Does anybody gig with a practice amp?

[RDerek59]

I'm taklin' about the small watt, 8-10" speaker variety... your Peavey Rage, Line 6 spider 15, Mustang I, Fender Frontman, Vox Pathfinder types.

I stuck a mic in front of a Mustang I and sent it to PA speakers at a rehearsal recently, and I have to say... it wasn't THAT bad.

I'm thinking maybe I should pick up something else, anything to consider?

 

[jayn]

I gigged a couple of times with a Vox Pathfinder. It worked pretty well.

 

[Telecaster62]

I've done lots of gigs with a Gibson GA-5 and a VHT Special 6. If you are playing a small room (pub) and mic'ing the amp it works great.

 

[CC Overdrive]

Played several gigs with a blackstar HT5, mic'd. Sound so great dimed, like classic ACDC, G'n'R, or Aerosmith with the dirt engaged. Bought the bigger brother HT 40 for the cleans though.

Post 800!

 

[guitarman3001]

I spent a couple of years gigging with a Line 6 Spider. It was one of the 1x12 combos and most gigs I didn't even mic it. It was a rough couple of years.

More recently I've also gigged with a Bugera V5 combo and a Blackstar HT5R combo.

Oh, and I gigged with one of these a couple of weeks ago:

 

[Malcolm Irving]

The usual problem with very small amps is the 'boxy' sound, which (if it is open back or ported) is due to the out of phase sound from the back of the speaker cone cancelling the lower frequencies. When you close-mike the front of the speaker the 'proximity effect' takes over and you get the low-mids and some of the bass back.

 

[J M Fahey]

FWIW, Bob Spencer told me that in this tour/live album he used just an old Fender Squier SS 15W practice amp, "somewhere in the backstage, on a chair or inside a flight case, with an SM57 stuck against the 8" speaker".

And which one is Bob Spencer?
Dunno, but his nickname is "one bald bloke", maybe that helps

http://youtu.be/3QEjiJ56Zac

 

[TheoDog]

Does a Princeton or Champ count? If so, yes and yes.

 

[AngryHatter]

Gigged for two years with a Pro Jr.
Under the pickup trucks mirror.

 

[TVa]

Yup-use my Laney lc15 pretty often because it's super small.

 

[stevel]

Used a Pro Junior at our last gig. Was fine mic'd. Have also used it through a 212 cabinet for a handful of gigs. Was even better. I can't imagine going smaller than that for most "rock" gigs if I want to hear myself onstage (and not through the monitors).

 

[ntmo]

I saw a show yesterday the seafood fest Hampton Beach NH. I didn't get close enough to tell what it was but it looked like a Fender champ or something with similar size/ appearance that one guitarist used. They sounded great, amps mic'ed of course.

 

[tiktok]

I gig with a SF Princeton all the time. Stock everything.

 

[doublescale1]

I gigged my Carr Mercury - 8 watt one KT66 pwr tube amp. Mic'd it and had no issues in an 11 piece R&B band. It would stay clean to about 5, with the amp behind me on a stand and a floor monitor I had no problems hearing myself and the rest of the band. I played low output PAF style HB's mostly and a 2XP90 Suhr T-classic.

 

[ralphinator85]

Vox valvetronix. Not by choice though, my Egnater Renegade went out, as always. Pretty fun little amp and had a "Preamp" tube to warm the digital up a bit.

 

[Flyin' Brian]

I did this gig with a Carr Mercury. If an amp is miked through the PA, it's output is immaterial.

I use this SCXD in a big cab with a 12" speaker not miked on a lot of club gigs.

 

[pepi]

It's almost a no-brainer today. Last gig I did I went direct into the PA with a Zoom G3. Got some great tone.

 

[Toe]

I gig regularly with a Laney Cub10 (Rock cover band). We mike all amps, so not a problem. I actually have to turn it down compared to practice ...

 

[Yer Blues]

Played several gigs with a blackstar HT5, mic'd. Sound so great dimed, like classic ACDC, G'n'R, or Aerosmith with the dirt engaged. Bought the bigger brother HT 40 for the cleans though.

Post 800!

I had to use a Blackstar HT-5 on Saturday. Went to power up the Ceriatone and it lit up, but no sound.

I ran the 5 watter through a mic'd 2x12 cab with V30s. I just dimed the clean channel and got dirt from pedals. It sounded pretty good.

 

[guitarjazz]

No cause I practice on acoustic.