Phantom Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I've been wondering about this since the tour ended. I lost track of how many nights there were problems with Alex's guitar. I'm no technician, and I'm not sure if any of the problems were the fault of the technician, but I have to wonder if he'll be back. And by the way? Any ideas as to why Ged never seemed to have any audio problems w' his bass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 QUOTE (Phantom @ Oct 30 2010, 12:29 AM) I've been wondering about this since the tour ended. I lost track of how many nights there were problems with Alex's guitar. I'm no technician, and I'm not sure if any of the problems were the fault of the technician, but I have to wonder if he'll be back. And by the way? Any ideas as to why Ged never seemed to have any audio problems w' his bass? Ged's signal path for his bass is much simpler than Alex's. Ged goes into a couple of preamps, then into an amp head, then the signal from that gets fed into the house PA. That's it. And he uses, at the most, three different basses during a show (guessing there -- I didn't see any shows this tour). On the other hand, Alex has a few different amps and several effects units in his chain, switched by an elaborate switching system, along with several different guitars. More chances for things to go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 At the end of the day, I think this guitar tech is gettig canned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun3701 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 aren't their guitar techs like the same guys who've been touring with them for the past 30 years? Can't imagine letting a guy go after that long, but if it's a new guy then yeah fire his ass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMCXII Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 get bubbles back in there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Oct 29 2010, 11:38 PM) QUOTE (Phantom @ Oct 30 2010, 12:29 AM) I've been wondering about this since the tour ended. I lost track of how many nights there were problems with Alex's guitar. I'm no technician, and I'm not sure if any of the problems were the fault of the technician, but I have to wonder if he'll be back. And by the way? Any ideas as to why Ged never seemed to have any audio problems w' his bass? Ged's signal path for his bass is much simpler than Alex's. Ged goes into a couple of preamps, then into an amp head, then the signal from that gets fed into the house PA. That's it. And he uses, at the most, three different basses during a show (guessing there -- I didn't see any shows this tour). On the other hand, Alex has a few different amps and several effects units in his chain, switched by an elaborate switching system, along with several different guitars. More chances for things to go wrong. That makes sense to me.... I just think of how many times Alex looked really pissed off with the guitar tech... he seems unbelievably frustrated by the continuing problems... you can almost always see it onstage. There has to be a better way. For me, it also makes the shows much less enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 QUOTE (MMCXII @ Oct 30 2010, 04:04 AM) get bubbles back in there... At both of my shows, he signalled the guitar tech to come over and then when he got there, he pretty much gave him a blast of shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lerxst Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I've done this sort of stuff before (Im a sound production/live sound student), and, I don't understand how this stuff kept happening. If the signal chain is correct, there will be sound, if it isn't, there won't (or it will be compromised). The issues were occurring in the middle of the show, which leads me to believe equipment failure. You would think though that in 45 shows, they would have troubleshooted the issue, and replaced the faulty part. Apparently not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Show Don't Tell Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I'm not really sure what the hell's going on. I mean, not much has changed in terms of equipment and the basic setup since the Snakes & Arrows tour in 2007 and 2008, and everything was basically flawless on that tour, save for the . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lerxst Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 The main change, was moving the amp heads away from the cabinets, that he is using 2x12 cabinets rather than 4x12's, and that he has three amplifiers, rather than four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 Air Canada Centre in Toronto show had alex losing guitar at the end of yyz, and to start limelight. So frustrating... i thought they might just stop, get it fixed, and then start all over. I can't imagine Alex's frustrations..... Bottom line.... things happen, but i expect more from rush and their crew. None of these guys are amateurs and to have repeated problems... big problems, isn't really acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlyr01 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) Alex didn't seem to have any problems at the Camden show. Which was great, cause I expected him to have some because of every other night prior to that. That night, it was Geddy having the problems. He kept looking off to stage left during TSS and Presto going "I'm getting nothing" then went offstage and grabbed the all black Fender before going into Stick it Out. He finally picked up the usual Fender just before LTTA. But I think it was the bass itself, not his setup. Holmdel. Alex had problems. He seemed really unhappy in all those Boston videos on Youtube. I have an uncle who tours in an audio crew. He agreed its definitely the guitar and the guitar setup. The only person to blame is the guitar tech. I play guitar. I'd can the guy, Edited October 30, 2010 by GuitarPlyr01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patjnev Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I have a theory about these incidents. The EMP's ( electromagnetic impulses) from the pyrotechnics caused Al's wireless system to fail . