The Importance of Amp Placement - Ask Zac 108

well hello friends and welcome to
0:52
another Ask Zac i hope you're doing
0:54
well today uh today we are going to talk
0:57
about
0:58
amp placement and
1:00
and the reason is i got i got emails
1:02
about it and i realized what a practical
1:04
thing that is and how
1:06
how everyone has to deal with that
1:08
that's using an amp
1:09
live and i deal with that every time i
1:11
go and play out so today we're going to
1:14
talk about
1:15
putting on the ground you know leaning
1:17
it back getting it on a chair baffling
1:19
it we're going to talk about all those
1:20
things I'm not going to I'm not going to
1:22
say one way is better than the other
1:23
these are just tools for you when you're
1:26
out in the wild playing
1:29
you know for you to to deal with the
1:31
situations you you're probably going to
1:34
be
1:35
affected by so you're going to run into
1:37
these things
1:38
all right so uh before we get started
1:41
if you've been enjoying the show and or
1:44
been watching the shows and you haven't
1:46
subscribed yet well please go down in
1:47
the corner and do so
1:49
also if you've already subscribed then i
1:51
really appreciate you supporting the
1:52
channel which is what keeps the content
1:54
going now there's good old tip jar
1:57
information in the description
1:59
or you can go to ask zach.com and there
2:02
you can find out about friends of ask
2:04
zack which is a way to support the
2:05
channel on a monthly basis in doing so
2:07
you get to see the episodes early
2:09
without commercials and you also
2:12
get
2:13
these Ask Zac d'andrea celluloid guitar
2:16
picks that are medium heavy and a thank
2:19
you note from me
2:20
and uh but and then there's also uh
2:23
merch at askthat.com another way so this
2:26
is the it's a sickness shirt which is uh
2:29
uh you know a lot of times i i talk
2:31
about having multiples of certain things
2:33
that i like you know especially like
2:35
you know at one point i had five most
2:37
torsion pedals and yeah it's a sickness
2:39
so it's about that obsession
2:41
level that we have with uh with guitar
2:44
that's what this shirt's about so
2:46
let's just dive in
2:48
all right so most of time of course when
2:51
I'm when I'm playing out I'm going to be
2:53
using a you know this deluxe reverb
2:56
and usually I'll have a backup too
2:59
uh you know I'll use the tone master
3:00
deluxe or sometimes I'll use i have a 64
3:03
vox ac 10 that's been rehoused and it's
3:06
a 112
3:07
and those are kind of the amps i play
3:10
out
3:11
the most with i also have like i have
3:12
one of the Chris Stapleton Princeton's
3:14
and i have a
3:15
59 Harvard and i have a little a new
3:20
fender vibra champ reverb that i use for
3:22
really small small gigs like duo kind of
3:25
things and stuff like that
3:26
but those are kind of the amps that i
3:28
use but most of the time I'm going to
3:29
show up with the with the deluxe or the
3:31
vox ac 10.
3:33
all right and so as far as placement
3:35
my preference
3:37
is to have the amp on the floor
3:41
and about five to eight feet behind me
3:44
okay
3:44
and with that by having the amp on the
3:47
floor you get the maximum amount of
3:49
you know well for lack of a better term
3:51
bigness you get you know it's coupled
3:53
with the floor and so it's going to
3:55
resonate and that way your amp is going
3:57
to sound as big and as beautiful as it's
3:59
going to sound okay and that's a
4:02
preference of a lot of players a lot of
4:03
players like to have their amp on the
4:06
ground and then by having it a couple
4:08
feet back
4:09
you actually get to hear the full sound
4:11
of the amp because if you have it on the
4:13
ground and it's right
4:15
behind you
4:17
you know just you know a foot or two
4:19
well guess what most of the sounds and
4:21
the volume is just going past you and
4:23
you're not even hearing what the amp you
4:25
know really sounds like
4:27
okay
4:28
so that's my ideal situation that uh you
4:31
know one you know the stage has to be
4:33
big enough
4:34
and uh you know
4:36
that the engineer has to allow you know
4:39
that level of volume but a lot of times
4:41
i'm allowed to do that and it's not a
4:43
problem
4:44
okay so let's talk about
4:47
the engineer says
4:49
you're too loud
4:52
okay
4:53
well at that point
4:54
you know I'll think about okay can i
4:57
turn down a little bit and still get the
4:59
sound that i want or do i need to keep
5:01
it at that volume level
5:03
if i can turn down i will if i can't
5:06
you know if i need to have it at that
5:08
volume setting to get the sound that i
5:10
want then what I'll do is i will baffle
5:13
the amp somehow so that can be multiple
5:17
different things
5:19
sometimes you know it can be as simple
5:21
as
5:23
i can take this is the
5:25
tukey
5:26
cover that i use for my my amps and
5:29
these i like them because they have this
5:31
uh velcro strap on the bottom that holds
5:33
them in place and these are padded i
5:34
really like these uh
5:36
these uh covers a lot i don't have an
5:38
endorsement or anything with them i've
5:39
been buying these for 20 plus years
5:42
so sometimes i'll just set this
5:45
in front of the amp and it will block a
5:47
certain level of sound another thing
5:49
