Do you think this stage set-up looks good or bad? Pro or amateur?

HolmeBass · #1 09-05-2011, 07:17 PM

After 10 or so posts I'll tell you all about this rig/setup. It wasn't a gig I played, but I was in the audience.

Timmah · #2 09-05-2011, 07:23 PM

Seems like a medium-sized auditorium (300-600 people). Good tone can come from little amps. I saw a Beatles/Stones tribute concert where the bassist used a 1x15 and the guitarists mostly used little amps (rolands and a blues jr.) for a 500 person auditorium. Sounded good, too, all of 'em were seasoned pros.

PurpleDrank · #3 09-05-2011, 07:29 PM

I've seen pros with setups that were way worse than that. That said, I think the bass rig looks pretty jank to me. A tiltback stand or sitting it on a road case would look a lot cleaner. The JC120 is a pro guitar amp in every sense. Altogether, looks bad, but wouldn't surprise me if it belonged to a pro or an amateur.

fjadams · #4 09-05-2011, 07:29 PM

Looks like a JC-120. In its time it was the cleanest amp made. With the worst built in distortion ever. Not sure about now, but in the 80s and 90s every recording studio had at least one. Using outboard effects the amp just puts out tone at all levels.

My boy still has his, along with one of his Marshall heads. Got rid of all the rest of his amps from then.

TN WOODMAN · #5 09-05-2011, 07:43 PM

The JC 120 is the classic chorus amp for sure. Years ago Adrian Belew said he had used his on tours with Zappa (they both bought their's @ the same time) Talking Heads and the '81 King Crimson Tour without a hitch. Lonnie Mack still uses his to good effect as far as I know.

Gearhead17 · #6 09-05-2011, 07:52 PM

Looks fine, but maybe hide the cords in front of the bass combo. Otherwise, I do not think the audience would care.

Kudos to the sound man for doing a mic AND DI box on the bass combo.

ulrich · #7 09-05-2011, 07:56 PM

Cabling is a pathetic mess. 12 or more feet of tangled orange, that appears to need to be eight inches? Weak.

Chairs as amp stand is amateur, but having the sense to raise the amp is pro. I call this one a wash.

HugeInJapan · #8 09-05-2011, 07:58 PM

Equipment looks to be pro-level, but as a neat freak the amp on the chairs and the haphazardly run cables bugs the crap out of me. I would never let a stage look like that, and at some of my shows there are more people on stage than in the audience

PurpleDrank · #9 09-05-2011, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjadams

Looks like a JC-120. In its time it was the cleanest amp made. With the worst built in distortion ever. Not sure about now, but in the 80s and 90s every recording studio had at least one. Using outboard effects the amp just puts out tone at all levels.

The clean on that thing is still unparalleled, as is the stereo chorus effect. Both gorgeous.

I think "worst built in distortion ever" isn't as good a description as "most absolutely useless built in distortion ever conceived". It literally does nothing, absolutely nothing, except add a tiny bit of signal distortion on top of already high gain pedals. I agree totally that the JC120 is THE pedal/outboard effect platform to have, even today. Might be the only amp that can make a Boss DS1 sound good.

Very few guitar amps have survived completely unchanged for over 25 years, so that should say something.

P.S. Sorry about the aside about the guitar amp. Just trying to get the posts up so we can find out about the bass rig in the original post. I'm going to hazard a guess here and just say that it probably belongs to a jazz act. IME, those guys are almost always the ones that get away with bringing the most broken down rigs.

Demon_Hunter · #10 09-05-2011, 08:11 PM

Who gives a rat's behind what it looked like.....was the music good?

derrico1 · #11 09-05-2011, 08:25 PM

+1 to points off for sloppy cabling and makeshift cab stand on the bass rig. Also, whatever the guitarist has piled on the Roland needs to be cleared off. (This stage isn't ready for the downbeat yet, is it?)

Points off for another of those folding chairs lurking at the left of the frame. (Is this the Jefferson, by any chance?) There also looks to be a slightly ajar guitar/bass case behind that chair.

Points awarded for raising the bass combo, but I'd expect raising it directly behind the guitarist's JC 120 will lead to trouble.

I also wouldn't be putting the amp mics right on the dust caps, but that's a matter of taste.

All in all, looks a bit janky, but maybe that's the vibe they're going for.

Billnc · #12 09-05-2011, 08:35 PM

Bass set up looks like hell, neaten cables and get a real stand. But... things may have happened.

HolmeBass · #13 09-05-2011, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead17

Looks fine, but maybe hide the cords in front of the bass combo. Otherwise, I do not think the audience would care.

Kudos to the sound man for doing a mic AND DI box on the bass combo.

The audience did not care. I'm glad folks are interested.

HolmeBass · #14 09-05-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derrico1

+1 to points off for sloppy cabling and makeshift cab stand on the bass rig. Also, whatever the guitarist has piled on the Roland needs to be cleared off. (This stage isn't ready for the downbeat yet, is it?)

Points off for another of those folding chairs lurking at the left of the frame. (Is this the Jefferson, by any chance?) There also looks to be a slightly ajar guitar/bass case behind that chair.

Points awarded for raising the bass combo, but I'd expect raising it directly behind the guitarist's JC 120 will lead to trouble.

I also wouldn't be putting the amp mics right on the dust caps, but that's a matter of taste.

All in all, looks a bit janky, but maybe that's the vibe they're going for.

DING DING DING homeclice, it is the Jefferson! As soon as I get to the bottom of the thread I'll spill all the beans.

boing · #15 09-05-2011, 08:44 PM

It looks like a stinking pile of leftovers...but only because it's so well-lit.

Demon_Hunter · #16 09-05-2011, 08:50 PM

Watch this turn out to be like Al DiMeola and Stanley Clarke or something

HolmeBass · #17 09-05-2011, 08:51 PM

Ok, answers. That stage was totally ready for the downbeat of an *amazing* show I saw at the Jefferson theater here in Charlottesville, Va. It was Vieux Farka Toure, son of Ali Farka Toure, who is touring on his great new album, The Secret (produced by Eric Krasno, w/ guests from Krasno and some "Dave Matthews" guy...).

They rocked it power-trio style, and they just laid it down. Bassist Mamoud (I think that's right sp?) dropped the huge stank on the proceedings, playing like, well, an African. Just an amazing pocket, with incredibly nimble arpeggios and runs but also always maintaining a throbbing propulsive intense pocket. And they played fast, and faster. Vieux ripped as well, and the JC-120 sounded great.

The JC-120 is my amp, for which I got a frantic last-minute call for during the sound check. They are using backline, which in this case was provided by the opener, Corey Harris (also an excellent show) but they didn't have the specified JC-120, so I got the call. Other notable people who have played through that amp when it was called in for backline: Johnny Cash and King Sunny Ade. It sounds pretty good on bass, too, for recording, although low E is too much for the open-backed cabinet.

When I saw that stage I thought of you, my TB brethren, and how many of you would really disapprove of the look there. So I took the picture and here we are...

HolmeBass · #18 09-05-2011, 08:57 PM

Duh, here's a picture of the guys in action:

spaz21387 · #19 09-05-2011, 08:59 PM

What about this stage setup?

IMG_8073 by spaz21387, on Flickr

Billnc · #20 09-05-2011, 09:03 PM

If it was that type show at least use curtaining around the chairs!
But cool show I'm sure!