Overkill??

bassicinstinct · #1 02-11-2005, 06:33 AM

According to the Ashdown website, bassist Jack Daley (who was responsible for the stellar work on Joss Stone's "Soul Sessions" album) recently took the following rig on the road with him to do a Lenny Kravitz tour:

12 ABM 8x10 Cabs
4 ABM 2x15 Cabs

These were positioned 8 cabs at each side of the stage. He used 2 2x10 Ashdown Labs Cabs for "personal montoring" (

).

There were 3 ABM 900 rackmount heads on stage but the rig was actually powered by an off stage rack containing 3 Ashdown PM 1000 Power Amps and an Ashdown RPM Preamp.

Not exactly designed for a speedy getaway eh?

James Hart · #2 02-11-2005, 06:43 AM

stadium touring with an old school type act.... sounds right to me.

superbassman2000 · #3 02-11-2005, 06:48 AM

thats a lot of ashdown!

i don't know if thats overkill, he probably doesn't use all of them (but then again maybe he does!) I know that a lot of bands will have a lot of cabs on the stage, but they only use one or two, and the others are in case the one or two aren't working properly. i remember seeing a picture of queen's brian may who had maybe about 12 vox AC30s on stage, but the caption below it said he only used three of them. I also remember at a Styx concert i went to last summer, the bassist had 8 ampeg 810s, and the guitarists had 12 marshalls cabs each(!!) but i really don't think that they were running all of them at once. I imagine running all those cabs would have been a lot louder than they appeared to be!

ERIC31 · #4 02-11-2005, 10:48 AM

Total Overkill. Why would you need that much? Even in an arena. Seems like someone is overcompensating for a "shortcoming" somewhere else.....

At first I thought you were talking about D.D. Verni, bassist for the NY metal band OVERKILL.

bass4820 · #5 02-11-2005, 12:42 PM

I think all those amps give people,like those on this site, something to talk about

i think thats the reason.

The players are endorsed by the forums

bassicinstinct · #6 02-11-2005, 12:53 PM

Yep, I think it's all kiddology.

If he had to:

1. Buy them

AND

2. Load/unload them.

I suspect that things would be very different.

SciFiGuy · #7 02-11-2005, 01:36 PM

Maybe the amp companies pay the big name acts to put EMPTY cabs on stage with them. (They would use full cabs, but the roadie unions rebeled) That way, when sucker wannabes in the audience go to the store to buy, they think they NEED eight.

jimmy ray · #8 02-12-2005, 02:31 PM

i thought this was going to be about motorhead, but now that i know what its about how many of us here wouldnt want to play through 128 speakers with a bazillion watts behind it? i think it would be cool.

Metal Mitch · #9 02-14-2005, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERIC31

At first I thought you were talking about D.D. Verni, bassist for the NY metal band OVERKILL.

That's what I thought!

And for the record, they're from NJ.

Re those cabs, I can sort of understand if you're playing a gigantic stage where you're standing like 30 feet away from your amps you may need the coverage. But I've never played a stage that big so I'm just guessing. What I don't understand is the ratio of 12 10s to 1 15. Why bother with the 15s? And how can he even hear the 2x10s? Whatever...

tommytrousers · #10 02-14-2005, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SciFiGuy

Maybe the amp companies pay the big name acts to put EMPTY cabs on stage with them. (They would use full cabs, but the roadie unions rebeled) That way, when sucker wannabes in the audience go to the store to buy, they think they NEED eight.

I've worked as a humper at several shows down through the years were acts have had empty cabinets in the classic wall of marshall 4x12's stage configuration

The Golden Boy · #11 02-14-2005, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Mitch

. Why bother with the 15s?

Because fifteens are so kickass.

Metal Mitch · #12 02-14-2005, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Golden Boy

Because fifteens are so kickass.

I like 15s too. And if I use them, I want to hear them! Which I don't think is gonna happen with this rig.

It only makes sense if Smash is right - they're just for show, and nobody's gonna hear them anyway. More likely it's just a promo for Ashdown.

Eric Moesle · #13 02-14-2005, 02:33 PM

They do it simply because it makes the stage look good. Many of them probably aren't even plugged in.

What would look cooler, a wall of speakers lining the back of the stage, or a 2x10 combo with a mike in front of it running through the monitors?

troll · #14 02-14-2005, 06:14 PM

I've heard several accounts of Iron Maidens onstage rigs being fake. Behind it was just those cool little GK 2x6 amps mic'd

For the guitars at least.

Troll

ERIC31 · #15 02-15-2005, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Mitch

That's what I thought!

And for the record, they're from NJ.

Really? Man, I remember seeing their stuff with NYC on it. They even put it on the cover of their live CD from a while back. NJ huh? Maybe they were fronting the NY thing to look cooler or something.

The Golden Boy · #16 02-15-2005, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troll

I've heard several accounts of Iron Maidens onstage rigs being fake. Behind it was just those cool little GK 2x6 amps mic'd

For the guitars at least.

Troll

Didn't Adrian Smith and Dave Murray endorse those things?

I remember seeing Smashing Pumpkins on the tour without Jimmy Chamberlain and Billy had 3 4x12 cabs.

**NOLA Bass** · #17 02-15-2005, 05:58 PM

Back in the days of hairspray, my band toured with a bigger regional act. For clubs, they had 6 Marshall 4-12"s on each side. Of course, only 2 were real, 1 was actually a 2-12" bass cab, and the rest were not only empty but totally fake. They made them and cut Marshall logos out of wood. You can't tell from the audience.
There is no way that Lenny Kravitz is letting him actually play through all that. For God's sake, Geddy Lee doesn't even use an amp onstage, just industrial dryers!!!!

peteroberts · #18 02-15-2005, 06:10 PM

and on the flipside, I remember reading a Guitar Player (I dont think bass player was around yet) interview with a guy who had just accepted a gig w/Ted Nugent. He said he walked out there without earplugs and almost lost his mind!

So apparently Ted uses real stuff. All the band members had to wear earplugs.

What's the friggin point???

Quote:

just industrial dryers!!!!

Those industrial dryers had some decent tone!

bryan bailey · #19 02-15-2005, 06:55 PM

Lightning Bolt has 6 cabs between them, and MAN do they use them.

(Just proof I can throw Lightning Bolt into any thread if I try)

SciFiGuy · #20 02-25-2005, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Moesle

They do it simply because it makes the stage look good. Many of them probably aren't even plugged in.

What would look cooler, a wall of speakers lining the back of the stage, or a 2x10 combo with a mike in front of it running through the monitors?

And besides looking cool, it's a lot less obvious than a big backdrop with the Ashdown/Mashall/whatever logo painted on it. Hmmm...I should start selling big tarps painted to look like cabs.