Cutting through the mix with a Helix LT

[travisrcampbell]

Hey guys - I'm new here and just bought a helix LT. I had my first weekly jam session and played mainly straight to the PA with a wedge monitor directly in front of me. It sounded great when I played alone, but I found it was very hard to hear myself with everyone else playing at full volume. We worked quite a bit on adjusting volume, but I was still having a hard time cutting through the mix when playing rhythm. Lead wasn't really an issue. I found this recipe on the Line 6 Community which I'll first be able to try on Tuesday:

 

Global EQ

Low Gain -- 0

Mid Gain -- 0

High Gain -- 0

Low Cut -- 90Hz

High Cut -- 6K

 

Speaker block/IR settings

Low Cut -- 70Hz

High Cut -- 7.2K

 

Any other suggestions? 

[zooey]

Pretty much doubt this has to do with the LT, and more to do with monitoring and context.

 

Ideally, build your patches using the same monitor you're using with your band, and at similar volume levels. The speaker and volume you're hearing makes a surprising amount of difference in what things sound like, which in turn makes a huge difference in how you're going to set up your patches. You want your patch-building and band contexts to be pretty similar if possible.

 

When you build patches, make sure you're standing away from your monitor, like at least 6 feet as a random number. Most FRFR/monitor speakers are much harsher closer than that, and the low and high drivers won't have room to blend together, which will tend to make you build patches that sound full and rich in your basement, but have too much bottom and not enough treble to cut through in a live mix. I'm super guilty of this myself.

 

Many people try to leave the global EQ flat, so it's available to adjust for different room environments. Most or all of your general EQ should be in your patches themselves. You have various EQ types, dedicated hi/low-cut filters, and filters on the cab or IR block available. no need for the global, and it's generally thought to be counterproductive. Using EQ on individual patches rather than globally is especially important if you have radically different instruments, like electric and acoustic, and/or guitar and bass or other stuff.

 

If this is your first modeler, be aware that it's kind of a different world than a flaming Marshall blowing your pant legs back, more like a mic'd cab in a studio. Doesn't mean you can't do raw and/or exciting tones, or get loud, but getting comfortable in that environment may take some time getting used to it.

 

And don't panic!

[cruisinon2]

Getting lost in a live mix is far from a modeler-specific problem. 99% of the time it's the result of EQing things to sound good at a nice comfy living room volume at home (often playing by yourself, then finding those same settings useless at stage volume with other instruments. This can happen just as easily with a combo amp and a couple of stomp boxes, as Helix + FRFR.

 

You need to dial in your patches at or close to the volume at which you intend to use them, otherwise you're likely to find yourself vanishing from the mix at higher volumes, when competing for the same sonic space with other instruments.

[benlampard]

Definitely agree that you need to dial in sounds at gig volume. Hearing perception changes with amplitude, so what sounds soft and muddy at home sounds perfect onstage (in my experience at least).

 

I've found there's no need to use the global EQ as a default, it's intended more to tailor your sound to different situations quickly.

 

I have my IRs set to tighter cuts, around 100-150hz on the low end and around 3-5kHz on the top. Sound drastic, but the filters are really gentle; I think something like 12db/octave, so you have to set them further than you expect. Global EQ and EQ blocks have much stronger curves.

[pbatts]

Everyone's suggestions are spot on.

 

More specifically, to your settings that you outlined above:

 

It doesn't make logical sense to have low and high cuts in two different places.

 

As suggested above, the global eq would mainly be used for minor eq tweaks for room to room. So, that is going to change from room to room or may not be needed at all. I would suggest turning global eq Off.

 

You can use the high/low cuts in the speaker/IR blocks, like you have, but, most folks are finding they like the sonic result better by adding a separate high/low cut eq block immediately after the amp/cab/IR block and not using high/low cuts in the speaker/IR block.

 

Any cuts you make lower than 100 hz is really encroaching on your bass players sonic space and will quickly turn into a muddy mess. I would suggest a low cut no lower than 100 hz or slightly higher.

 

Your high cut seems a little extreme. I would suggest a high cut no lower than 8k hz.

 

Of course, this is just a suggestion. There are no hard an fast rules. Do what your ears tell you to do.

