who uses amp stands

[barny]

just wondering how many use amp stands or similar when playing live...and why

just cant make my mind up on this one cos on the floor you seem to get a bigger sound than on a stand...but maybe not cut as much..?

 

[nuckolslee]

I either use my amp stand or put it on top of my road case. If you use a stand you don't need as much of yourself in the monitors and your sound is completely different than what you thought it was(alot more treble).
I think they are great to kinda keep yourself in check.

 

[Reincaster]

"Bigger sound" is due to the coupling and gives you more bass. Which in turn gets stepped on by the bass player. At club gigs I use them so I can monitor myself a bit easier.

The Standback allows you to tilt the amp back and still couple with the floor.

 

[Nelson89]

I recently downgraded back to my tiny terror and 112 orange cab. I use an amp stand, gets it off the ground and angled up so i can hear it on stage. It's mic'd at every gig so that takes care of both the FOH and stage mix.

I'm not a huge fan of leaving amps on the floor when playing live, the extra bass you get just gets in the way of the bass player, and you compromise your own stage mix by doing so because its pointing at the back of knee's. Not to mention you send everyone who is standing in front of your amp deaf. Makes much more sense to me to have it up off the ground and pointing up so i can hear the thing...

For extra background, i play in a 3 piece, and i'm the guitarist and singer. The times where i've had my guitar mic'd sitting on the floor and a feed sent to my monitors, the guitar always got in the way of the vocals...i like my monitors to have vocals only, so hearing my guitar on stage straight from the amp is beneficial for me.

 

[StompBoxBlues]

To me it's just the idea of being able to hear what the amp is doing (at lower levels, when miced especiall) coupled with not ice-picking the poor folks sitting in the front.

Seriously, amps often sound so good to us because we are off-axis and get that bassy response, while it's beaming right out to the folks, at their head level.

Often at gigs you have the amp set so low, you aren't hearing it very well, seems to me the amp stands help on all counts so I use them whenever I have a combo with me.

 

[jjhaller]

I use a Port City Wave 2x12. The port is angled to direct the sound up to your ear, and can still couple with the floor. Great cab!

 

[barny]

Seriously, amps often sound so good to us because we are off-axis and get that bassy response, while it's beaming right out to the folks, at their head level.

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yeah...this is why im asking as well....we has guitarists have our backs and ears turned away when we are playing...and sometimes when you put them on a stand they get to the audience head level, it cant be very pleasant for them iff they get the ice picky thing

i was wondering ifff angling the amp towards the ceiling will stop this...and possibly give the sound more room to spread instead of hitting the front row and deafening them..

 

[Floyd Eye]

I use two big ass speaker cabs as an amp stand. lol

 

[MickyZ]

yeah...this is why im asking as well....we has guitarists have our backs and ears turned away when we are playing...and sometimes when you put them on a stand they get to the audience head level, it cant be very pleasant for them iff they get the ice picky thing

i was wondering ifff angling the amp towards the ceiling will stop this...and possibly give the sound more room to spread instead of hitting the front row and deafening them..

If you're not standing in the direct "beam" of the speaker(s) you're not really hearing what your amp is putting out. Point it at your head and then tweak your sound to be what you want to hear. Then that will be the sound that a mic would pick up and send to FOH. Point at the celing? Nah - reflected sound won't get you any closer to your desired tone.

I use either a Standback stand (for my heavier cabs) or an Ultimate 150 angled tripod stand for my smaller 1x12 combo amps, pointed at my head and often as a sidewash for others on stage, and always mic'ed.

Of course, YMMV, and it's a different thing entirely for a full stack (two 4x12s).

 

[jamrat]

The option before buying an amp stand is to grab a chair and put it on that. Its not tilted, but its off the stage.

 

[Baminated]

only ones that keep the cab on the ground - mark stand & standback

 

[Valus]

For me it's an absolute necessity. Having your amp pointed at your head makes a huge difference in being able to actually hear what you're playing, as well your actual tone (not the off-axis tone). Not to mention the decrease in stage volume...

My amp is EQed for the stand. I don't gig without it.

 

[GCDEF]

I think they sound a lot better on the ground. I use taller cabinets or A style cabinets with the top speaker(s) angled up a bit to help hear it better. When I've used combos, I use an extension cabinet to get the combo speaker up in the air, but still have a speaker contacting the floor.

 

[jodywa]

Like many others, I use a stand with my 2x12 combo. I hate the sound of guitar in a monitor wedge and prefer just vocals. Added bonus is the sound guys appreciate my ability to keep stage volume to a workable level. We always mic the guitar amps so I'm not worried about projecting out to the crowd. I'm using the On Stage Stand, it's ugly but gets the job done!

 

[jdps150]

We built 2 boxes to lug drum stuff in.
Flip them over & voila instant amp stand

 

[rickenbackerkid]

My amp goes off stage, on the floor, miced with a 57, and I use IEMs to hear myself. I love it.

 

[The Kid]

My 2X12 on top of it's road case.

 

[FFTT]

I actually purchased two Qwik-Lok heavy duty stands to get my combos off the floor
and to discourage the stupid cats from trying to sleep on my gear.

 

[MartinCliffe]

I sit my 1x12 cabs in the front and back lids of my rack case, with the front feet over the lip. Provides me with a slight angle, while keeping them perfectly stable. Depending on the venue, I also carry a lightweight folding decorating platform which I can mount them on to raise them up. Much cheaper and more stable than any amp stand I've encountered.

 

[bilbal]

I think they sound a lot better on the ground. I use taller cabinets or A style cabinets with the top speaker(s) angled up a bit to help hear it better. When I've used combos, I use an extension cabinet to get the combo speaker up in the air, but still have a speaker contacting the floor.

I need to have combos on the ground/floor.

Recently I bought a Vox AC15 and it came with a stand. Putting it on the stand, it was very bright and sounded like ass. After taking it off the damn stand and putting it on the floor as I do all my rigs, it sounds 100x better.

I hate amp stands for this very reason.