Hi everyone. On the micing subject. line out's usually suck. A good cabinet simulter is a great way to go. I use an ADA microcab II. I've never tried the TF's SS direct. For your sutuation it's probably easier to mic. I mic the back of open back amps in the studio sometimes along with a front mic however I would not ever consider live micing from just the back. Too dark sounding. My usual studio mic setup is one close mic which I place myself while wearing headphones and playing, moving the mic around. I like fat and smooth for all applications. Next we use an ambient mic places anywhere from 5 to 20 feet away from the amp. Tis way you can pan the two mics dor a great "live" type sound. For live, Set your board EQ flat and stand out front playing while someone else holds the mic in front of the amp. Use mic Placement NOT the board EQ for the sound you want. I prefer slightly off center so you can get some surround tone along with the very direct center. Have them move the mic side to side slowly while keeping it about 2" from the grill til you hear the "Sweet Spot". As a rule I never touch the boards EQ until I've done all I can do to get a good sound from the source. That includes drums. They have a "Sweet spot too. Reserve your channel EQing for your vocals where your always going to need it. Alway try to have the guys in your band use the same mics. Your gonna save yourself a lot of main mix as well as monitor mix troubles if you all do. I carry around a mic case filled with EV 757 mics and everyone uses them . Were switching to 957's soon. Point being that if all the vocal mics are the same basically, Tuning your vocals out front will be tons easier. Vocals are the main bitch. They're too loud, They're too soft. Use COMPRESSION. Most people are all to happy to spend their Equipment dollars on all kinds of things. The priority should be Mixer, Eq, compressers. Also use rack compressers for everything you can. You get a big sound at a low volume among many other advantages. Heres a copy of an article I wrote on compression. I use Alesis 3630's. Our band sounds HUGE at all volume levels and I've got band sound techs and fellow musicians spying on our gear all the time. I'm always happy to share what I've learned. AN OVERVIEW ON USABLE COMPRESSION FOR LIVE SOUND BY MARK A. HUMPHREY COMPRESSION TIPS: USE "HARD KNEE" TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE CLIPPING. VOCALS: STRICTLY BACKING VOCALS USE FASTER ATTACK TIME TO CONTROL BACKING VOCAL PEAKS AND KEEP THEM TIGHT. LEAD VOCALS: TO KEEP VOCALS PUNCHY, USE SLOWER ATTACK TIMES WITH REASONABLE OUTPUT LEVEL. OVERALL VOCAL MIX: WHAT WORKS FOR ME IS RATIO AT BETWEEN 2:1 & 4 :1 (ABOUT 10:0CLOCK) USE "RMS" MODE-- KEEP OUT PUT LEVEL THE SAME AUDIBLY AS THE VOLUME IS IN "BYPASS MODE AT A NORMAL SOUND CHECK VOICE. SET DECAY SLOW ENOUGH TO AVOID EXCESS "PUMPING" YET FAST ENOUGH TO PREVENT UNNECESSARY "DUCKING" AFTER A LOUD PASSAGE. OVERALL COMPRESSION ON THE ENTIRE MIX LIVE OR STUDIO: LOW RATIO SETTINGS BETWEEN 1.5:1 & 3:1 WITH THRESHOLD SET AT 2 -4 db BELOW PEAK LED. THE MODERATE ATTACK AND SLOW RELEASE TIME PREVENT NOTICABLE SIDE EFFECTS WHILE ALLOWING YOU TO INCREASE THE SIGNAL LEVEL AFTER THE EFFECT. DRUMS: USE "PEAK" SETTING. "SOFT KNEE" IS MORE NATURAL SOUNDING. USE HEAVY LIMITING & HIGH THRESHOLD GATEING TO GET A "BIG DRUM" SOUND. KICK DRUM: LONGER ATTACK TIMES AND A LOOSE NOISE GATE SO YOU ARE SURE NOT TO CUT OFF THE BATTER ATTACK SOUND. BASS GUITAR: TO KEEP BASS CONSISTANT IN THE MIX, USE HARD LIMITING SETTING THRESHOLD AT 10:00TO 12:00--RATIO ALL THE WAY CLOCKWISE--ATTACK 10:00- 12:00RELEASE 12:00-3:00--OUTPUT AS NEEDED. KEYBOARDS: BECAUSE OF THEIR WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE AND UNCONTROLLABLE PEAKS AT DIFFERENT SETTINGS, KEYBOARDS REAP MORE SYSTEM DESTRUCTION THAN ALL OTHER INSTRUMENTS PUT TOGETHER IN A LIVE SITUATION. USE THE SAME HARD LIMITING SETTINGS AS ELECTRONIC DRUMS AND BASS GUITAR. THAT SETTING WILL KEEP THE KEYS IN THE MIX AT ALL TIMES YET PREVENT THE TRANSIENTS WHICH ARE CONSISTENT WITH COMPONENT RUIN. GOOD LUCK. Also Here's a frequency guide to help your mix so that each instrument is distinct and seperate in the mix. EQUALIZATION POINTS FOR INSTRUMENTS DRUMS: KICK BOTTOM 60-80HZ SLAP 2.5K SNARE FAT 240HZ CRISP 5K HI HAT CLANK 200 SIZZLE 7.5-12K TOMS FULL 240 HZ ATTACK 5K FLOOR TOM FULL 80-120HZ ATTACK 5K GUITARS BASS BOTTOM 60-80HZ PLUCK 700HZ-1K POP 2.5K ELECTRIC FULL 240HZ BITE 2.5K ACCOUSTIC BOTTOM 80 120HZ BODY 240HZ PRES 2.5-5K ORGAN BOTTOM 80-120HZ FULL 240HZ BITE 2.5K PIANO BOTTOM 80-120HZ ATTACK 2.5-5K CRISP 10K VOCALS FULL 120HZ BOOMY 200-240HZ PRES. 5K SIBILANCE 7.5-10K