on the rare occasions I use both these days, I run them side-by-side.
What can I say, I like big yabbos, and also feeling like I need to tuck it in my sock...
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Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: I dont understand full stacks
I think all the nay-sayers in favor of micing combos should do themselves a favor and try to see a Jucifer or High On Fire or SunnO))) show.
I think all the nay-sayers in favor of micing combos should do themselves a favor and try to see a Jucifer or High On Fire or SunnO))) show.
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Christian pretty much nailed it. They were/are meant to throw the sound good distances so the audience in the back can hear the guitars and bass. These days, the PA's can do the job.
We played an outdoor gig yesterday with a provided PA system and it was the first time I used my 4x12 in over 2 years in a band situation. My Vox AD50VT drove it and did well. It was still mic'd up for FOH and monitor feeds but that 4x12 gave me the stage volume I otherwise wouldn't have had. Any other gigs, I just use my AD50 with no problems at all, and it's mic'd up.
98% of the time we're using our own PA so we can make things work with smaller amps. We've actually been told by all the venues we play at that the volume is great and we're not too loud. As long as the patrons can order drinks and the bartenders/waitors/waitresses can hear them and carry on a conversation, you're fine.
If you absolutely have to have a badass looking back line of stacks, get some 4x12 shipping boxes and paint them to look like a 4x12. In the dark lighting, nobody will ever know the difference. That and they'd be a heck of a lot easier to carry out - just fold 'em up and tuck 'em under your arm.
Christian pretty much nailed it. They were/are meant to throw the sound good distances so the audience in the back can hear the guitars and bass. These days, the PA's can do the job.
We played an outdoor gig yesterday with a provided PA system and it was the first time I used my 4x12 in over 2 years in a band situation. My Vox AD50VT drove it and did well. It was still mic'd up for FOH and monitor feeds but that 4x12 gave me the stage volume I otherwise wouldn't have had. Any other gigs, I just use my AD50 with no problems at all, and it's mic'd up.
98% of the time we're using our own PA so we can make things work with smaller amps. We've actually been told by all the venues we play at that the volume is great and we're not too loud. As long as the patrons can order drinks and the bartenders/waitors/waitresses can hear them and carry on a conversation, you're fine.
If you absolutely have to have a badass looking back line of stacks, get some 4x12 shipping boxes and paint them to look like a 4x12. In the dark lighting, nobody will ever know the difference. That and they'd be a heck of a lot easier to carry out - just fold 'em up and tuck 'em under your arm.
ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: I dont understand full stacks
My '69 Univox head - purchased in "was perched atop a full stack only to fall to its death" condition for $5 :laughing:
My '69 Univox head - purchased in "was perched atop a full stack only to fall to its death" condition for $5 :laughing:
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ErikH
Well-known member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Laugh all you want. The KISS stage setup in 1996 looked pretty freakin' brutal. Guess what, a majority of the cabinets where cardboard. In the smoke and lighting, you couldn't tell even from the front row. If they can get away with it, anybody can.
Laugh all you want. The KISS stage setup in 1996 looked pretty freakin' brutal. Guess what, a majority of the cabinets where cardboard. In the smoke and lighting, you couldn't tell even from the front row. If they can get away with it, anybody can.
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T
theodie
Guest
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
Without them, your hero, C.C. DeVille, probably wouldn't have started playing....LOL.
You may think they're lame, and that's fine, it's your opinion, but they took the stage show to a whole different level and set new standards. Not to mention, millions of others will disagree with you. LOL
Without them, your hero, C.C. DeVille, probably wouldn't have started playing....LOL.
You may think they're lame, and that's fine, it's your opinion, but they took the stage show to a whole different level and set new standards. Not to mention, millions of others will disagree with you.
LOL
ratherdashing
Kablamminator
Re: I dont understand full stacks
The two times I've gigged with a 4x12, I was pretty much mixed out of the FOH because my amp (50W) was so loud. You may think this is OK, but it isn't. 4x12's, though awesome in many ways, suffer from a couple fundamental problems: they project WAY out, and they are very beamy (the sound is highly focused along an axis in front of the cab). The end result of this is that people right in front of my cab heard tons of guitar, and everyone else heard very little. To make matters worse, since half the speakers were pointing at my ankles I didn't get much monitoring benefit from the cab.
