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Backup amp, a necessity?

#141
I have been known to take my Markbass LM II with me if I use either one of these old girls ... but have never had to use it.

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#142
ShawnG said:
I’m still starting out, so no live playing with a band yet. But I am hoping that is in my future.
Do those of you that do gig (small bar/brewery-type venues, private parties, play at churches, etc., not touring bands) feel that a backup amp is a necessary piece of your “kit?”
I tend to be a “be prepared” kind of guy, so feel that if I have committed to play somewhere with a group, I should be committed to making sure I have the equipment with me to make that happen in the event a key piece of my equipment decides that night is the night to quit working. I see myself taking an extra bass, extra strings, etc. But are modern-day amps reliable to the point of not really needing a backup?
I currently have a Fender Stage 800 amp that I like. I’ve considered looking for a used Rumble V3 2x10 expansion cab (thinking that 800 watts through two 2x10s should suffice for almost any venue without PA support). Wouldn’t need to hook up the extra 2x10 if not needed. If I added a used Trace Elliott ELF, or something similar, to the package, that and the expansion cab could serve as a pretty nice backup. At used prices, an ELF and an extra Fender 2x10 aren’t cheap, but also not a huge financial commitment.
The fact that the Stage 800 is basically a computer driving the amp makes me think a backup would be a pretty good idea.
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Never carried a back-up till a few years back.
Got a Amp*g PF500, it went boom, then the replacement PF500 went boom.....Now I "never" leave for a job without a back-up head.
 
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#144
Old thread I know, but I was glad I had my backup amp (TC BAM200) yesterday at a gig. I keep it inside the pocket of my spare bass gig bag and it rarely sees the light of day. I forget it’s even in there since it’s so tiny. Anyway, I store all our PA gear in my garage and we usually all ride together to gigs and I’m the last stop, so everyone grabs all the PA stuff and my bass gear, tosses it in the truck and we’re off. We were facing some very heavy traffic on the way to the show yesterday, so we loaded up as quick as we could and hit the road. When we got there I realized my regular amp didn’t make it with us. 1st time in 11 years with this band that that happened, but I was glad I had a plan B.
 
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#146
I had an old Crate Power Block 150W guitar amp that I carried as a backup which I needed once. It didn't sound wonderful but was way better than nothing.

I recently bought a Trace Elliot Elf so the old Crate was redundant. They must have acquired some mojo because it sold it for almost 3 times what i paid for it.
 
#150
It's always nice to have a few good amps to your liking. But a backup amp, I never brought on a gig. Got me thinking. Something small and light. It is mainly an emergency and won't be used much if ever hopefully. The
Trace Elliot ELF 200-watt Micro Bass Head is small, light and easy to carry for 350 dollars.
 
#151
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#153
Old thread, but for me it depends. If I know the venue has good FOH/monitors then the DI is my backup. If I don’t know then I bring a backup.

I’ve had an amp fail (power tube), a bass fail (pickup issue), and showed up in a venue that sent an out of date gear list (their backline amp broke months ago and the substitute was… uninspiring.
 
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#154
I have a few rigs and a few basses.
I could throw in a spare amp but generally its just two basses. I rotate amps on gigs and get them serviced, especially at the first sign of a glitch or something.
If you are ever more that an hr away..then throwing in a class D is an idea..depends how bored you get with doing that.

Dirty power is more of a problem, especially running power outside.
 
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#155
I was a student still when I played a lot of gigs. All my spare money went into the one bass and rig. No overhead for backups. The equipment I did have was of high enough quality that I trusted it. And it was well maintained. This was what I would call on the amateur level. If bassplaying had become my livelihood I would think more seriously about it and have backups. And a van, and a driver's licence. lol. But for the odd gig here and there one set of each was enough. I was playing in the Jazz session scene as well at the time. No one brought 2 instruments. We used the amps that were on the set already.

If I earned so much with gigging that it could pay for 2 of each of my equipment I would not hesitate to get a matching pair of amps and cabs and a second bass. But at that point I would call myself a professional and that comes with additional responsibility and a reputation to hold up.
 
#156
I spent 25 years playing with 1 bass, 1 amp, 1 cab and 1 set of leads. Everyone was the same. I never saw any back up gear in that time. Back then gear was pretty expensive, CNC hadn't started up, manufacturing was mainly by hand and hadn't move to Asia. Gear was pretty expensive by today's standards. We used what we could afford. Back then I had amps fail on 3 occasions. We borrowed and bodged and got by.

In the second 25 years I have owned 2 of everything and take both to every gig. During this time nothing has failed, broken or stopped working.
 
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#159
I always take two heads to a gig. Sometimes with power situations, I had one head work better than the other. And then, sometimes a head just works better in a room than others. Even with that, I have had to plug directly in the board when my power amp went into protect mode in the middle of a song. Played the rest of the set that way.
 

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