Live Mic or Direct Box for your electric guitar?

If you play in a live band — even in relatively small clubs — it’s not that unusual to mic the guitar amplifiers. The preference towards smaller amplifiers and the general frowning upon of high stage volume makes mic’ing the amp a good option. If for nothing else, being able to feed the guitar through the monitors allows everyone to hear what is going on. And as every guitar player knows, it’s impossible to judge your guitar sound — or how loud it is — while standing two feet in front of your amp. Having the guitar in the monitor also helps prevent “volume creep” during the night.

The Radial JDX is a popular amplifier direct box for live performances

So while having guitars in the mix has obvious benefits for the both the audience and the band, what’s the best way to get it into the mix? Typically most bands tend to mic amplifiers, and there are plenty of options for microphones. As guitar amplifiers get more feature-laden, many now include a balanced direct out, sometimes with various forms of “speaker emulation.” As not only a guitar player, but the sound man for the band, two things have made my life infinitely more convenient: Digital WiFi mixers, and a good amplifier direct box. So while it’s very convenient to be able to throw a mic in front of the amplifier, I find that a direct box gives more consistent results and fewer headaches during the performance.

I’ve been using the Radial JDX for a number of years, which is specifically designed for guitar and bass amplifiers. If you have a head/cab arrangement it’s very easy to connect between the head and speaker. After that you run a microphone cable from the direct box to the mixer and off you go. If the amp is a combo, it can get a little more tricky if the speaker has a very short cable or is internally wired. This is a primary reason sound techs like to use microphones, as they work with anything. But if you plan ahead or mix the same bands all the time (like I do) using a direct box has advantages.

Why a direct box? For starters it’s more consistent, and you get the same sound wherever you go. Bouncy floors, microphone bleed, placement…none of that matters. Plus I can’t tell you how many times a mic gets kicked out of position on a cramped stage. With a direct box none of that will ever happen.

I use the non-phantom version Radial JDX which has a “reactive” load to mimic the characteristics of a speaker, but it is not a speaker emulator in the sense that is simulates a particular speaker. To me it sounds very natural, and it since the room sound is a mix of amp and PA, there is still plenty of the “real” amp sound in the room. Subjectively speaking I’m just as happy or happier with the sound of the JDX over a well-placed SM-57. I’ve tried the phantom power version of the radial JDX but the results have varied depending on the mixer. This may be due to variations in phantom power output depending on the brand of mixer, so I stick with the AC-powered version.

If your guitar amp has a direct out, try it and see how it works. Ditto for the speaker emulation, if that’s an option. Speaker emulation is a matter of taste, so let your ears be your guide.

If you are recording, microphone selection and placement is almost an art. But if you are in a working band and need to show up, set up and have everything work, consistency and reliability take precedence. This is even more true if like many weekend warriors you don’t actually have a person in charge of the sound. For DIY bands, going direct can save time and headaches.

Heritage Guitars: Squaring tradition with evolution

Heritage Guitars has been around since Gibson Guitar pulled up stakes and headed down south in 1985. But in the past few years, they have had three sets of owners, and we’ve had experience with all of them. There was the “original” Heritage owners, a “transitional” local ownership that purchased the company in 2016, and ultimately a sales and marketing agreement with BandLab in 2017. Today, Heritage guitars is effectively operated by BandLab.

The acquisition by BandLab sparked significant controversy amongst Heritage fans, and even some of their employees. This type of blow-back is not unusual when an iconic brand — even if the iconic brand is the “other” brand — is taken over and changes are made. Just think back to “Pre-CBS” and how that evokes the good old days before the big bad conglomerate took over.

At first we were worried ourselves, and the early communications from the BandLab management team had us concerned relative to our potential long term prospects as a dealer. But now that we are a couple years down the road, we’ve been very impressed with the BandLab management of the Heritage brand. And here’s why:

Without launching into a bunch of marketing mumbo-jumbo. BandLab understands brand equity, and the power of a properly managed brand. They understand and appreciate the history and emotions behind Heritage name, and what it means to players and fans. But they are also realists, and for Heritage to survive they have to deliver consistent high quality product at a price point that is competitive with similar products. The “old” Heritage had an expansive catalog of product, of which probably 4-5 models made up 80% of the sales. BandLab took the classic “80/20” rule (80% of sales comes from 20% of the products) and slashed the number of models and variations available to dealers. While at first this seems reckless, it makes perfect sense. It allowed the factory to focus and optimize the processes around their most popular products, and deliver them quickly at a high level of quality. Where the “old” Heritage would take 4+ months to make a guitar, the “BandLab” Heritage will typically ship us one in a few days, and it’s good right out of the box. Most of models that are no longer available to us we would not have ordered anyway. And you can still get them, but you have to go through the Heritage Custom Shop, which is rightfully where they belong.

Around the time of the BandLab involvement, there was also internet chatter about the loss of traditional manual processes and the introduction of increased process automation. While we have no particular insight into the manufacturing processes at Heritage, what on earth is the problem with using a CNC machine to cut the rough profile of a body or neck? Cutting out a body by hand does not make it better, it just makes it more expensive and potentially less consistent. Have people do what people do best — like polishing, binding…detail work — and let machines do what they do best. Case in point: Every Heritage guitar is processed through a PLEK machine, and people seem perfectly OK with that. If “authenticity” means that a guitar company cannot evolve and advance their technology, sooner or later the guitar company will cease to exist, or decline into irrelevance.

We are personally comfortable with the BandLab stewardship of the Heritage brand, and they understand the needs of independent dealers, and the importance of maintaining brand equity. In the past year BandLab also reintroduced the Teisco and Harmony brands, with a similar degree of sensitivity towards respecting history without being shackled to the past. The world is littered with brands and companies that have been mishandled, mangled and destroyed. Heaven knows Gibson Brands had their fair share of brand acquisition flops along to the road to bankruptcy. Successful brands are those that blend a respect for history while simultaneously adapting to change. We think that BandLab understands this better than most companies, and that Heritage is in good hands.