I'll do is I'll bunch this up and put it
5:53
in front and uh under the front end of
5:55
the amp just to lean it back a little
5:58
bit and also this will absorb a little
6:00
bit of sound also
6:02
so that's a you know that's you know one
6:04
level
6:05
a uh the problem with putting the cover
6:08
in front of the amp is it doesn't really
6:09
look very good
6:11
so now most of the time i will take two
6:13
amps not because I'm going to use them
6:15
but i always carry a backup so one
6:17
really uh great thing to do as far as
6:20
baffling if you've got two amps and
6:22
you're not going to use the other one
6:24
is you just put the other one
6:26
in front of the other and so that way
6:28
again the sound is going to be diffused
6:31
and blocked by this amp okay in front of
6:34
the other one so you've got the other
6:35
one either miced up or maybe you're just
6:37
you're not locked up but anyway this is
6:39
going to help out a ton okay so just by
6:42
putting this in front of the other amp
6:44
it's going to block that beam that's
6:47
coming off of a 12-inch speaker that's
6:49
usually hitting either the audience or
6:51
the uh you know the sound engineer you
6:53
know right sometimes right in the face
6:55
so this is a great great solution you
6:58
know and if you don't have another amp
7:00
many times it shows you can find
7:02
something to baffle the amp
7:05
all right
7:07
so another situation
7:09
that you run into is
7:11
let's say the stage isn't very big okay
7:15
and that happens a lot so you have a
7:17
stage where you can't get the amp five
7:19
to eight feet behind you well
7:21
in those situations i usually will not
7:24
put the amp on the ground simply because
7:27
so much of the sound is just going to be
7:29
blowing past me now if it's a really
7:31
loud gig and nobody cares i might do it
7:34
but most the time
7:36
i want to be able to hear my amp and the
7:37
reason i want to hear my amp well is
7:40
because
7:41
you know
7:42
i play telecaster but you know and but i
7:45
also do a lot of string bending and i
7:47
always want my bins to be in tune
7:50
and i find that for me to be in tune
7:52
with my bins i really need to be hearing
7:56
you know the high end you know from the
7:58
speaker not bouncing off the walls and
8:00
things like that
8:01
so in a situation where the stage
8:04
is smaller and i can't have the amp for
8:07
the back that's when i will either lean
8:09
the amp back if that works to get me
8:12
enough sound from you know treble coming
8:15
from the speaker or i will go ahead and
8:17
find a folding chair or a milk you know
8:20
a crate or a beer crate or what have you
8:23
but something to get the amp you know at
8:26
least a couple feet off the ground so
8:28
you know like on my shows i always you
8:30
know have the amp up you know high and
8:33
and that just uh and what that does is
8:35
you're able to hear the amp
8:37
and you're able to hear the highs and
8:39
i'm able to play more
8:41
in tune especially with my bending now
8:45
here's what you lose by getting your amp
8:48
off the ground
8:49
you decouple it
8:52
from the floor
8:53
which means you're going to lose base
8:55
okay
8:56
so that's going to make a lot of guys
8:58
hate that and there's a lot of guys that
9:00
will not play without having their amp
9:02
directly on the floor they don't want to
9:05
decouple it they want that low end
9:07
and i you know
9:08
i don't blame them so uh but you know
9:12
sometimes it's just what you have to do
9:14
and in those cases you know i might turn
9:16
the the bass up a little bit you know on
9:18
the amp if it has a bass control or you
9:21
just kind of get right with it as it
9:23
were so and you just kind of you know
9:25
move forward and uh
9:27
and and you you'd be uh
9:29
easy to get along with guy
9:32
all right
9:33
so
9:34
another situation you're going to run
9:36
into is you're going to run into rooms
9:39
that are overly bassy
9:43
okay
9:44
and in those situations you absolutely
9:46
want to get your amp off the ground
9:49
because you're just adding to the
9:50
problem okay
9:52
so you know get your amp off the ground
9:54
try to turn the bass down and just kind
9:57
of get over it try to get as much you
9:59
know direct sound going as possible and
10:02
try not to have as much you know
10:04
reverberating around and in that kind of
10:05
situation i might also
10:08
use you know my my little amp cover
10:11
i might put it behind the amp to uh you
10:14
know reduce the amount of sound that's
10:16
coming out of the back of the amp so
10:19
that's a another you know technique
10:23
um
10:24
yeah
10:25
you know another you know situation
10:27
coming into is just a room that's just
10:30
really you know bouncy and everything's
10:33
reverberating around and that's another
10:35
situation where you want to get the amp
10:37
up
10:38
you want to get it away from the floor
10:40
you want to get it to where you're
10:41
hearing as much as much direct sound as
10:44
possible
10:46
and you know and you might want to
10:48
baffle the back of the amp or you know
10:51
who knows
10:53
now
10:55
in these situations you can also run
10:57
into things where it's just like they're
10:59
just telling you over and over you're
11:00
too loud
11:02
and then you you get the thing we'll
11:03
