Explore the best strategies for your “amp-less” onstage guitar rig.
For many guitarists, the days of lugging around heavy tube amps is over. Amp emulators have gotten to the point where they sound indistinguishable from the real thing. Want proof? Amp emulators are on the stages of some of the biggest acts in the world, from U2 to Metallica, Polyphia to Iron Maiden to name just a few.
Advantages of an amp-less rig are less size and weight, consistent sound, and controllable stage volume.
UAFX amp emulators are revered for their spot-on tones of classic tube amps from the ’50s to the ’90s, and although they excel at no-fuss, album-ready studio tones, they do just as well onstage.
Here we’ll show you how to take your UAFX amp emulator to your next gig and beyond.
Direct to the PA
You can run your UAFX amp emulator’s outputs straight to a mixer or an onstage snake. For longer cable runs, a direct box is highly recommended. It will ensure a strong signal with long unbalanced cable runs, eliminate ground loop hum, and best of all, make the FOH engineer very happy.
A direct box or DI — especially if your main rig is an amp emulator — is good to keep in your gig bag, just in case.
If you’re running stereo out of your UAFX amp emulator, make sure you have a stereo DI.
Running your UAFX amp emulator straight to the PA is certainly the easiest way to go, but remember, you’re at the mercy of the sound engineer to hear yourself in the monitor mix. Which leads us to our next section…
Monitor with a FRFR
Standing for “full range, flat response,” a powered FRFR monitor gives you control of your stage volume in much the same way a traditional guitar amp would. Think of an FRFR as a mini PA meant to amplify everything coming out of your amp emulator, uncolored, giving you the entire frequency spectrum.
FRFRs come in many shapes, sizes, and power ratings. Some look like traditional guitar cabs while others are floor wedges.
If you love the sound of your cab on stage but also want to feed the front of house, most direct boxes offer a “thru” function, letting you run an output to FOH, and the thru output to your FRFR, giving you the best of both worlds.
Use the “thru” feature on your DI to send signal simultaneously to both front-of-house and your FRFR speaker.
For guitarists who still want the feel of a traditional cab on stage without lugging a full amp head, pair your UAFX amp emulator with a compact solid-state power amp like the Seymour Duncan PowerStage™ 170, Electro-Harmonix 44 Magnum Power Amp, or Quilter SuperBlock. This lets you drive a real guitar cabinet, often using readily available backline guitar cabs at venues, for familiar stage volume. Just be sure to bypass the UAFX pedal’s speaker emulation for the best results.
Using UAFX with your Guitar Amp
Sure, we’re supposed to be amp-less, but what if you love your amp tones and the sounds in your UAFX amp emulator? Thankfully, there’s the 4-cable method.
Use 4-cable mode with UAFX amp emulators and add another switchable channel to any real guitar amplifier that has an effects loop.
If your amp has an effects loop, you can add tones with your favorite UAFX amp emulator pedal using the 4-cable method.
How it Works
When a UAFX amp pedal is on, the amp emulation is heard, and the real amp’s preamp section is bypassed.
The UAFX Control app makes it easy to set up your UAFX amp emulator for 4-Cable operation.
- Power off your real amplifier
- Configure the cables as illustrated and described below
- Connect to the pedal with the UAFX Control mobile app, and open the pedal Settings screen
- In the UAFX Control mobile app, under 4-Cable Mode, tap “On”
- Turn your amplifier on
- You can now hear the UAFX amp pedal when Live mode or Preset mode is enabled, and your real amplifier’s preamp channel when the pedal is disabled
Warning: Turn off your amplifier before wiring the pedal and enabling 4-cable mode. If you enable 4-cable mode with incorrect wiring, you can cause extreme feedback.
Follow this diagram for the correct ins/outs.
Quick Tip: It’s advisable to disable your UAFX speaker emulation when you’re playing through a real guitar amplifier and speaker cabinet. Do this by pressing the pedal’s Speaker switch until its LED is unlit.
Now you can place your overdrives and boost pedals in front of your amp’s input and your delay, reverb, and modulation effects in the amp’s effects loop giving you a clarity and focus that sounds much more in line with what you would hear in a studio.
Does Pedal Order Matter?
Yes, it does, but not in the “right or wrong” way.
It’s all about the sounds you’re going for and with what effects. That being said, here are a few guidelines, but always remember to use your ears.
- Effects like gain boosts, distortion/overdrive, and fuzz go before your UAFX amp emulator just like they would an actual amp.
- Placing reverb and delay pedals like a UAFX Golden Reverberator or delay like Starlight Echo Station after your amp emulator will give you the cleanest studio-like sounds.
- Modulation effects such as chorus, flange, and phaser — say from a UAFX Astra Modulation Machine — sound optimal after overdrive/distortion pedals but placed before reverb and delay.
- Wahs, EQs, and filters sound great in the front of your signal chain, but wah after overdrive or distortion gives you an exaggerated sweep with crazy “vowel-like” effects.
- Tuners should go first, and compressors do well before drives, delays, and modulation.
Again, these are only suggestions. Sometimes a delay pedal — like UAFX Orion Tape Echo — in front of your amp emulator gives you a fat, boosted tone that’s just what the doctor ordered.
And if you stack multiple overdrives and boosts, play with the order of those as it will have a dramatic effect on tone shaping.
More Tips for Live Use
Oftentimes, the tones you dial in at home simply don’t cut it with other instruments — drums, bass, and keys — in the room.
So make sure you’ve tested your tones with a full ensemble. This is especially important for more saturated sounds, as they can disappear quickly in a live setting.
What sounds like fat bottom end and smooth highs at home can quickly turn to mush live.
It’s also important to level match your presets for the stage. Typically, you’ll want to set more saturated, overdriven tones a little louder, but again, nothing beats a run through with a full ensemble.
Now you’re ready to hit the stage with your UAFX amp emulator. Let us know what works for you in your quest to go amp-less!
— Darrin Fox
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