Big Amps will come back one day!!!

[Phormlyss]

I've always assumed the ampeg fridge was akin to a piano, in that it's hard to find the enthusiasm to move the thing a second time once you get it in the house.
Band gear Tetris is a fun game, too, but I don't really feel any nostalgia for it.

 

[Ibycan]

For me, is not just about the PA doing the heavy lifting, it is how it inspires me to play better, to put on a better show every time, Hearing my amp behind me, I can hear every note, every slide, ever time I hit it hard. I'm using In ears, and we have our own PA for every show. There is no replacement for displacement.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Define “big”
this was my former gig rig
Vertical 410 celestion neos (net 60lb cab) with class D 800 watt tube pre (Mesa WD800 which I still have and love)

 

[Lardass5000]

Is that a sock puppet on a mic stand?

Ew. Awkward.
Thats probably their guitar player Man.

 

[hooky_marr]

Define “big”
this was my former gig rig
Vertical 410 celestion neos (net 60lb cab) with class D 800 watt tube pre (Mesa WD800 which I still have and love)
View attachment 5428488

That RevSound is lovely. There is something to be said for the "line array" aspect of a stack like that, you get closer to the "big flat emitter" style of an electrostatic speaker setup.

Dunno if anyone here saw it, but in 2022 MIT announced a new kind of thin-film piezo speaker system that uses just about 100mW per square meter of sound surface, using variably-sized piezo "domes." Their small prototype could hit 86db. I could see this turned into a tuned array (using a multiband crossover?) that could be used for studio monitors, and maybe (if it's durable enough?) an amp so light and thin you could roll it up and put it in a tube.

 

[Lardass5000]

View attachment 5428314Not fun to lug, but we only do a few shows a year now. And it sounds marvelous.

Awesome

 

[jkalads]

Not talking about us old guys- im talking about 10 years from now when kids want the real poopie from the 70’s/80’s/90’s…..

 

[ac100X]

Did I hear old and big?

 

[james condino]

Even as an upright player: I own ultralight hipster amplification. I own fussy old vintage amplification. I own big giant heavy amplification. The choice is not so much the equipment as it is the person running the front of house. One lame soundguy who removes 100% of the bass from the PA the second an unbalanced guitar or vocal mic feeds back is the problem...hence I always chose to come in heavy so that the folks on stage can hear me and get their groove on; no bass= no bueno. If It takes 5 minutes to load from the house to the car and another five into the venue, that ten minutes effort is worth it for the glorious 3+ hours I'm on stage.

 

[agedhorse]

Gawd, I hope so! I'm yearning for the days when my amp head has enough juice to double as an arc welder.

Actually, modern start of the art inverter arc welders are a form of switchmode power supply (which works on a similar principle to class D amps), and which are used in most class D amps.

Be careful what you wish for...

 

[Johnny Fingers]

My 1/15 and my 2/10 each weigh 70lbs. All I really need is a 70lb SVT classic head to balance it out. Compact and weighty, with a substantial timbre. Side benefit of a decent workout and incentive to keep in shape.
Would still like to add a Mesa Engineering head and cab for my small car to save gas on a longer commutes.
Don’t need either at the moment but if an opportunity arises that would be the plan.

 

[MegaSwing]

There are still vinyl aficionados among music listeners and film aficionados among photography enthusiasts. Hard hobbyists, they are called. Sometimes, you just want the experience.

I own an Eden D215-XLT that I’ve never played out but love having—just in case. Plus, I know I’ll have no trouble selling it when I decide I want more room in the house.

There’s an ass for every saddle.

 

[Tony In Philly]

It all depends on the gig, the room size, and the PA support or lack of. I have never understood why there are so many one-size-fits-all types regarding amps and monitoring these days.

 

[daddymactx]

When I'm not carting it!!! LOL!!

 

[eban3]

Neva gonna happen

 

[Geri O]

Hopefully, all that Big Iron will run on right by me without so much as a wave or The Finger (although the latter wouldn’t surprise me….)

 

[WhoIsMoo]

Sometimes, you just have to play through the fridge for the spirit of the 90s

 

[Marc DLarosa]

I've never played in a cover band. And our original bands only gigged about twice a month. On a rare occasion, it was up to 5 times a month. So, yeah... I get the "tiny rig" concept. But... these, to Me were small amps, in comparison to what I played through before having 'em (Ampeg/Sunn, etc...) YEARS AGO. Whenever I go JAM with friends for fun, I lug one of the bad boys with me. Everyone smiles when they feel the air "move." Especially the other bass players. Although, I do prefer the 800RB for my active basses, and the SWR for my passive basses.

NUFF SAID.

[edit] Gotta add... I do miss my Hartke HA5500, through a Hartke XL series 410 that I gave to my nephew. But... HE LOVES IT, and LUGS IT!!!

 

[Auspuff]

I know Im in the minority, but I do think big amps will become fashionable again one day. Just like records have come back, kids will want to experience the real thing. There is something special that digital recreations cannot capture and just the feeling of moving that air cannot be truly mimicked. Prolly not 5 years but maybe 10. Thought?

They will.

In my case, they never left.

 

[pfschim]

If you're hauling it, I'm happy to use 'em. But, if I'm hauling it, then it's going to be as easy as I can make it ... and just enough rig for the gig.
I've used plenty of big iron over the decades. Don't miss anything about them.

Big FOH and good monitoring (wedges, or now more commonly IEMs) beat the pants off any big iron ... and your ears don't ring for a week afterwards.
For me, any big stages I'm on, there is a backline that's typically been dialed in to the over all venue FOH by a competent sound tech crew, so I don't even have to think about hauling some huge rig and that's just fine by me.