Have you ever NEEDED a backup amp? VOTE!

[toddbooster]

Nope. 45 year-old Traynor Bassmaster always works all the time. Even with only one power tube for the entire gig after the other fell out and shattered in the back of the car without me noticing. Was it extra distorted? Yes, but that's good! I even briefly considered keeping it that way, but thought better of it and stuffed in some old el34 I found at the bottom of a box. Biasing? Nonsense! That was 10 years ago and it's still going...

 

[74hc]

Never had a backup amp. Largely because we did not have much money, and were not rolling in the dough. We just got by.

About the only item I had backups for was strings and picks. Many times, just picks.

 

[SactoBass]

"it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

^^^THIS!

 

[fourstr00]

Four times that come to mind. It sucks having to go to another band and ask to use their stuff.

On the flip side, I’ve also had to lend out my backup on a few occasions. The show must go on doesn’t just apply to our act.

 

[okcrum]

The last rented backline I got had two SVT stacks. One was a spare. Guitar got two half stacks as well.

I've had amp failure, broken strings, cable/connector failure, et al. It's probability - if you do enough gigs you'll see everything. If you haven't, you simply haven't done enough gigs yet. There's a reason the Scout motto is "Be prepared" haha. They know about Murphy's Law.

Our BL/guitarist learned this one last week. He turned on his amp 10 min before the show and it was nothing but hum. PA was not an option despite what the theorists in this thread insist.

Luckily, an old BL lives about two minutes away. A quick phone call and "rental agreement" and the show started on time.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

No. I don't even have a gigging amp at the moment! Every place I play here in nyc has a decent amp. I always have my sansamp DI with me just in case.

 

[Mr. Sound]

Backups and backup backup...double redundancy unless the gig is 10 mins drive from home!
Cabs, heads, leads..they can all play up, and Murphy's law applies!!!

 

[JSandbloom]

Well, I use a external DI so if the amp goes out the show goes on. Helps having a wedge or ears in.

 

[jnuts1]

never blew my own but i've had house rigs and other bands bass cab/head melt down and used mine as a backup.

 

[Spectrum]

I use Rick-o-Sound, which uses 2 amps, so by default I always have a back-up amp with me: if one breaks just go mono and use the one that works.

I have never "needed" it, though, but I did have to let my guitarist use the guitar side of my rig once when his amp failed on a gig. So I guess my band needed it...

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I've been playing for over 50 years now and so far have never needed a back up amp. That said , I always have my trusty Peavey Mark 6 is the back of the truck.

Me too. That said, with one rig I use two powered combos 320 watts each, and the rig in my icon, it’s a stereo power amp, so I would have to blow out both sides to be rendered silent. If only one side went, I could power both of my cabs in mono mode , which would be a 4 ohm load and 600 watts of power. If the preamp blows, I carry a WTDI direct box that can be used as a preamp. So yep, I always have a plan B. Never needed it, but I have one.

 

[bumperbass]

Hi! Plugged my bh250 into my laptop to update the software on the amp as it hasn’t been done since I purchased it second hand and toneprint wouldn’t work, updated it all fine. Took it to practise the day after and there is minimal speaker output from the amp, cranked up full it produces a sound so small it’s barely audable.

Please god tell me this is a easy fix!

Help!?

Me too. That said, with one rig I use two powered combos 320 watts each, and the rig in my icon, it’s a stereo power amp, so I would have to blow out both sides to be rendered silent. If only one side went, I could power both of my cabs in mono mode , which would be a 4 ohm load and 600 watts of power. If the preamp blows, I carry a WTDI direct box that can be used as a preamp. So yep, I always have a plan B. Never needed it, but I have one.

When power amps die, it's usually a fuse-blown situation because typically it's a shorted output or power device.

 

[mc900ftj]

I refuse to answer, as that would cause amp failure at my next gig.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I had a buddy of my that had one of these , and lost half, but the other half trucked right on. I’m not sure what caused the failure. Could have been just a cold soilder joint cracking for all I know. Thanks for posting.

 

[Jefenator]

3 times over the last decade, each with a different 40-year-old tube head. (Had them all looked over but I guess the repairmen don't always catch everything.)
I drove home the first time, had my micro-head handy and ready to go the other two times. (Most recently I did the swap mid-set without the bandleader even noticing.)
In these situations, one quickly discovers that ANY type of amp (micro, backup, PA, etc...) is about 1000000 times better than no amp at all.
It's great to be in this modern era where a perfectly serviceable backup amp fits in a laptop bag and weighs practically nothing.

 

[Ulf Buck]

No because I use a GK 1001RB and it just works. If for some reason it failed I would go direct. That is the thing I worry about least.

 

[Wasnex]

Hey TB, I sometimes see threads about TBers asking "which backup amp" they should buy. I see people with 750-1000w, top of the line amps who want to spend a ton of money on another high-wattage expensive amp just to keep it in a gigbag. I understand if bass is your living but I usually see this in weekend warriors or people who play in church. Is this just a reason to buy more gear? I get that, but is it more about different flavors or the actual NEED for a backup? In 24 years of playing, several hundred (over 1000? ) gigs, I've never once NEEDED a backup amp. One time I had issues with a backline amp so I used my Sansamp to FOH, worked great. I have had many bass issues, and needed my second bass, but never an amp failure. So go vote and then let us know the situation that caused you to use your backup.

IMHO, no need for a spare at my level (I only voted NO). I have had an amp go down at least twice. On each occasion I limped through the last gig of the tour by doubling up on monitor cabs. Not ideal, but it worked. I wouldn't be opposed to carrying a couple of Micro Class D amps as backups, but haven't bothered to procure one.

If I were touring with national act, I would be willing to have a duplicate spare rig hooked up and ready to go on each gig, but would not require it. IMHO, a better solution would be to go with IEMs and leave the amps in the basement.

 

[Tim1]

Class D amps are so small and light these days I never leave for a gig without one tossed in somewhere as a backup. I normally run all-tube heads and in 40 plus years if gigging I have only ever experienced two gig breakdowns - one with a tube head (svt) and one with a solid state head (forgotten which).

 

[_Some Dude]

So far 41 voted that an amp died and stopped a show yet only a few stories of such a thing happening. Interesting.

Your results are skewed because your poll is flawed.

Your thread title is Have you ever needed a backup amp?

Your poll question is Amp failure ever stop the show?

What if your amp burned up in a giant ball of flame, but the show never stopped because you had a backup?

Technically, I should answer No because an amp failure never stopped the show.

But, a lot of people are going to answer Yes because they've had to use their backup.

 

[TinIndian]

A few years back we were about to start our first set and the guitarist turned his amp on and poof! Smoke! He managed to rig up an app in his phone and plugged his guitar into that thru an adapter and that ran to the board. Played the first set like that until a friend brought amp up. You just never know.