I have worked as a soundman a few times, but have no experience in using the G-Force live, so this section is necessarily theoretical. Anyone with more experience is welcome to contribute.
Finding a decent soundman is almost as important as finding good bandmembers. A bad soundman can really ruin your performance, both by setting an awful sound out to the audience and by creating such a bad monitor mix that you cannot hear what you play. In either case the audience will blame you. A really incompetent soundman may also destroy the PA equipment that you use. Consider paying more for someone you trust even if the venue or the PA-leasing company offer their own for free.
See also the pages on levels and combining presets.
Note that there are two kinds of level: one that you can see on a level meter and one that you'll percieve with your ears. These are not always the same: a low-frequency (below 75Hz) sound can make a big impact on a level meter and even damage speakers, but will not appear very loud to the ears, while a less powerful mid-range sound can feel very loud and painful. After listening to loud sounds for while high frequencies will appear weaker due to temporary deafness (you can then increase the high frequencies even more, but it's more healthy to keep them down from the beginning).
It's important to fine-tune the out level of your preamp with the Input level of the G-Force, especially if you are using the Gate, the Envelope Follower or the ADSRs. These are all level sensitive and will not work good if the G-Force input level is set incorrectly.
Because different environments and PA systems sound different you may have to tweak presets on the fly when sound-checking, though this is best done with the PA mixer's equalizers. Make sure you have enough time for this (or use fewer or simpler effects).
If you have programmed stereo patches at home but play in mono live, check that the presets will still work. In mono a Panner will sound like a tremolo, while Chorus and Pitch Shift harmony effects may sound stronger. Delay and Pitch Shift voices that are panned hard right can become muted if you only use the left output jack.
If you play in stereo on stage, check that the stereo effects sound good even for those listeners that are not standing exactly in front of the stage. Not all stereo sounds will suffer from this, a stereo chorus will probably sound just fine but be careful with extreme panned effects like when panning the dry signal to one side and a delay to the other.
Ideally you should use balanced (also known as T/R/S, Tip/Ring/Sleeve or "Stereo") cables when going directly into a mixer (see also the page on audio electronics). Ordinary unbalanced guitar cables work too but may pick up more hum on their way from the G-Force to the mixer (see also the page on noise prevention). Remember to enable the speaker filter.
There are several advantages with going directly into the PA from the G-Force:
The disadvantages are of course that you may want the sound produced by the guitar power amp and its speakers. By using an artificial speaker load you may still be able to use the guitar power amp without a speaker connected, or at least attenuate the level a little.
If you leave your equipment on a small stage it's likely that someone will play around with it, which could be disastrous. The little green LED on the G-Force that indicates if it's been tampered with might be useful as a tell-tale, but the safest is probably to make a door or lid with a lock for your rack. You may also write-protect all presets, but that will not protect the In/Out level knob positions.
If you suspect that something has been edited you can reload the whole User bank from a memory card, but don't store the card together with the G-Force (if one is lost or stolen at least the other will be left).
Copyright © 1999-2016 Christian Jacobsson.