analogholic Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi everyone. I´m going to my rehearsalspace today to try out a tubeamp a friend is bringing for my Rhodes. I´m going to plug the amp into a PA-speaker I´ve tried a couple of combos before and I love the "spank" you get when the poweramptubes are pushed. BUT, I don´t like the limited frequency you get from guitarcab 12´s... Once I tried a Laney VC-30 class A combo where I disconnected the amps speaker and sent the signal to an old PA-speaker. The sound was FANTASTIC !!! You had the highs, lows AND the spank. I´m having a gig next week, and would love to bring the amp with me But, how would you mike a PA-cab? 2 mikes? (one for the woofer, and one for the tweeter) Any risk for phase problems? It´s going to be offstage, the micsignal would go into my Mackiemixer and then to the main PA. This is a big venue. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary75 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Why not just use a tube preamp. I go rhodes into an art dual preamp then into a full range SRM350 Mackie, sounds great, you get full frequency. It would sound better for bass if I had the 450 Mackies, but I tend to play around the middle register as we have a bass player. As a side note, I don't believe in guitar amps with Rhodes pianos too. Im not even bothered about using tubes, I just happened to have a tube preamp to lift the Rhodes to line level. I find the best tone comes from the solid state cabinets on the suitcase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 B3boy, I much prefer the tone you get from soaking power tubes over what you get from soaking the little 12AX7 or similar in a preamp. Very different sound. Some guitar amps sound great for Rhodes, but they tend to be the ones like Fender Twin or Bassman, where you don't get a lot of preamp distortion. A Blues Deluxe works well too. No doubt the sound is crisper from a good full-range cabinet. Personally, I avoid miking a speaker. Despite my objection above, I'd rather go with a tube preamp and send that to FOH rather than miking a cabinet. The sound you send to FOH will be cleaner with less bleed, and thus easier to record for live recordings as well. (When I mix my bands' live recordings, I'm always thankful that bass and keys are recorded direct!) However, given what you want to do, I'd simply use one mic about 12" from the face of the cabinet, pointed between the two drivers -- with plenty of trial and error but eventually finding the sweet spot for most venues. BTW, ever tried a 4x10 cab with Rhodes (or maybe even 4x8, which you'd probably have to make yourself). The smaller drivers are quite a bit crisper. I do love the chime of a Rhodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogholic Posted August 31, 2008 Author Share Posted August 31, 2008 Thanks guys for your answers. b3boy, yeah I know what you mean. For instance, I love Herbie Hancocks mellow Rhodessound, and that´s the suitcase with it´s own solid state amp. I spoke with a Rhodestech from www.fenderrhodes.com and he suggests solidstate bassamps. Go figure... It all depends on what type of music you play I guess...In this situation I have to compete with two guitarplayers and a loud drummer, and I need that push, spank and some distortion at times. Right now I´m using a "Pod". It´s a Yamaha magicstomp, where I use some "class A" preset. Not bad at all, but it ain´t IT. Learjeff, yes it´s a very big difference between pushing a preamp or pushing a poweramp as well. I tried an old Marshall 50W head once (with the same old PA speaker), and the notes just hit you like a kick in the chest , but the timbre wasn´t right of course, too dirty. OK, I will experiment with where I point the mic. What about mictype in this situation? All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Cardioid or hypercardioid will help reduce bleed from other sources. The only issue then is that close in you will get some bass boost from proximity so you will need to eq that out. The venerable SM57 is still a good choice. It has a 5db per octave roll-off below 200Hz that the proximity effect then helps to flatten out without any eq. You can also control for that with where you point the mic. If your amp has a front bass reflex hole try to keep the mic away from it. (generally - don't be afraid to try out the unothodox) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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