[jbuhajla]

 

Hey guys - I'm new here and just bought a helix LT. I had my first weekly jam session and played mainly straight to the PA with a wedge monitor directly in front of me. It sounded great when I played alone, but I found it was very hard to hear myself with everyone else playing at full volume. We worked quite a bit on adjusting volume, but I was still having a hard time cutting through the mix when playing rhythm. Lead wasn't really an issue. I found this recipe on the Line 6 Community which I'll first be able to try on Tuesday:

 

Global EQ

Low Gain -- 0

Mid Gain -- 0

High Gain -- 0

Low Cut -- 90Hz

High Cut -- 6K

 

Speaker block/IR settings

Low Cut -- 70Hz

High Cut -- 7.2K

 

Any other suggestions? 

 

You didn't mention the type of music you are playing, other instruments in the band, the specific instruments you are playing, what amp model you are using, etc... There is no magic formula for cutting through the mix with just some basic EQ settings. 

[themetallikid]

I agree with all comments above as well....also something that helped me with tones.......* im just offering advice, I am in no way assuming any level of competency or lack there of, lol. 

 

I found it greatly helpful to listen to some of your fave album guitar tracks when they are isolated, if you can find them.  I found this greatly helpful.  I was trying to always dial in what I heard in a  recording rather than just the guitar sound and allowing the rest of the band/voices cover their own range.  I have rarely found now a guitar sound that I have too many mids.  Sometimes I'll have to adjust where the mids 'hump' is...but I generally have my mids around 7.5-9.0 on the amp block. 

 

I bring that up as if you are cranking the mids on the presets, and they still can't hear you out front, then the sound guy/system needs to be tweaked.  I play in a 4 piece rock band covering everything from Johnny Cash to Metallica.  I dial my patches in to replicate the artists general sound and my sound guy pretty much runs me flat, a slight boost in the 300hz area to thicken it up a bit, but its almost flat everywhere else, and he says its the best that my rig has ever sounded. 

 

Those cuts you are talking about up top, will help 'focus' your frequencies to the spectrums that guitars should sit, I generally do not touch the High Cut unless something is insanely shrill, but the bottom I've gone up to about 200hz, depending on the amp. 

[gunpointmetal]

 

Hey guys - I'm new here and just bought a helix LT. I had my first weekly jam session and played mainly straight to the PA with a wedge monitor directly in front of me. It sounded great when I played alone, but I found it was very hard to hear myself with everyone else playing at full volume. We worked quite a bit on adjusting volume, but I was still having a hard time cutting through the mix when playing rhythm. Lead wasn't really an issue. I found this recipe on the Line 6 Community which I'll first be able to try on Tuesday:

 

Global EQ

Low Gain -- 0

Mid Gain -- 0

High Gain -- 0

Low Cut -- 90Hz

High Cut -- 6K

 

Speaker block/IR settings

Low Cut -- 70Hz

High Cut -- 7.2K

 

Any other suggestions? 

 

Is everyone else going direct and coming through the monitors as well? I ask because there's no way you're going to feel like you're keeping up with everyone, even if your tone is spot on, if you're monitoring through a wedge and everyone else has amps blasting (or even not blasting) in the room. I prefer to have a dedicated speaker for myself for rehearsal because I can turn up/down to match the drums and other amps and I can face it into the room like the other amps. Just another part of the equation to consider.

[skyfirez1]

Throw the optical tremolo on the last block of all of your patches, just before the looper if you use one.

 

Put the optical trems top two parameters (something like depth and speed, or maybe its rate and intensity) at setting level 1 and setting level 1

 

don't mess with the level (3rd parameter)

 

This will make your audio output come to live like real tube amps with Real trem circuits do

 

Try it out

 

Thank me later

[travisrcampbell]

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

I'm hearing that I should:

• Build a new patch at my practice tonight
• Use a high/low cut right after the amp block
  • Low cut: 100 Hz+
  • High cut: 8 kHz+
• Consider having a dedicated speaker for myself

This last one is a bit of a bummer as I was hoping to cut down on the gear I lug back and forth to our practice room and there is something zen about just plugging the Helix in to our mixer. I recently bought a Hot Rod Deluxe in order to use the effects loop to practice at low level at home. I could take this with me, but would prefer not to if I could solve my issue some other way. 

 

 

Is everyone else going direct and coming through the monitors as well? I ask because there's no way you're going to feel like you're keeping up with everyone, even if your tone is spot on, if you're monitoring through a wedge and everyone else has amps blasting (or even not blasting) in the room. I prefer to have a dedicated speaker for myself for rehearsal because I can turn up/down to match the drums and other amps and I can face it into the room like the other amps. Just another part of the equation to consider.

 

Yeah, where do most people stand on this?

