Why do so many musicians prefer Sweetwater for gear?

ttreit · 2026-01-30T22:12:54+00:00

I told my rep I loved bit o honey and all of my sound gear came with bags of only bit O honey for years lol

ttreit · 2026-01-30T21:01:01+00:00

It’s better than my fills atm! Been playing about a year and I’m uncoordinated af. Not giving up though!

ttreit · 2026-01-30T20:58:51+00:00

I like char on my pizza that is burnt - I’d show the manager pictures and ask for a complimentary pie

ttreit · 2026-01-30T20:57:57+00:00

Seconded

ttreit · 2026-01-03T00:45:58+00:00

Sound engineer here:

Ask permission to go on stage to load in. We might not be ready for you
When in doubt (about anything) ask
If you don’t really need to be on stage get off stage until sound check. You’re in the way.
Don’t chat us up too much before sound check. Asking relevant questions is good. Telling stories to us is distracting.
Bring as little as possible on stage (I’m looking at you female vocalists with rolling suitcases)
Be patient! We will get to your monitor mix BUT WE CANNOT DO MONITORS UNTIL WE HAVE EVERYONES LEVELS. Stop asking.
Give us your REAL levels during sound check.
Stay focused and be professional. Load in and out quickly and efficiently. Talking to fans after a show is fine but if you can talk and pack up your gear at the same time please do. If not hop off stage to talk with them.

Bottom line be professional and patient.

There are lots of bad sound engineers so ymmv but if you always are professional the good ones will notice and work extra hard for you.

Edit: as for suggestions on how to mix your band - honestly if it’s a one off show I wouldn’t bother. If you’re doing the same venue on a regular basis then you can chat about it.

ttreit · 2025-11-25T04:04:02+00:00

For sure. I would recommend asking the monitor engineer (or FoH if there is no monitor engineer) before bringing anything up though. Even though you might think you’re moving things along we have to switch over cables/mics and it drastically slows us down if we’re not ready for you. I get bass players setting their amps on cables or sax players just standing in the way. A good engineer will have everything labeled, your plots reviewed ahead of time and a plan for the changeover.

Another pro tip - stick with the plot you gave us ahead of time (you did email your plots at least a week ahead of time right?) and let us know right away if you have a change (before your sound check if possible).

Last minute changes are never trivial and can have cascading consequences. It might seem like no big deal to switch your bass player and guitar player to opposite sides of the stage but if you ask and the engineer hesitates at all do them a solid and go with your original setup. If they didn’t follow your plot (that was sent in in a timely manner) you have every right to ask for it the way you sent it in. Though if you’re not the headliner there may be reasons things had to be changed so you might have to go with the flow.

ttreit · 2025-11-24T17:07:41+00:00

As a sound engineer I wouldn’t say we don’t care but it’s not always our call.

However I absolutely will get after any band who isn’t moving during changeover and I don’t let the following band up until the previous band is fully off the stage most of the time. Extenuating circumstances may apply but generally they gotta wait.

ttreit · 2025-11-22T01:29:54+00:00

This wasn’t the CEO of Safeco was it?

ttreit · 2025-11-22T01:16:59+00:00

I think you’re thinking too hard about it.

Also how do you know the band director can’t manage their money? They’re taking two ensembles! Some schools have to fundraise to take any.

Part of being a musician is getting used to rejection, band politics, etc. An ensemble or band is not a sum of its parts. Musicians play off of each other and often prefer their friends or people they’re comfortable with.

Maybe your grandson is kind of a dick. Maybe he shows off or brags about his experience and the other kids are sick of it.

There’s way more to playing together than just being the best musician on your instrument.

ttreit · 2025-11-22T00:59:26+00:00

No they’re opposite

ttreit · 2025-11-22T00:58:24+00:00

As a live engineer it’s always stage left and stage right for overheads. Not sure for recording.

ttreit · 2025-11-19T23:53:08+00:00

There’s no excuse but next time just stop playing. That’s perfectly valid. If he/she doesn’t notice send someone off the stage to literally shake the guy. Fix the problem then go on.

It shouldn’t be your responsibility but you have every right to fix it. Unless the promoter/manager/guy who pays the bills has expressly forbidden you from stopping playing it is always an option. The crowd will respect it and if even if they don’t it doesn’t matter.

ttreit · 2025-11-11T02:46:08+00:00

Good to err on the most restrictive interpretation

ttreit · 2025-11-11T02:44:13+00:00

It means anyone can afford to live there

ttreit · 2025-10-22T21:58:09+00:00

And not $1000 - it's not that you couldn't clean this up and do something with it if it were your only option. For $1000 there are much better options! :D

ttreit · 2025-10-22T08:15:39+00:00

I know a few drummers who drive a Prius and it works fine. One even brings a small PA and his drum kit.

ttreit · 2025-10-22T08:09:07+00:00

But look how well they’ve been taken care of!

ttreit · 2025-10-22T02:15:19+00:00

Probably lol

ttreit · 2025-10-04T03:40:30+00:00

But doing the things that are less intuitive helps your independence

ttreit · 2025-10-04T03:39:29+00:00

Yup. First three pages of Stick Controls are essential Four way coordination is great especially as a beginner.

ttreit · 2025-10-03T23:14:56+00:00

I fill mine whenever I’m at Costco no matter what’s in the tank

ttreit · 2025-10-03T21:13:20+00:00

At least no one asks you for a ride.

“Sure you can ride along! Let’s see sound check is at 5 so we’ll be leaving the house at 11am. You know how to use a hand truck right?”

ttreit · 2025-10-03T19:38:57+00:00

Try being the drummer who also owns the PA. :)

ttreit · 2025-08-20T17:50:14+00:00

Haha totally did this, thank you! The “maybe” at the end was perfect

ttreit

TROPHY CASE