I found an old thread but I'm curious if you guys happen to know any of the following:

Fender obviously put the tilt back legs on the amps - was there any logic from Fender for this?

I usually play with my Twin on an amp stand - so it's tilted slightly but up about the height of the Twin off the floor.

However, we played a gig with a stage that was two levels - three of us across the front on the lower level, and three on the back on the upper level which was about maybe a foot-and-a-half higher. The bass player got pissy when I put my amp on the edge of the top level because it was blocking the view of his knees to his feet. Anyhoo, I moved it down to the lower level but because it was so close to me, I tilted it back.

I have to say, sound coming up hitting you in the back of the head - it was a nice sound.

What's your experience with this - does anyone tilt back regularly (playing live)?

I've also toyed with the idea of putting one floor monitor wedge on one side of my mic stand and the Twin facing me, tilted back, on the other side, when it's mic'd on a big stage.

By the way, I know there are some amp stands designed now to allow you to tilt back any amp (on the floor) so someone must think it's a good idea.

Finally, what about the bands in the 60s when tilt backs first appeared - where all the fender endorsees, er, I mean, players tilting back, or no?

Steve

Sound expands in a cone, so tilting the amp up (I believe) helps aim the center of the cone of sound at the audience. This is from Quilter's documentation. "The built-in 10 degree tilt lifts the sound off the floor and projects it to the audience."

That's all I think I know about this. I hope there's a sound engineer here to explain this better, corroborate or correct this.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Oct 24, 2012 22:34:07

I almost always tilt my amp so I don't have to turn the volume up so much. I can hear myself better w/o blasting the audience. I use a collapsable tilt stand, works great. I read somewhere that the original intention of tilt legs was to aim the amp at the ceiling and have it reflect off so people at the back of the room could hear better, not sure if that's true but it sounds like a good reason.

After all my years of playing in bands, my ears require that I either tilt or elevate in order to hear my guitar clearly. If I don't, the sound is too indistinct and muddy for me. I either use the tilt legs, or I put my amp up on top of my black Gator rolling amp case, which really works well. I had a Fender bumper sticker which I slapped over the Gator logo...just cuz.

Tilting an amp where the controls are on top such as a Hot Rod Deluxe can be a challenge when you need to make adjustments. Otherwise full tilt baby!

Happy Sunsets!

I have a small combo amp w/out tilt legs so I always put it on a chair. I've thought about a collapsable stand too but haven't got one yet (not giging now). Those are nice because you can angle them up too. I'd use legs if I had them. Always good to get the sound directed toward your ears so you can hear yourself and your proper tone. But I always mic too, so I let the sound person worry about the audience.

Guy_Incognito wrote:

..it seems to drive the other guitar player nuts (he plays a Super Reverb and refuses to tilt)...

I used to play w/ a guy w/ a Super Reverb and refused to tilt it too, which drove ME nuts. All four speakers went right into the back of his calves and, on the other side of the room where i was, it was louder than heck!

DreadInBabylon wrote:

Tilting the amp also reduces (to a degree) floor reflections in the bass region, thus rendering a 'truer' sound.

I don't know if you guys know this but when an amp sits on the floor it is "coupled" to the floor. This artificially increases the bass response on stage - and of course since it's pointing at your calves you also don't hear a lot of the highs (but any listeners at amp level do). Of course if you like that overly bassy non-ice-picky sound of an amp on the floor, one thing you should remember is that if you mic the amp, the mic "hears" the sound out of the speaker - not the enhanced bass of the coupling. So what you think you sound like is not actually what you sound like!

When you tilt it back, I think it decouples it. I know putting it on a stand does.

I'm (pleasantly) surprised to see so many of you do it, and I agree, it is a "truer" sound - probably the decoupling combined with it pointing more towards your head. It also makes sense that it would hit the ceiling and bounce back down to the people in the back (assuming the ceiling is not too absorbent or otherwise non-reflective).

I know when I tilt my amp back it can be closer to me than when it's on the stand because that angle (which is less than when tilted) points the sound at my hind-parts until I get about 6 feet away (which in small clubs is sometimes impractical).

Still curious about the history and any "logic" behind it.

Steve

so1om wrote:

Just liek bass players need to put the speaker cab as far back on stage, the farther the better, to let those long waves develop before they hit the absorbing audience.

I keep trying to tell them this! Instead, they want the amp a foot behind them and then turn it up loud enough that they can hear it at that distance, but 20 feet out it's shaking pictures off the wall. No one seems to understand what a "wavelength" is

Steve

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of restoring an old Echolette tone ring cab, which is quite similar to the Showman 1x15" tone ring cab. Tolex, grill, corners and handle are in place. Now I just need to install the tilt back legs and the piggy back bushings. And there's the problem. I do not know where to exactly install the 16" tilt back legs. Got a pair of Fender legs and stops, but I just can't figure out where to put them. The cab has a dimension of 60cm height (23.62") and 29cm depth (11.42"). I've read somewhere that you should go 1 inch from the bottom and 1 1/2 inches from the side, but that's, well, nah.
So if any of you Showman cab owners could take the time and a tape measure, I'd be very thankful.
Oh, and regarding the bushings: do they align with the handle (the middle of the cab) or a little bit to the front or back, so the head units aligns with the front of the cab? (I think it's the middle of the cab after looking at a couple of pictures.)
Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks =)

The Hicadoolas

Last edited: May 20, 2014 02:14:20

I agree with Ed; a tone-ring or most any other Fender cab or combo fully tilted back is a bit much for me unless I'm well away from it.

I also like a slight tilt via a wedge or strip. Seems like somebody used to make a wedge type deal for this specific purpose, but if I remember right it was a bit pricy imho?

I seldom ever tilt my Fender VV.

Edit - found it. http://www.ampwedge.com/

METEOR IV on reverbnation

Last edited: May 20, 2014 11:12:23