[travisrcampbell]

You didn't mention the type of music you are playing, other instruments in the band, the specific instruments you are playing, what amp model you are using, etc... There is no magic formula for cutting through the mix with just some basic EQ settings. 

 

Good point. We're a quartet: 2 guitarists, bass and drums. We play a mix of blues, rock and reggae. 

[DunedinDragon]

The only time I would consider going through the general PA stage monitor is if everyone else is doing the same (including drums), and in that case most often people are using in-ear monitors.

 

If everyone is using their own amps I think you're going to be at a disadvantage trying to use the PA stage monitor in that you're going to start interfering with the ability to hear vocals on stage.  That's whymany of us choose to use our own dedicated PA speaker/monitor on stage often referred to as FRFR monitors.  This has a number of advantages.

 

First, you can use this monitor at home to dial in your patches so that it's representative of how you will sound on stage and coming out of the FOH, and you can do it at a volume representative of your stage sound.  Likewise in practice/rehearsal you can more easily adjust volumes and EQ if your blend is off a bit to better mix with the band.  This can be a bit more involved sometimes trying to get all your patches to be at a consistent volume.  I personally use a small mixer that I plug the Helix into so I can dial in my patches to have a consistent signal strength at a specific setting on my master volume knob.  That way I only have to adjust the master volume once I'm at rehearsal to match the rest of the band's volume levels.  However, we've been together long enough that I pretty much know exactly where I'm going to match with the rest of the band, so it's pretty much down to a science.

 

What people are telling you is spot on with not using the global EQ.  Especially in your case.  I have to believe if you're playing blues, rock, and reggae you're likely using different amps and cabinets on different genres and styles.  No one EQ adjustment is going to be optimal for everything, so you're better off adjusting for each patch.  The amount you adjust is going to be highly dependent on the amp you use, the cabinet setup, the mic setup you use, and the mic placements...not to mention if you happen to be using different guitars.  You can use a general guideline for adjusting but ultimately you need to trust your ears, and that's why having a powered PA speaker/monitor that you can use at home makes sense for adjusting such things so that you're not surprised when you plug into the PA.

 

As far as stage placement of that dedicated monitor, that varies person to person.  I place mine behind me in a floor monitor position in the same fashion as I would a traditional amp.  I do that so that everyone in the band can hear me in the same way as I can hear them, and I can better adjust my volumes to match everyone else to get the right mix for stage sound.  I've seen people place the monitor in front of them in a traditional fashion, or behind them on a pole.  It all depends on what works best for you and the band.

[pbatts]

I don't see where you answered the question "Is everyone else going direct and coming through the monitors as well?"

 

If everyone else is using amps, you will probably be better off using your amp.

 

If everyone is going through the PA, you may want to try dialing in your tones, at home, using the same speaker/wedge you use at rehearsal.

 

Dialing in your tones, at home, with the Hot Rod Deluxe and then running direct to the PA, at rehearsal, is going to yield radically different tonal results.

[cruisinon2]

Dialing in your tones, at home, with the Hot Rod Deluxe and then running direct to the PA, at rehearsal, is going to yield radically different tonal results.

Yeah, don't do this...it won't end well.

[gunpointmetal]

 

• Consider having a dedicated speaker for myself

This last one is a bit of a bummer as I was hoping to cut down on the gear I lug back and forth to our practice room and there is something zen about just plugging the Helix in to our mixer. I recently bought a Hot Rod Deluxe in order to use the effects loop to practice at low level at home. I could take this with me, but would prefer not to if I could solve my issue some other way. 

 

If you KNOW that when you go to play out you're going to have a competent sound guy, you can get away with leaving your speaker/amp at the rehearsal space and just dealing with the lack of stage of volume knowing you're in the mix out front, but unless you guys are using in-ear monitoring, or everyone is going DI and you're all getting your own monitor mixes, DI into a floor wedge isn't going to feel like you're getting through the band on stage/in rehearsal even if you're tones are perfect and you are sounding right in a FOH mix. Having a good (relatively) Flat Response powered speaker isn't a bad idea with modelers anyways. What happens if you're playing a place that is small and the sound guy only puts vocals, keys and kick through the PA?

[travisrcampbell]

Everyone is using amps that feed into the PA. I'll drag my HRD along tonight and give it a whirl.

[gunpointmetal]

Everyone is using amps that feed into the PA. I'll drag my HRD along tonight and give it a whirl.

Just remember to bypass the IR into the amp if you're still planning on going direct of the Helix to the board. 

[DunedinDragon]

Everyone is using amps that feed into the PA. I'll drag my HRD along tonight and give it a whirl.