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish_matt Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 whatever the show was that was the epic failure... the tech gave Alex a cord for the guitar, bypassing the wireless and it still din't work. However, it does seem to have something to do with the pyro. I would think a backup amp with DI to the house system would be easy with a bypass from the effects rack. you know, if Neil breaks a snare head, he gets a new snare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red sector animal Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 You know that if the setlist was "the top 15 songs fans dislike the most" Every show would be flawless for any amount of shows. It's just the way it works. Also got to be sort of fun to have the song start to derail yet to be proficient enough to keep it rolling down the tracks to it's destination. Thats got to spice the nights up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertk Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 It depends... I mean, he did get things fixed when they went wrong, and that's a plus. It may not have been his fault seeing as Alex had a fairly complex rig, but I suppose after it happened once it should have been a quick fix... Who knows...? Geddy's rig is WAY simpler than Alex's. Add to that that Geddy only uses one bass (except for his red Fender on 2112) and it's easy to see why he has fewer problems. Alex has tons of effects and preamps and amps, and several guitars on top of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun3701 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I think it's pretty cool that no matter how bad things get, they've never just walked off stage or anything... they always see it through to the end. That's true professionalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVman9 Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I'd say he's getting canned. The same problem was happening night after night. I was incredibly frustrated at the Milwaukee show when the Glorious 355 cut out during La Villa. I have always wanted to hear it played with that guitar. The problems seem like they were coming from not the rig, but the guitars themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertk Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 QUOTE (AVman9 @ Nov 1 2010, 12:18 AM) I'd say he's getting canned. The same problem was happening night after night. I was incredibly frustrated at the Milwaukee show when the Glorious 355 cut out during La Villa. I have always wanted to hear it played with that guitar. The problems seem like they were coming from not the rig, but the guitars themselves. The guitars? What makes you think that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 There is not a lot that can go wrong in an electric guitar. Electrically, the instrument is essentially a set of pickups -- magnets and coils that make a tiny bit of current that gets generated by steel strings vibrating in the field lines. Very simple. I have a couple electric guitars and nothing has ever gone wrong with them electrically aside some the dials getting a little gunked up over the years (a little spray electronics cleaner fixed them up). Its the other end of the equation -- the rig basically. From the guitar we go into a wireless and then the receiver sends its output into preamps/rack effects/amps which then get fed to the cabinets. There are sensitive electronics and computer chips on that end. And yeah, if the pyro was generating any kind of surge or spike or EMF that could effect something like computers/electronics but would not likely do anything to the guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlyr01 Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 He was having problems with breaking strings. Especially on the Fenders during "Vital Signs". A brand new string breaks the first time it's used, THAT's the tech's fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wordy_McWordword Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 They've used pyros before and he didn't have an issue though. Just the Helsinki incident that was forementioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patjnev Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 I wish I was a guitar tech because I would love to know what happened. Its possible that some of the microprocessors in the signal chain might of blown out if they weren't hardened for EMP's. Its possible the designers of those circuits hadn't thought of shielding them for EMP's but I doubt thats the case since Pyro has been part of rock concerts for decades . Maybe thats why the tech was having such a problem finding the issue . Its not hard to imagine him speculating at the first onslaught that . OH DAMN the wireless went out so he grabs another one real quick . OH damn thats not it then he grabs a patch cable . then when its evident that its not coming from that end of the chain . he checks the cabinets for the malfunction and finds it but by that time its too late 3-4 minutes have already gone by. It still doesn't explain why this happened several nights over a course of a tour . Like I said I would love to know what really happened . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersyl Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 After seeing the H&K Vid on Alex's amps, maybe Alex's Steampunk cabinets were just... crap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOH Lights Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 QUOTE (Phantom @ Oct 29 2010, 11:29 PM) I'm no technician, and I'm not sure if any of the problems were the fault of the technician, but I have to wonder if he'll be back. He's a great technician and regardless of the problems experienced this tour, there is/was no talk about replacing him. Besides, the dude carries an extensive cigar collection on the road AND is willing to share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now