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Have you ever NEEDED a backup amp? VOTE!

Amp failure ever stop the show?

  • Yes

    Votes: 152 28.7%

  • No

    Votes: 323 61.1%

  • No carrots option, sorry.

    Votes: 18 3.4%

  • I would NEVER gig without a backup amp!

    Votes: 70 13.2%

  • I don't need a backup amp!

    Votes: 28 5.3%
  • Total voters
    529
#41
Ask Joe Nerve!!!!! :bored:

Seriously, though, back in my actual touring days, before I switched to pre/power amp setups, I had 4 SVT heads atop 4 8x10s. Only ran two at a time, the others were backup, all patched in, tested, and sitting on standby.
If I got a whiff of the magic mushroom cloud I could stroll over and bring a backup online with a flick of the switch, mebbe one more to silence the cookout culprit.
If a stage tech didn't beat me to it.
When I went to Alembic pre-amps and Crest 8001 pwr amps, same story. 4 Crest's racked up and 16 2x10 R'n'R cabs ( Bag Ends with castered front covers).
Never lost a Crest, cooked a couple SVTs.

My ability to stand upright today is testament to my never having to carry them!!;)
 
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#43
When I was a young pup in the 80's I used Peavey amps. Before TB I never realized I needed a "backup amp." My Peaveys were made in USA and just worked. One time in the mid 80's I had an Ampeg that died on me that I was renting from a music store. Back it went, luckily covered by rental insurance. Went back to Peavey and never had a problem again. Now I have a GK MB500 for my main amp, and a GK MB200 as a backup. The MB200 is hardly the same but it has a DI so I can run to the FOH and get foldback if I'm not loud enough. Surprisingly, the MB200 with two Eden cabs can get pretty loud. I carry both amps to the gig in a laptop bag. But I've never had a need to pull out the MB200.
 
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#44
My guitarist smoked his amp last Dec on stage. No backups, and I had to run him direct through my markbass compressore and an overdrive pedal. Sounded like crap. I've had an amp fail on gigs, but direct box.
 
#45
A big company (Who I'm not naming cause they build really good stuff) lent me two prototypes. The first night I literally smoked one, stunk up the whole venue. The next night the other one went out with a whimper.
Back to the drawing board, and v.2 of that amp has been produced for years.
 
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#46
The backup amps I tend to bring can theoretically be used for either guitar or bass.

On two occasions (granted, over 30 years) I needed the backup for myself. On several others, my Fender PA100 (modified for higher gain on a few channels) has been used for guitar, keys (sounded incredible with an old Rhodes and a 15" wedge monitor) and harmonica (incredible slightly overdriven with a bullet mic).

These days I usually take out the Mesa Walkabout with my Ashdown LB30 as a backup. I have heard one guitarist play through it at a rehearsal and he offered to buy it on the spot.

Short version: Yes, I will continue to take a backup with me every gig.
 
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#49
Just once. The problem was evidentally an incorrectly wired outlet. As soon as I hooked up my DI box to the board (ground lift NOT ON)...CRACK! It blew the traces off the circuit board along with a slew of components. Glad I was able to fix it myself, and also glad it was the amp and not ME that got fried. I considered myself lucky.
 
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#51
There have been countless times (my PF800 quit on me recently) I've had an amp die and only a few times Ive had a backup with me. The other times Ive been lucky enough to either use a DI and run into the PA or just plugged directly into the PA. So far Ive been lucky that I do have a spare amp waiting for me or something I can cobble together to cover my keister until what died gets fixed.

But. With my luck lately I need to have a backup just in case.....
 
#54
One time in 50 years of playing I had an SVT head I had just bought used go out on me after leaving it on standby for a long time. It blew the fuse right before the start of the show, i played most of the show from memory and finally realized near the end that the the bass would do fine through the big floor monitors at that facility. I've been using them exclusively for over 40 years now and it's the only time one ever let me down and it was my own fault for not checking the power tubes, bias etc. this was about 15-16 years ago. this was in Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, a 2200 seat place. I still don't bring a spare head although i have thought of it, but 1 time out of 40 years is not very often.
 
#55
Wasn't sure how to respond so I selected yes and no. I was halfway through a gig when my ampeg head shut down because the cooling fan stopped working. I kept playing since the pa had my line out from my sans amp di. At the end of the song I just asked for more bass in the monitors. My backup "amp" is always a preamp/di.
 
#56
In the early 1980s I had an early 70s SVT. During the first set of a 4 set night, the amp stopped working. I could only hear my bass running through the PA and somehow managed to get through the night. The following day I opened the amp and found that there was an internal fuse that had blown. It was soldered in place so I removed it and then soldered in a inline fuse holder.
 
#58
I voted no, but with a big but...

I have a backup amp that I keep around at home in case my main amp needs to be sent for repairs, but I don't typically bring a second amp with me to shows, nor have I ever seen an amp failure stop a show cold in its tracks.

For me, there is always a backup amp in place, and it's called the PA.

I've had personal amps fail me briefly on stage (going into protect mode), and I've also had backline amps straight up die. Neither was enough to stop the show. Inconvenience? Yes. Annoyance? Absolutely - but I find that I can get by with paying extra attention to what I'm doing just hands-wise, knowing full well that my sound is still pounding FOH.

Just my personal experience. YMMV.
 
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