I had something similar happen to me years ago when I bought a Porsche because I thought they were really awesome.  But I loved the sound and feel of the 327 in my Camaro and I didn't want to waste it, so I dropped that into the Porsche.  Somehow the Porsche just wasn't the same......   ;)

 

[hideout]

 

I had something similar happen to me years ago when I bought a Porsche because I thought they were really awesome. But I loved the sound and feel of the 327 in my Camaro and I didn't want to waste it, so I dropped that into the Porsche. Somehow the Porsche just wasn't the same...... ;)

 

 

Nice.

[skyfirez1]

Throw some optitrem on it. Warms that tone right up

[pbatts]

Everyone is using amps that feed into the PA. I'll drag my HRD along tonight and give it a whirl.

 

How did it go?

[travisrcampbell]

How did it go?

 

Depends on how you look at it :) Siince I was bringing my HRD anyway, I decided to also bring my "old" pedal board in order to compare everything:

 

1) Helix direct into the PA only (got lost in the mix)

2) Helix into the PA and through my amps effects loop simultaneously (sounded good) 

3) HRD alone with my normal pedal board (also sounded good)

 

Looks like I'm going to return the Helix LT. A big part of my Helix experiment was to see if it could replace my amp but it doesn't simplify things for me since I need to either have my amp or a dedicated FRFR anyway. I can see the value for performing often or needing a wide variety of tones, but I don't have those needs.

 

And it (or a newer, better version of it) will always be there if I change my mind later :)

[skyfirez1]

Depends on how you look at it :) Siince I was bringing my HRD anyway, I decided to also bring my "old" pedal board in order to compare everything:

 

1) Helix direct into the PA only (got lost in the mix)

2) Helix into the PA and through my amps effects loop simultaneously (sounded good)

3) HRD alone with my normal pedal board (also sounded good)

 

Looks like I'm going to return the Helix LT. A big part of my Helix experiment was to see if it could replace my amp but it doesn't simplify things for me since I need to either have my amp or a dedicated FRFR anyway. I can see the value for performing often or needing a wide variety of tones, but I don't have those needs.

 

And it (or a newer, better version of it) will always be there if I change my mind later :)

Don't return the helix yet. Experiment with the global eq and perhaps assign the mids of your amp modeler to your expression pedal so you can boost them in

 

If those two fail, try my optitrem idea in a live context.

 

The helix is the best thing out there, and if will only get better with more updates.

[PeterHamm]

Very often I find that when you aren't cutting through the mix, there is one constant that seems to always be the case.

There is almost always way too much bass in the tone.

[skyfirez1]

Or too much gain

[aleclee]

Very often I find that when you aren't cutting through the mix, there is one constant that seems to always be the case.

 

There is almost always way too much bass in the tone.

Or too much gain

IME, there are two factors that cause a guitar tone to get lost in the mix:

1. Lack of transients

2. Lack of mids

 

When dialing things in at home, there's a tendency to use more gain to provide greater sustain at low volume. The problem is that while this does compress the signal, it totally kills your transients. What I've learned to do instead is dial in the gain to get the amount of crunch/ saturation I want and then throw a compressor in front of the amp block or distortion block to get the desired dynamics. The reason that works is because compressors allow you to set the degree to which transients pass via the attack parameter. Setting it between 10-30ms will keep things punchy and allow for more sustain.

[jbuhajla]

Depends on how you look at it :) Siince I was bringing my HRD anyway, I decided to also bring my "old" pedal board in order to compare everything:

 

1) Helix direct into the PA only (got lost in the mix)

2) Helix into the PA and through my amps effects loop simultaneously (sounded good) 

3) HRD alone with my normal pedal board (also sounded good)

 

Looks like I'm going to return the Helix LT. A big part of my Helix experiment was to see if it could replace my amp but it doesn't simplify things for me since I need to either have my amp or a dedicated FRFR anyway. I can see the value for performing often or needing a wide variety of tones, but I don't have those needs.

 

And it (or a newer, better version of it) will always be there if I change my mind later :)

It's not the Helix. Once you spend more time with the unit and get to understand how it works when producing sounds in a band situation, it is unbeatable. Almost always, when you get a tone you like at home, it sounds completely different in the mix. If you are able, record your band rehearsal into a DAW and try adjusting your tones along with the recorded rehearsal. After time, you will get the "feel" for setting up your tones for how it is going to sit in your mix. 