At a gig last month, I rented a 2x12 and it was excellent. I was mixed into the FOH, there was far less beaminess, and I could hear myself (I had it up on a stand).
Yes, there are venues out there with crappy PA's, but I don't think a 4x12 is a solution to this problem. Reasons are already stated (see the two problems with 4x12 cabs above). Besides, these venues tend to be on the small side, and a half stack would be total overkill regardless of the PA.
Given all this, I can't imagine a good reason to have a full stack in any situation.
The two times I've gigged with a 4x12, I was pretty much mixed out of the FOH because my amp (50W) was so loud. You may think this is OK, but it isn't. 4x12's, though awesome in many ways, suffer from a couple fundamental problems: they project WAY out, and they are very beamy (the sound is highly focused along an axis in front of the cab). The end result of this is that people right in front of my cab heard tons of guitar, and everyone else heard very little. To make matters worse, since half the speakers were pointing at my ankles I didn't get much monitoring benefit from the cab.
At a gig last month, I rented a 2x12 and it was excellent. I was mixed into the FOH, there was far less beaminess, and I could hear myself (I had it up on a stand).
Yes, there are venues out there with crappy PA's, but I don't think a 4x12 is a solution to this problem. Reasons are already stated (see the two problems with 4x12 cabs above). Besides, these venues tend to be on the small side, and a half stack would be total overkill regardless of the PA.
Given all this, I can't imagine a good reason to have a full stack in any situation.
marvar
New member
Re: I dont understand full stacks
You don't understand full stacks? Nothing says in-your-face, middle finger rock than a stack! It's all about attitude, and looking the part! Is this what the state of rock and roll has become? Is the rock 'n roll god dead? Heck, the 80's hair/glam band would have never happened without the excess of a couple of stacks for each person on stage.
All you guys seem so conservative! come on- 2x12's? Isn't it better to look good than sound good?
Just having some fun here- I've been preaching smaller amps ever since I started being a live sound engineer.
This reminds me of a story- A local band, that I had worked with for years, was asked to open up for Pat Travers at a club here in town. The guitar player in the opening band, wheeled in 2 full Marshall stacks- was loud as heck- had a terrible tone.
When Pat Travers came out, he just used a single 4x12 cab , which by the way, looked as if it had been dragged behind the truck for 10 yrs. Anyway, PT proceeded to just kick butt, great tone, easy to mix. I looked at the guitar player, and I said to him "do you get it now?" he sheepishly agreed.
But for alot of players, old habits, and dreams die hard- there are still people out here, playing 150 seat clubs, and insist on bringing their stack- Most of the time, I just tell 'em- "if you want to be in this mix, you will turn that down, or unplug one cabinet" They usually get the message.
Personally, when I gig, I bring either a 1x12, or 2x12 amp, and let the PA do the work, that's what it was designed for.
You don't understand full stacks? Nothing says in-your-face, middle finger rock than a stack! It's all about attitude, and looking the part! Is this what the state of rock and roll has become? Is the rock 'n roll god dead? Heck, the 80's hair/glam band would have never happened without the excess of a couple of stacks for each person on stage.
All you guys seem so conservative! come on- 2x12's? Isn't it better to look good than sound good?
Just having some fun here- I've been preaching smaller amps ever since I started being a live sound engineer.
This reminds me of a story- A local band, that I had worked with for years, was asked to open up for Pat Travers at a club here in town. The guitar player in the opening band, wheeled in 2 full Marshall stacks- was loud as heck- had a terrible tone.
When Pat Travers came out, he just used a single 4x12 cab , which by the way, looked as if it had been dragged behind the truck for 10 yrs. Anyway, PT proceeded to just kick butt, great tone, easy to mix. I looked at the guitar player, and I said to him "do you get it now?" he sheepishly agreed.
But for alot of players, old habits, and dreams die hard- there are still people out here, playing 150 seat clubs, and insist on bringing their stack- Most of the time, I just tell 'em- "if you want to be in this mix, you will turn that down, or unplug one cabinet" They usually get the message.
Personally, when I gig, I bring either a 1x12, or 2x12 amp, and let the PA do the work, that's what it was designed for.
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