monitoring guitar

This is my position onstage for the Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi tour, showing my wedge and the ramp with wedges surrounding it. Every day I run out there at soundcheck to make sure I hear enough drums and guitar over the din of the PA.

In-ears or wedges? Here’s how to get the best from both onstage.

I'm often asked about my thoughts on stage monitoring. With the advent of in-ear monitors, it's now common to see stages devoid of any “side fills" and/or wedge (or “foldback") monitors. On many tours—and certainly in bars and casinos—it's become fairly common to see stages with no guitar or bass amps either. Yet some artists, such as Paul McCartney and Gov't Mule, prefer to do things old school with traditional monitors. Let's look at the pros and cons of both in-ear systems and traditional monitors.

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