Lyric and J-45

[tcrews]

Last week I had the Lyric installed on my J-45. I brought it home and tested it on my PA System. Running it through my pedal board and to my Presonus mixer. It sounded great. I dialed on it a little and got it to where i wanted and ready for my gig on Saturday. Or so I thought.

I got all plugged in and whatnot at the venue and started my soundcheck, just me and another fella doing an acoustic show using his equipment. Sounded good to this point. Once we discovered I could not use my ears, I had to stick a monitor in front of me. Once that happened, its like the sound just went all bananas. Guitar sounded like it was in a hole and I could never get the tone back I started with. I thought it may have something to do with his board and monitor but all his stuff sounded just fine. We chased and chased the tone throughout the gig. Never found it. Guitar still sounded like it was in a hole and very prone to feedback.

Once I got the guitar back home, went back up to my studio and tried it out, I was determined it wasn't the lyric system. Low and behold, it worked fine. Had to tweak a little more on it but I got it back where I wanted it.

I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? Would the system sound that way because the mic was blocking out the sounds coming through the monitor? If using a monitor, should I always have a feedback buster with me? I am just trying to find out what the problem could have been.

Thanks in advance for any comments or answers.

Tyler

[Caleb_Elling]

Hey Tyler,
It does sound to me like that Lyric was pushed a bit beyond what it can usually handle, at least when not using a notch filter or other feedback fighting tools.

A feedback buster might actually help in that situation. I know that some of our artists have used the Lyric in pretty non-ideal situations because of a feedback buster. I usually use the Notch on the Venue DI, which works really well too.

There are a lot of tools available though. Do you use an external preamp or DI when you play live?

[tcrews]

Caleb,

Thanks for getting back with me. In that situation, I think i might have over pushed. It was just frustrating to chase the tone all night. Could have been too, we were playing in front of a lovely brick wall that all the sound was bouncing back off of. I will be sure to keep my feedback buster with me from now on,.

That being said, my DI I run is a Radial ProDI. It runs to whatever board is out there that I am going into. Usually my bands Mackie or Presonus.

We rehearsed yesterday and I had absolutely no issues at all. But, I do have the ability to do a lot on my Presonus StudioLive board. I have been looking at the Venue DI, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

When using a feedback buster, will the Mic Presence need to be adjusted again?

[Caleb_Elling]

When using a feedback buster, will the Mic Presence need to be adjusted again?

It's possible that you would need to make an adjustment, but it's hard to say for sure... When I've used a feedback buster (very few times), I have needed to make some EQ adjustments. You may be able to do the adjustments from the board, and get better results. Usually, once you get the Lyric's Presence set where it sounds best for your guitar, it's best to make EQ changes from your outboard gear.

I hope that helps.

[Caleb_Elling]

As a personal note, I'm not a big fan of feedback busters. I think they dampen the tone of the guitar a little too much, which is why I prefer not to use mine. They can be helpful- However, I think that a good notch filter and some precise EQ'ing can do a lot more against feedback, while still maintaining the tone of the guitar.

That's my personal experience. I know that some players prefer the feedback buster though.

[Hank Linderman]

Did you check your phase?

Sounds to me like the guitar could have been out of phase with the monitor system. This can cause all sorts of problems that no amount of eq can fix. Always ask the foh engineer to try reversing the phase of the guitar. Best…H

Last week I had the Lyric installed on my J-45. I brought it home and tested it on my PA System. Running it through my pedal board and to my Presonus mixer. It sounded great. I dialed on it a little and got it to where i wanted and ready for my gig on Saturday. Or so I thought.

I got all plugged in and whatnot at the venue and started my soundcheck, just me and another fella doing an acoustic show using his equipment. Sounded good to this point. Once we discovered I could not use my ears, I had to stick a monitor in front of me. Once that happened, its like the sound just went all bananas. Guitar sounded like it was in a hole and I could never get the tone back I started with. I thought it may have something to do with his board and monitor but all his stuff sounded just fine. We chased and chased the tone throughout the gig. Never found it. Guitar still sounded like it was in a hole and very prone to feedback.

Once I got the guitar back home, went back up to my studio and tried it out, I was determined it wasn't the lyric system. Low and behold, it worked fine. Had to tweak a little more on it but I got it back where I wanted it.

I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? Would the system sound that way because the mic was blocking out the sounds coming through the monitor? If using a monitor, should I always have a feedback buster with me? I am just trying to find out what the problem could have been.

Thanks in advance for any comments or answers.

Tyler