[pbatts]

Depends on how you look at it :) Siince I was bringing my HRD anyway, I decided to also bring my "old" pedal board in order to compare everything:

 

1) Helix direct into the PA only (got lost in the mix)

2) Helix into the PA and through my amps effects loop simultaneously (sounded good) 

3) HRD alone with my normal pedal board (also sounded good)

 

Looks like I'm going to return the Helix LT. A big part of my Helix experiment was to see if it could replace my amp but it doesn't simplify things for me since I need to either have my amp or a dedicated FRFR anyway. I can see the value for performing often or needing a wide variety of tones, but I don't have those needs.

 

And it (or a newer, better version of it) will always be there if I change my mind later :)

 

Well, hell. I hate to see you give up. Like everyone has said, it's not the Helix, it's just a matter of getting it dialed-in.

 

For what it's worth, it seems folks around here have kinda takin' a liken' to ya and are trying hard to help you work through it.

 

Maybe you could post/attach the presets you are using so we can see what you got.

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[rzumwalt]

I agree with the above. it sounds like there's something missing that should clear up the problem for you. Helix can do so many things there really shouldn't be any impediment to hearing yourself in the mix unless you are literally playing on stage with AC/DC and Angus Young's 7 Marshall Plexis.

It sounds like the roadblock you are hitting is that everyone else in the band is amplified on stage (or is a drummer) and not relying on monitors to hear themselves. It also sounds like you don't want to bring a separate amp/speaker to gigs if it isn't going to be significantly better than your current setup. So it sounds like the solution is how to get a monitor feed you can hear yourself in without bringing your own amp to gigs.

If you don't mind being a little tied down, you can use a headphone to supplement the monitor mix you're getting. If your FOH is sophisticated enough, you might try sending two feeds out, one of which has an eq at the end of the signal chain emphasizing mids and highs enough for it to cut through, and have that feed sent as a separate monitor mix.

In one post above, you mentioned leads being fine, but the rhythm parts getting lost. One thing that helped me was narrowing down to one or two main presets as much as possible and getting to know them very well. The biggest problem i was having turned out to be that I was trying to use almost a different preset for every song--and we rotate songs a lot--so I had trouble remembering how loud or quiet, or sharp or dull, the end result would be after hitting a footswitch or snapshot. The result was often the quiet tones being too quiet or the "loud" rhythm tones being too overdriven and muddy. When I started limiting myself to just a couple presets, I knew how loud the different options were, and it seems to have helped.

One last idea: how big is the stage you usually play on. If there is any room to spread out or position yourself or your bandmates' amps so that they aren't blaring directly at you, it might be just enough to work.

[travisrcampbell]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I've simply decided that I don't get off enough on the required tweaking to keep putting in the effort. 

 

It was a fun experiment and I can imagine trying it again in a year or two, but at the moment, family life with three little kids keeps my list of priorities very streamlined. If I don't love doing it (or if I don't get bitched at for not doing it) I aint doing it! 

 

But again, thanks for the help and perhaps we'll see each other again soon. 

[pbatts]

Throw the optical tremolo on the last block of all of your patches, just before the looper if you use one.

 

Put the optical trems top two parameters (something like depth and speed, or maybe its rate and intensity) at setting level 1 and setting level 1

 

don't mess with the level (3rd parameter)

 

This will make your audio output come to live like real tube amps with Real trem circuits do

 

Try it out

 

Thank me later

 

I'm thanking you now.

 

Amazing!

 

Just do it.

[skyfirez1]

I'm thanking you now.

 

Amazing!

 

Just do it.

hey PBatts, did this work for you ?  works amazing on my native and LT  

 

Tell us what happened 

[pbatts]

hey PBatts, did this work for you ?  works amazing on my native and LT  

 

Tell us what happened 

 

It absolutely worked for me. I'm using a Helix Floor. I have added it to all of my Presets.

 

I told a friend about it and he is now using it. He described it best. It adds "Zing".

[FlyingsCool]

Is everyone else going direct and coming through the monitors as well? I ask because there's no way you're going to feel like you're keeping up with everyone, even if your tone is spot on, if you're monitoring through a wedge and everyone else has amps blasting (or even not blasting) in the room. I prefer to have a dedicated speaker for myself for rehearsal because I can turn up/down to match the drums and other amps and I can face it into the room like the other amps. Just another part of the equation to consider.

 

I totally disagree that you can't keep up with a monitor and direct with drums if everyone else is on amps.  My Alto 210 can easily keep up with a Marshall 4x12 and drums and bass in a garage.  And it was loud.

