Gig back up rig

[Dazza1004]

Up until now I have been gigging without a back up amp but we have a gig coming up paying decent money so I am thinking about putting together a stand alone backup rig.

We had a few technical issues at practise last night (which turned out to be my guitar) but it took me about 15 mins of tube swapping and cable checking to figure out what was going on, I wouldn’t want to be in that situation at a gig.

I have a POD X3 so I could run that into the PA although I would need to buy a footswitch for about £70. I am seriously thinking about a Blackstar HT5, I know I would have to mic it up though.

This is probably a really daft question but I am running my head into an orange 2x12 which has 2 jack sockets on the back, could I plug my head and the Blackstar into the same cab ? I suspect not.

I am interested in hearing what you guys do for back ups at gigs.

Cheers

[hamfist]

This is probably a really daft question but I am running my head into an orange 2x12 which has 2 jack sockets on the back, could I plug my head and the Blackstar into the same cab ? I suspect not.

I am interested in hearing what you guys do for back ups at gigs.

Cheers

Your head and a Blackstar could both nice nicely through the same cab but ....... not at the same time.   If you had tech probs at a gig, all it would take would be a few seconds to swap over the speaker cable to the backup amp though (and to switch on your backup amp of course).

Personally, I don't take a spare amp (although I used to). I do maintain (and build) my own amps though, so I'm fairly confident in them. I do bring a spare 12AX7 tube with me though.

However, I know that nothing is infallible and just in case my amp does die in an irretrievable manner I bring along one of those Behringer Ultra-G DI boxes, with cab simulation. My plan would be to play with my pedalboard through the Ultra-G into the PA. Thankfully I've not needed to yet !

[Twinfan]

I generally take a spare head, although this weekend I'll be taking my Relic Deluxe combo along as a backup.  I always have a spare guitar too.

[d1dsj]

I used to take 2 valve heads and fortuanately never had a failure. However having 2 expensive valve amps was a luxury I can ill afford now so down to 1. I decided on a Crate power block to get me by if my main amp goes down, and although nothing like as good, with a Crunchbox in the front it doesn't sound too bad at all! Also, with something like a Pod or GT6/8/10 you can use it as a power amp therefore utilising the amp models in the multiFX unit. I use mine for rehearsals too now, it's great to travel light!

[hunter]

Spare guitar for sure.

Right now I play Shiva with the Axe FX in the loop. So if the amp breaks there is more than enough sound in the axe direct. However, setting that up in a gig situation would take no time as I'd just use the XLR from the mic picking up my amp and would plug that direct into the Axe.

[viking]

Spare guitar for sure.

Right now I play Shiva with the Axe FX in the loop. So if the amp breaks there is more than enough sound in the axe direct. However, setting that up in a gig situation would take no time as I'd just use the XLR from the mic picking up my amp and would plug that direct into the Axe.

I guess you're using the Axe FX as a multi-effects only then?Is it better than other multi-effects?About the back-up,i use my Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet head and i always bring spare tubes for the Mesa.

[rohlfo]

spare amp!? I've only just scr@ped the cash together to get a decent gigging amp in the first place.... :(
Is more likely the head or the cab to go during a gig? I'm guessing the head, so I'm guessing a spare head is useful (and doesn't take up too much space as an extra cab)?

[Will]

Spare guitar for sure.

Right now I play Shiva with the Axe FX in the loop. So if the amp breaks there is more than enough sound in the axe direct. However, setting that up in a gig situation would take no time as I'd just use the XLR from the mic picking up my amp and would plug that direct into the Axe.

You're assuming its the amp that would break rather than your AFX ;) , either way though, you are sorted!!!

[hunter]

Spare guitar for sure.

Right now I play Shiva with the Axe FX in the loop. So if the amp breaks there is more than enough sound in the axe direct. However, setting that up in a gig situation would take no time as I'd just use the XLR from the mic picking up my amp and would plug that direct into the Axe.

I guess you're using the Axe FX as a multi-effects only then?Is it better than other multi-effects?About the back-up,i use my Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet head and i always bring spare tubes for the Mesa.

0.8ms I/O latency, best possible quality op amps for in and out as well as high quality AD/DA, huge processing power and unparallelled effects where some people say it's better than any Eventide. Well, I am still not sure if I wanna go 4 cable to be able to use all the amps and overdrives, wahs etc, but at the moment I like my guitar plugged into the Bogner and don't miss much (except maybe that Rectumfrier patch that had a huge and spanky bottom end).

As a matter of fact, if I put the Axe in the loop of my amp and bypass the unit, there is no change to the sound. I never had that before. So in fact I do now benefit from the amp as opposed to the past where it was lame due to wrong levels and latency. With the Shiva you need a quality Rack FX unit that lets you level in AND out of the unit, so you can bring it to the same level as not using the loop. Then the amp can really breathe!

[nfe]

Over the course of 4 years or so, playing music for a full time living, I played three times a week pretty much every week. So somewhere in the region of 750 gigs.

Every single one of those was with one guitar and one amp. Though the particular amp and guitar varied, I never saw the need for a spare anything. Hell, plenty gigs I didn't have a spare lead! :lol:

By all means buy another amp for diferent sounds, but I have to say I think buying a second just as a spare is overkill. Well mantained decent gear for the win.

[headtheball]

Based on how life works:

If you have no spare, you'll get by fine.
If you have spares and bring them, you'll never need them.
If you buy spares, and leave them behind, even once, the gear you have brought will catch fire, explode, melt and disappear.

[hendrixfan]

Based on how life works:

If you have no spare, you'll get by fine.
If you have spares and bring them, you'll never need them.
If you buy spares, and leave them behind, even once, the gear you have brought will catch fire, explode, melt and disappear.

how true

[38thBeatle]

For sure that is what i have found in years of playing. I have spare everything-you can be sure that the week i decide to travel a little lighter will be the time it all goes pear shaped.

[HTH AMPS]

The one time I DIDN'T bring a spare amp, the GZ34 rectifier valve gave up the ghost and I was an hour and a half from home.  Ended up using the bass player's 100w non-master volume Simms Watts head which was mega-clean right upto almost max volume and I didn't have any overdrive pedal (doh!).  The bass player used the 'bingo' solid state PA head (lmao).

Having a spare amp is definately worthwhile imo, things just go wrong sometimes.  I'm not gigging at the minute, but when my band is running on all cylinders again, I'll just pick up a cheap SS head for around £100 (Line6 Spider 75w or similar) as a spare to get me through a gig if my main amp dies mid-gig.

[Dazza1004]

I think I will just use my pod into the PA for a backup. I don't really want to spend any more money on my live rig and there's loads of other stuff I want.

Thanks to everyone for the input, always good to hear how others do things.