turn the amp around well
11:05
okay
11:06
well then you have you know you turn the
11:08
amp around and if they're still saying
11:10
it's too loud well you can of course
11:12
baffle the back i mean the amp's already
11:14
turned you know against the wall where
11:16
you can baffle the back
11:18
and then in those situations where
11:20
they're still screaming that you're too
11:22
loud
11:23
uh you know this is kind of the
11:26
the most extreme measure
11:28
and and sometimes you just run into
11:30
these things where you have to be really
11:33
low volume and in these situations i
11:35
will bring a stand
11:39
and
11:40
this is not my favorite to use
11:44
and uh wow i have got this all
11:49
in my amp okay here we go
11:51
all right
11:52
so
11:54
this
11:55
is a lean back amp stand so this is
11:57
welded this was actually made by a
12:00
string swing the company that
12:02
makes the guitar hanger thing you know
12:05
what you you put into the wall and they
12:07
make a lot of
12:08
display uh things for uh for guitar
12:11
shops well
12:13
for uh for true tone they made a couple
12:16
of these years ago they just welded
12:18
these together
12:20
and
12:22
and we used these at uh at trade shows
12:25
you know again because it was trying to
12:26
reduce volume so that we wouldn't get
12:28
into as much trouble with the uh
12:31
the volume the db police at the at the
12:34
uh at the namm show
12:36
and so this is what i call worst case
12:39
scenario so i bring this when it's when
12:41
you're really going to have a volume
12:43
situation and so one you can put the ant
12:45
behind you and leaning back into where
12:48
it hits you right at the back of the
12:49
head
12:51
and then if it's a situation where
12:53
they're like still
12:55
it's too much well then you get in the
12:57
situation where you put it in front of
12:59
you
13:00
like a monitor so basically you have
13:02
your amp
13:03
right in front of you leaning back
13:05
hitting you in the face
13:08
and in that situation i probably won't
13:10
take a deluxe reverb or the vox i'll
13:12
probably take a Princeton or the Harvard
13:16
or the little viber champ because then
13:17
you're talking about a really low volume
13:20
situation again you're getting paid to
13:23
play
13:24
and so
13:25
you're supposed to be you know you're
13:27
supposed to be providing solutions
13:29
you're a problem solver so if you're a
13:31
problem
13:32
then you're less likely to get hired
13:34
back
13:35
so this is worst case scenario and
13:38
sometimes you know if you're playing
13:41
in you know in an orchestra or for a
13:43
show or at a church or something like
13:45
that you know this is what you know
13:47
sometimes you just end up having to do
13:48
something like this and you don't have
13:50
to have this exactly there's all sorts
13:51
of ways you can lean your amp back you
13:53
can use a a wedge
13:56
uh you know from uh
13:58
you know to like hold a door open or all
14:00
sorts of things but you definitely want
14:01
to have a situation where the amp's not
14:02
going to fall over during the show so
14:05
make sure it is secure
14:08
and of course if it's a situation even
14:10
worse than that then you probably won't
14:12
be able to use an amp at all and you're
14:14
going to be in a uh you know going
14:16
direct and using a
14:18
kemper iridium etc etc so
14:22
but those are just you know kind of my
14:25
uh
14:27
you know my practical tips as far as
14:30
amps again
14:31
you know if i have my druthers you know
14:33
I'm going to have the amp
14:35
on the floor
14:36
and I'm going to have it you know a
14:37
couple feet back where I'm able to hear
14:39
the full sound of the guitar but then
14:41
just depending on the room and the
14:42
situation you just have to kind of roll
14:45
with the punches depending if there's
14:46
too much bass or too much reflection and
14:48
also if there's too much reflection you
14:50
turn the reverb down you might use less
14:52
delay and be more direct sounding so
14:55
that things aren't just bouncing around
14:57
everywhere
14:59
and everyone has to kind of be you know
15:01
cognizant of that so that you you sound
15:04
good
15:05
in the studio
15:06
you know you have some
15:08
you know
15:09
usually a lot of engineers will want to
15:12
have the amp off the floor because they
15:15
they don't want that extra low end at
15:17
all and now some engineers will be okay
15:20
with you leaving the amp on the floor
15:21
but the majority of them are going to
15:23
say i want the amp off the floor and and
15:27
you know so that i have control over
15:29
that and i don't have all this low end
15:31
that's going to be fighting with the
15:32
bass and that's and that's completely
15:35
legitimate and understandably so
15:38
all right guys well i hope you've
15:40
enjoyed today's episode and today's you
15:43
know look at uh ant positioning i hope
15:46
this was good and practical and uh you
15:48
know be sure and put you know comments
15:51
below and any other techniques that
15:53
you've
15:54
come up with i know guys will get
15:56
plexiglass and stuff like that but
15:57
that's uh that's a little much for me
16:00
but uh yeah just to put your comments
16:03
below and uh you know what I'll see you
16:05
next time thank you so much bye-bye