 

I totally agree the problem was the tone.  It was mentioned right away that cutting through a mix is a general tone issue.  Sad it took more than halfway through the thread to finally suggest WHAT a good tone for cutting through a mix is. (less bass, more mids, etc.)  Using high and low cuts is only a first step to cutting "harshness" and "boom".  But it has nothing to do with setting up a tone to cut through a mix.

[cruisinon2]

It absolutely worked for me. I'm using a Helix Floor. I have added it to all of my Presets.

 

I told a friend about it and he is now using it. He described it best. It adds "Zing".

One can only hope that a "zing" parameter is added in the next firmware update...;)

[DanishMic]

Surely gives an edge - the optical tremolo.

 

To bad the Danish guy gave up so quickly.

It is an amazing unit - hours of fun and playing.

[DunedinDragon]

I totally disagree that you can't keep up with a monitor and direct with drums if everyone else is on amps.  My Alto 210 can easily keep up with a Marshall 4x12 and drums and bass in a garage.  And it was loud.

 

I totally agree the problem was the tone.  It was mentioned right away that cutting through a mix is a general tone issue.  Sad it took more than halfway through the thread to finally suggest WHAT a good tone for cutting through a mix is. (less bass, more mids, etc.)  Using high and low cuts is only a first step to cutting "harshness" and "boom".  But it has nothing to do with setting up a tone to cut through a mix.

 

I'm not sure that's always the case.  Part of the problem you have in sharing the PA monitor system is you're sharing it with other things like vocals.  That's a pretty significant difference from having a dedicated monitor with nothing in it but your guitar.  Especially if your vocalist is depending on the same monitor.  That's one of the reasons so many of us tend to use dedicated monitors so we're not having to compete with other things in the monitor mix.

[gunpointmetal]

I totally disagree that you can't keep up with a monitor and direct with drums if everyone else is on amps.  My Alto 210 can easily keep up with a Marshall 4x12 and drums and bass in a garage.  And it was loud.

 

 

I was referring to the fact that he was sharing the PA with the vocals and everyone else is using dedicated amps. I run two 12" Mackie PA speakers just for guitar at rehearsal to have it "feel" like an amp along with the live drums and bass. A dedicated speaker for guitar is what I was suggesting to get the "feel" back in the room.

[FlyingsCool]

I'm not sure that's always the case.  Part of the problem you have in sharing the PA monitor system is you're sharing it with other things like vocals.  That's a pretty significant difference from having a dedicated monitor with nothing in it but your guitar.  Especially if your vocalist is depending on the same monitor.  That's one of the reasons so many of us tend to use dedicated monitors so we're not having to compete with other things in the monitor mix.

 

 

I was referring to the fact that he was sharing the PA with the vocals and everyone else is using dedicated amps. I run two 12" Mackie PA speakers just for guitar at rehearsal to have it "feel" like an amp along with the live drums and bass. A dedicated speaker for guitar is what I was suggesting to get the "feel" back in the room.

 

Ah, I misunderstood.  Yes, I agree, a dedicated monitor is important.

 

And in my experience, in the garage, that dedicated monitor was all I needed for me and everyone else.

[pbatts]

Great thread. Lots of good discussion.

 

I agree that a dedicated speaker, either FRFR or powered guitar speaker, is going to make a difference for an "amp in the room" sound and feel. This probably would have saved the OP.

 

DunedinDragon makes a good point about sharing a monitor with vocals and/or other instruments.

 

I've been running into a similar situation as the OP with the new band in a rehearsal environment and feeling a little buried. It's a five piece with keys and second guitar. The keys are going through the PA. The second guitar has a traditional amp setup. I've tried a few different things to compensate. What I haven't tried is a dedicated FRFR for my guitar (I don't have an extra speaker at the moment). After three rehearsals, I'm still working on it. The second guitar player is very receptive and we've made some adjustments to his rig. In the beginning, he was a little out of control. And he needs to improve his dynamics. Dynamics are huge. It's getting better.

 

Speaking of dynamics, and this hasn't been mentioned, if you are playing dynamically, and your bandmates are not, you are going to get buried (at times), no matter what.

 

I'm going to continue playing through the PA at this weeks rehearsal with the only change being I've re-arranged the speaker placement and I've added skyfirez1's Optical Trem block idea. The Trem block adds a "Zing" in a way that highs are being accented, but, without any actual EQing. It's little hard to explain. It, very much, reminds me of adding the EP3 to my old pedalboard. It just does "something". I'm confident that the Trem block is going to have my guitar cutting a lot better.