Anyone Use Plexiglass Sound Shield - Tame Stage Volume

[Junk Yard Dog]

So we play some smaller stages and I wanna crank my amp. We do not mic at a certain venue, and my singer complains we're too loud, so I'm thinking about a Plexiglass sound shield.

I play a diagonal 2x12 and Clear Sonic makes one at 24"H but my 2x12 is 27"H. Not sure this will help, but I've heard they tame stage volume to a decent extent while helping with mic isolation.

Any recent experiences, and can I get away with a 24"H though my cab is 3" taller? Or, do I go with a taller one? Also, my cabinet has the top 1/3 of the back panel cut out, so to blooms nicely and is a more 3D sound.

For this particular show coming up, my amp will not be mic'd.

Cheers!

 

[ewill52]

bought plexiglass at Home Depot and made one myself. Works like a champ! I still couldn't crank the amp but it definitely helped with dispersion and "unfocused" the sound so my cab wasn't so directional. Was able to get louder on stage with it (not loud by metal standards lol).

The other alternative might be beam blockers?

One note - in our current lineup there are 2 guys playing guitar on stage. We found it damn near impossible to function without mic'ing the cab just to get guitars into the monitors. It may just depend on setup but that was my experience.

 

[LP Freak]

I've been curious about these for a while. I was worried about the change of tone though so I cut a large piece of cardboard the size of the plexiglass panel and placed it in front of my cabinet to get an idea of what it might sound like. I didn't really like what I heard. It sounded almost like my cabinet was inside a tunnel.

 

[ewill52]

Just a side note....I have to be careful how I eq my amp now. I guess I never really thought about it but when playing un-miq'd I would adjust the eq to my preference as I stood over my amp. Funny thing is that isn't how it sounds 20 feet away. I guess this really is more about when I'm not using the plexi baffle but I found it interesting.

This seems so obvious now but I never really thought about it.

 

[TremoJem]

Yeah...when I EQ'd my amps I checked 25 feet out...glorious tone.

But, I would like to increase output...so some kind of baffle or plexi might help.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yeah...when I EQ'd my amps I checked 25 feet out...glorious tone.

But, I would like to increase output...so some kind of baffle or plexi might help.

Cool, thanks man. ...Has anyone turned their cabinet around on stage? ...Facing the wall? I may try this as well, but again, I need to be sure the sound/tone reaches the crowd up to 25 feet also.

 

[ewill52]

I have turned cabs around but only when mic'd. It was so I could push the amp a little harder and I got all my sound from monitors, cab was actually offset behind the drums. Not sure how that would work if you weren't micing the amp.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

I have turned cabs around but only when mic'd. It was so I could push the amp a little harder and I got all my sound from monitors, cab was actually offset behind the drums. Not sure how that would work if you weren't micing the amp.

Cool, thanks. The venue we're playing is all concrete, former car garage type place. Last time we played there, we were too loud, but were playing what we thought was reasonable. Only things we mic'd were the kick and vocals. So we wound up turning down. Part of the problem was our PA.

I've decided to get two kinds of plexiglass shields and will see which one works, if at all. I can man an W with one and a V with the other. Will see how we go.

Thanks!

 

[prsplayer86]

An old school trick is to have the speakers pointing up. Basically have the cab laying on its back. I knew a hell of a blues guitarist that had a custom mills made specifically for that. He pretty much ran a plexi at 10 every show and the only way to deal was make the sound go up, not out.