Half of Portugal. The Man's setup last night
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Big Amps will come back one day!!!
- Thread starter jkalads
- Start date
Half of Portugal. The Man's setup last night
They have roadies. That makes a huge difference.
*Boomer guy struggling to slide his giant cab out of his SUV*
"Big amps are back, I tell ya!"
*has to wiggleshift it left and right to get it out far enough to tilt*
"About time, right? Small amps are weak!"
*grunting, frustrated noises*
"Yep, nothing's as awesome as this!"
*struggles to slowly tilt cab down, sweating*
"This really moves some air!"
*gasps for said air. has to use foot as wedge fulcrum to get cab upright. doesn't hurt foot this time.*
"This here's what really does the trick. Always will!"
*wheels cab into venue knocking into door frames, trash cans, etc*
"Class D? More like class Dumb hahah!"
*Enlists guitarist to help carry giant, expensive, delicate head*
*Argues with sound tech about stage volume during check*
Me: *shrugs. runs direct from Sansamp or Darkglass. Sounds better out front.*
Jokes aside, IRL I'd help that guy of course. Maybe he'll let me play through it. Big rigs are very fun to rock with no doubt, but any stage that needs that size of a rig is using a PA that can handle a direct signal quite well. I think clubs and festivals should have them backlined, especially clubs in big cities where space is at a premium and public transportation is available to performers. I've had and sold a couple 2x15s and an 8x10. Now that I've got a Quilter Bassliner 12 I'm wondering if I even need my Fender 4x10. I'll still keep my Peavey 1x15 around though. It may not be my best cab, but my wife had the front cloth customized so it's special to me
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What a completely unsophisticated, puerile, and defaming statement, you managed to put forth.
So, other peoples choices are considered less than your own mind can comprehend, therefore you must attack?
More like you felt satisfied trolling others, on this forum, which is not welcome, by the moderators.
This you?
**Proud Owner of a Forum Time-Out. Permanently Banned From Posting Funny Pictures**
It's all jokes, man. Relax.
What OP wrote was hilarious (and true). If it was trolling, yes the moderators would have dealt with it.
I don't know, I think it kind of described my older brother and he'd probably laugh. He's also in way better shape than I am for various reasons and he can move his big rig just fine.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
It was humor, and pretty funny at that. Maybe you didn’t understand his comment?
Noted that humor is not always seen as such, regardless of the formatting (*) and closing “all jokes aside”
I'm just glad that in this day and age, there is something for everyone, and you can choose whatever you want to play thru. I may pull the trigger on a Fender Neo 6x10...it is calling my name.
I saw Queen of the Stone age's Mike Shulman Red and Black Fender SB...and damn
I saw Queen of the Stone age's Mike Shulman Red and Black Fender SB...and damn
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This is a big and important point. Most recognise that Marshalls are more common in the UK and on the continent than here in the US but there never was enough shipped here to establish them in this market. A market incidently, which would have amortised all the start up costs and assured viability.
When the Marshall VBA's trickled into the US they had 2 issues:
1) Availability, as soon as one was unpacked it was sold so fast, stock for potential buyers was eliminated so it became impossible to try one which inhibited sales.
2) the pricing was high for the market back then with heads over $3000 and cabs topping a grand a piece where found.
This mean't prospective buyers had a heavy cost for an unknown and impossibly difficult amp to find and play.
Don't forget that Jim Marshall was in decline because of age and health and historically, he was a very hands on CEO. Such people build and grow companies where employee management more commonly falters and is less effective by comparison.
If there was a third issue, it was owners who would not sell theirs further limiting stock movement in the market. I had permanent searches on my phone for years to find mine. Todate, more than 15 years later most product on Reverb comes from Europe.
A 4th and very real issue for the US market is that these amps were made with the operating current for their intended market. Marshall amps historically were multi-wired so the professional could tour the world using his pet amps by turning a switch. That ceased with the VBA. I realise touring acts have options in this regard but the semi pro market is impacted by this limitation.
Hope this helps understand some of the issues that contributed to market loss. Even today in 2024, there is hardly anything on youtube worth watching. There will likely be interest as long as there is availabilty as Marshalls built an enviable reputation for reliability over multi decades of usage.
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Baroque violins are coming back. I know two musicians who play them.
In the arts, nothing really ever becomes obsolete. Sometimes period instruments and gear are sought after for no reason other than curiosity, which is perfectly OK.
My band rehearsed in a rented space for a few months, and they had a bunch of house amps. It's a jazz band, and I play upright. Which amp did I plug into? The giant SVT fridge rig of course. I just had to try it, even though I've already settled in my mind all of the technicalities. I still had to try it.
In the arts, nothing really ever becomes obsolete. Sometimes period instruments and gear are sought after for no reason other than curiosity, which is perfectly OK.
My band rehearsed in a rented space for a few months, and they had a bunch of house amps. It's a jazz band, and I play upright. Which amp did I plug into? The giant SVT fridge rig of course. I just had to try it, even though I've already settled in my mind all of the technicalities. I still had to try it.
Big amps are disappearing, because smaller amps will have more power, lesser weight and they sound the same. I know some disagree, but as long as we are comparing A/B and D classes, there is no difference between them. When sound is coming from preamp, topology itself will be meaningless when there is enough power. Tube amp is bit different story but still widely onstage only because SVT CL is well known and accepted by the players. It definitely is not the best for heavy duty touring, but most players know how they work and sound making it safe option for backline rental. Outside of this, they are disappearing fast.
Real topic would be the big cabs, and I don't see them disappearing anywhere. If you need stage monitoring and presence they still are essential part of equipment. It doesn't need to be 810 while it can be multiple of 210s, 410s, 112s, 212s, 115s or even 215. Modern light weigh cabs does everything old heavy ones did, and more.
So, if one needs big stage presence then enough cabs and amp power will do the job. Amp itself will be small or medium, but total stack can be big (but not heavy always). Probably digi-age people will still use them, if IEM is not enough alone. For example Jinjer bassist uses custom 810 cab with Markbass Little Mark 3, Line 6 Helix LT and IEM.
Real topic would be the big cabs, and I don't see them disappearing anywhere. If you need stage monitoring and presence they still are essential part of equipment. It doesn't need to be 810 while it can be multiple of 210s, 410s, 112s, 212s, 115s or even 215. Modern light weigh cabs does everything old heavy ones did, and more.
So, if one needs big stage presence then enough cabs and amp power will do the job. Amp itself will be small or medium, but total stack can be big (but not heavy always). Probably digi-age people will still use them, if IEM is not enough alone. For example Jinjer bassist uses custom 810 cab with Markbass Little Mark 3, Line 6 Helix LT and IEM.
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I know of a 2013 Marshall VBA 400, locally, new in box. The seller wants about $2,200.00 USD ($3,000.00 CDA). For my own reasons I don't personally think it is worth that much. No matter how unused it is. One being the head is still 11 years old now and the price is probably more than at new. I have been trying to get him down a bit for a month or so now.
Your post is saying to me I should just go pay the guy the money and be done with it.
