using hi-end headphones makes for a much different experience than playing at the studio thru the P.A. with the rest of the band….

I don’t think there is a real good ‘rule of thumb’. You need to find out what tone works for you in the band setting, then experiment, but you’ll never know what works until you get the other instruments in there tapping at frequencies, etc.

h

You hit it right on the head. It’s about finding your spot frequency wise. For my band, the mids need to be super prominent to be heard from the guitar point of view. I don’t mind mids.. and in fact, I really dig them, but when playing by yourself in the basement, those mids are pretty harsh so I tend to pull them back when rockin’ solo.

Thanks for the comment!
hank

Likewise… my first U2 concert experience, the subs weren’t working for the first 20 minutes of the show. They run such a high decibel level, that with all of those high’s competing for space, it was like a power drill with a 1/32″ bit driving into each ear. (all you U2 haters, spare me the comments that that’s what U2 ALWAYS does to you

I bought a gibson Chet Atkins SST as one of my first acoustic guitars. When I tried to play a solo acoustic show with it, I thought I’d made a big mistake. Too thin… no booming lows that you want with a solo acoustic. I played it in the mix of a huge band (4 horns, bass, electric, keys, violin, drums, 3 vocalists) and our sound guy fell in love with it because it “cut through the mix”. Basically, I wasn’t trying to share frequency space with 12 other people.

Bottom line… do what you (hopefully) learned to do in kindergarten… and share

It seems everytime I find a sound I like in the basement, my mates end up hating it when we get together.