Scott Henderson Discussion

[bigscottfan]

Hi Scott

I read on your website that you use a wet/dry effect set-up nowadays.
What was the reason for the change?
What do you think are the pros and cons with using an effects loop vs. a wet/dry system.


All the best.

[kirk95]

I played in Russia on the last tour and didn't bring any of my gear, because it was near the beginning of the tour and I don't trust Aeroflot. I played the rented Marshall DSL dry and had the sound man put some delay and reverb in my monitor. I immediately noticed how much fatter, punchy, and responsive the amp was. I used a wet/dry rig back in the Dog Party days, and I guess I just forgot how great it sounded.

The downside is needing an extra amp, but I just rent a Fender Combo or use my Deluxe for gigs at home - it's not much more to carry around. The sound improves not just from bypassing the loop, but because speakers get confused when there's reverb and delay in there with the guitar, especially with high gain. The speaker reacts to the pickups better when the only thing in there is the dry sound.
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[dizzy]

Do you find that sound men generally know how to mix the two amps? They must because it is working for you. I would sometimes worry that they would get the wet and dry balance wrong.

Also
Since you are sending the wet signal line level do you go into the power amp in on your deluxe? Or does it work just going into the front end of the amp?

Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

The wet signal should go into the front of the amp because it needs to be EQ'd. Suhr's line box has a volume knob - when I turn it down to about 4, it works fine in the front of the amp and there's no distortion.

The sound man issue is an easy fix. I have a patch on my SE-70 which is an 800 ms delay with no repeats. The level is 100% (all wet) and no EQ. I use that patch to match the volume and EQ on the wet and dry amps. All the sound man has to do is make sure that the wet and dry channels are set exactly the same. Then when I use my normal patches with the EQ'd delay and reverb set much lower, the sound man always has the right mix as long as he keeps both faders at the same place.

[dizzy]

[quote="Scott Henderson"]The wet signal should go into the front of the amp because it needs to be EQ'd. Suhr's line box has a volume knob - when I turn it down to about 4, it works fine in the front of the amp and there's no distortion.

The sound man issue is an easy fix. I have a patch on my SE-70 which is an 800 ms delay with no repeats. The level is 100% (all wet) and no EQ. I use that patch to match the volume and EQ on the wet and dry amps. All the sound man has to do is make sure that the wet and dry channels are set exactly the same. Then when I use my normal patches with the EQ'd delay and reverb set much lower, the sound man always has the right mix as long as he keeps both faders at the same place.[/quote]

Thanks Scott. That is a great method for getting the balance right.
One more question:what type of changes do make to the eq of the wet amp? Do you pull out lows?

[Yusstyna]

Hey Scott,

What about panning the two signals live? How do you do go about it?

Thanks!
W.

[Scott Henderson]

The signal that comes from the line box is pretty bright - the wet amp needs to have the treble backed off a lot, and very little bass.

I'm not sure I understand the question about panning..... sounds like you're new to this wet/dry setup so I'll explain briefly how it works.

You use a line box (the size of a small pedal) to transform the signal from a speaker signal to a line level or instrument level signal. This is done by plugging the line box into a speaker jack on the amp that you're not using, or if the amp has only one speaker jack, the line box has a thru jack, so you can plug the line box in between the amp and speaker. Then you go from the line out jack to your FX, and then into the second amp. I use a Fender combo for the wet signal, and I set it right next to my dry amp and tilt it up so I can hear it better, since it's much lower to the ground than my 4x12.

Some guys like to hear the FX in stereo, so you could do that if you don't mind carrying some more gear. Use both left and right outputs of your FX, into two amps, one one each side of your dry amp. Not great for small clubs, unless the bass player likes standing off the stage.

[Yusstyna]

Hey Scott,

Thanks for your reply. I'm familiar with the wet/dry setup. I didn't word my question that clearly...

How do you pan the dry and the effects in the PA speakers so that your guitar sound and effects are both heard well by the audience.

Thanks!
W.

[Jazebel]

Hi Scott!

Attila here, the dude who saw you three nights in a row on your recent HBC tour (Malmö, Gothenburg and Oslo) Couldn´t make it to Stockholm since all the trips were sold out from Oslo

Anyway, I asked you in Oslo if there was any chance that you could play "The Orphan" and you said "not anymore as you have changed the way you handle the FX"

In Oslo I didn´t see an extra amp.

What´s the difference between having the FX from a combo and having it from the monitors?
Since monitors are fullrange, they don´t cut the frequency of the FX.
Also, you could have it stereo if you want to by using two of them.
So what would be the advantage by using an extra amp for this?

Cheers!

[Scott Henderson]

There isn't any panning - everything in the PA is mono. Here's a quick rant about the absurdity of the 80's, when everyone had to have a stereo rig. I'm not letting myself out here, I was just as stupid. A stereo rig on stage might be inspiring for the player, but only the people sitting directly in middle of the venue will hear what you hear. The people on the right will hear only the right side of your FX, and vice versa. Guitar is a mono instrument, except in the studio, because the listener will always be in the middle.

Putting the FX in the monitors is OK for large venues where no one hears the actual sound from the stage, but I play mostly clubs and small theaters. If the FX is only in the monitor and PA, the first ten rows of people will only hear dry guitar because they don't hear much of the PA. It's better to have a wet amp and mic it - that way, the people hearing guitar from the stage will get the wet/dry mix as well as the people hearing the PA.