Imagine: my main amp is locked away and presenty unretrievable, then suddenly I find my band has got a gig...
Oh NUTS right?
I just so happened to have a backup rig in case of emergencies (not a "Take to gig as a backup" rig, but just at home if I needed it). NOW, I bought this amp about 5 years ago when I first started bass 'coz it had the Beatles vibe (an old 1972 vox head). I used it for about 2-3 months when I first got it and hadn't plugged it in since (since I didn't have a cab for it and I bought a combo for my first "proper amp")
Anyway, about a year ago a bloke in the pub I work in (hobby guitarist, bit of a collector, looks like a 55 year old Roy Orbison...ya know the kind of guy) told me he'd just bought this speaker off a club owner that some DJ had left behind after a gig for 10 quid, I bought it off him for £20 (hell, it was just about loud enough for my head - and for 20 quid...)
Anyway yeah, so I tried it - it wasn't great (its a 1x12 p.a. speaker) but hell - it worked better than those hi-fi speakers I was using before.
TIME FOR ME TO TRY OUT MY BACKUP AMP ON A GIG!
Got the amp, plugged it all in (and, despite all the buzzing from knackered valves etc - it worked - THANK GOD!) I then plugged into a D.I. box I'd bought on Ebay for about 11 quid (again, never really tested the thing) but that worked too - just as well, we were the only band on - and with the guitarist going through 3 2x12 cabs, 1 250watt head and 1 450watt power amp it was JUST AS WELL!
I could just about hear myself - although the power amp the guitarist used kind of drowned me out a bit (well, we're playing a heavy version of "Shakin' all over" - and the amount of BASS coming from the GUITAR really pissed me off... - 700 watts, 6 speakers of guitar compared to 120 watts, 1x12 bass is just stupid!)
It all worked and although we didn't even place (well, it was a competition for 2 and a half grand with us being the only band alongside 5 or 6 kareoke artists) I'm still glad I did it, if only for the chance to play and try out my backup rig to a ****e, 25 person, unappreciative audience... (oh well, my first gig for 5 months - and it IS fun...)
Oh dear...had to do a gig the other night with my almost useless "Backup" rig... 
