Yeah, nice-sounding feedback can be tough without some volume, but is definitely do-able if you get close enough to the speaker. The Fernandez Sustainer is a great alternative, though!

Unfortunately we don’t have any shows lined up over the next few months because we’re working on hard on finishing our new CD. But the CD Release party will be in the 2nd week of October, so keep an eye out for that. And if you’re playing out anytime soon feel free to stop back in an post a link to your site.

Gentleman,please keep up the great work with the website. It’s nice to see people actually enjoying themselves with the music instead of getting all high strung and walking around with their dick in the dirt.
I’ll be catching one of your shows to see if you have as much fun onstage as ya do here. Again, great job,

Oh—just a footnote, I believe the solo to Stairway to Heaven was recorded wtih a telecaster thru a single speaker 7 watt Supro amp. Anyone wanna call Jimmy Page a "pussy" LOL

For the record, while our CL posts might be a little inflamatory, we don’t want to alienate any bands. When a local band succeeds, we all succeed! If fans go out to see shows and leave happy they’re more likely to come to see other shows, and that’s good for all of us hard-working musicians!

We just want to give other musicians the fruits of what we’ve learned from our (many) mistakes over the years. Maybe some bands are just starting out and can’t figure out why when they start playing everyone either moves to the back of the room or leaves the venue altogether. Hopefully our hard-learned lessons about stage volume at smaller venues will help such bands figure out a little more quickly what they can do to improve their live sound, and in turn make their fans happier and keep them coming back.

This is a great dialogue, though, and we really hope everyone continues to add to the discussion!

We’re also sharing our experiences with seeing live bands in similar venues, and noticing that their refusal to reduce their volume level (yes, even the drummer!) alienated the very people who were there to see them. Not to say that these bands have to change a single thing about their setup, but they should at least know that by playing so loud they’re losing fans.

We realize that there are plenty of bands out there that play different sorts of music in different sorts of venues, and we’d love to hear about their experiences and how they managed to get the best sound for their band. Hell, "shut up and play your crappy music", if you’ve done a lot of stadium-sized gigs, we’d love it if you’d write a guest post on this site about that experience so we can all learn from the mistakes and successes you’ve had in getting the best sound for your band in that scenario.

i’ve played more rock concerts on both sides of the pond than you’ve had hot lunches, and comparing the sound reenforcement principles practiced in mid-level venues or arenas to what goes on in small toilets is a mistake. any professional band will know how to handle smaller clubs and will make the proper adjustments. part of those adjustments will include factoring in the "soundman," house system, room materials and dimensions, etc.

telling a drummer to baffle the drums and stifle his or her dynamic range, or a guitarist to change her amp rig, etc., is arrogant… and you should be encouraged to put a lid on it. what qualifies you to have an opinion on the types of tools people use to create their art?

while it’s true that a lower stage volumes give the sound "engineer" more control over the mix, in many cases that scenario is less than desirable. unless that same soundman is attending rehearsals and knows the material. seems like you’ve put a lot of work into this site, perhaps your time would be better spent improving your own sound.

Plus, aren’t you mic’ing it? If so, why not just boost the guitar in the monitors if you want all your bandmates to hear you?