I only use my all-tube Ad200 for recording and for shows, I have a Terror 1000 I use for practice and since it's so small I take it as a backup to gigs as well.
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Have you ever NEEDED a backup amp? VOTE!
- Thread starter birminghambass
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- amp backup have you ever needed vote
Dude I didn't know you was out in Bright, Indiana for that show, you should of came up and said high.
That photo is actually what happened after the opening song where I discovered my Sabine had wigged out while I was turning up. After I picked up the provided Hartke head that sounded like a Yahtzee dice cup when I shook it.
Only twice in 40 years. Once due to faulty portable generator at a concert
outside. The second time due to water
dropping onto circuit board of my Walter Woods Ultra and shutting it down.
Ric
outside. The second time due to water
dropping onto circuit board of my Walter Woods Ultra and shutting it down.
Ric
Luckily I've never had an amp fail mid-gig, but I do always bring a sansamp in my bag just in case.
That said, I own two heads. One very small and one larger with more features. I usually use the small one for practice and the big one for gigs. 6 months or so ago the big one fried when I turned it on. Had to send it back to the manufacturer for a warranty repair, which took a while, so I played several gigs with the 'backup' head.
in over 45 years of gigging I have had 2.5 amps die on me and needed a backup.
Ampeg PF500/115HE - amp cut out and died on me mid-way through a 3 set gig. Had a backup (Walkabout) ready to go, so it worked out ok. PF500 has never done another gig since and is relegated to rehearsal only, where it has cut out a few other times too.
Mesa Walkabout - 3 hour set in 115 degree heat with the sun beating down right on the amp. I tried to keep it shaded but the stage arrangement failed me. It went into thermal shutdown halfway through the very last song of a 2 set gig. I did not have a spare. Never did this before or after.
the .5 situation was somewhere around 1972ish when my Bassman 100 fried a 6L6 power tube but kept on working .. somewhat sub-optimally. Band had a spare Showman which I used as a replacement for the gig.
So, 2 of these amp failure stopped a show, one just at the very end. But, s**t happens, amps are just machines after all and anything humans have designed and built can break. 2.5 in 45+ years is not such a bad record.
Ampeg PF500/115HE - amp cut out and died on me mid-way through a 3 set gig. Had a backup (Walkabout) ready to go, so it worked out ok. PF500 has never done another gig since and is relegated to rehearsal only, where it has cut out a few other times too.
Mesa Walkabout - 3 hour set in 115 degree heat with the sun beating down right on the amp. I tried to keep it shaded but the stage arrangement failed me. It went into thermal shutdown halfway through the very last song of a 2 set gig. I did not have a spare. Never did this before or after.
the .5 situation was somewhere around 1972ish when my Bassman 100 fried a 6L6 power tube but kept on working .. somewhat sub-optimally. Band had a spare Showman which I used as a replacement for the gig.
So, 2 of these amp failure stopped a show, one just at the very end. But, s**t happens, amps are just machines after all and anything humans have designed and built can break. 2.5 in 45+ years is not such a bad record.
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Oh yes, I have those, alkaline and rechargable. 9v and AA.Batteries...... You forgot batteries!
It did the trick powering a big 8x10 Ampeg box all night without a hitch and sounded fine. Of course, it had PA support since it was in a large ballroom with 600 people. Most importantly, it came to the rescue.
Played 30+ years with only one amp, a G.K. 800RB I bought new in 1984.
Back then it was played coast to coast, border to border in road bands, years later played it locally at the bars, pubs, animal clubs, ect.
It was the only bass amp I owned all those years, no back-up ever needed.
It never went down, was never in to a tech for service.
A friend of mine bought it off me a few years back when I thought I "NEEDED" to go lite with class D amps.
After having three lite weight D's burn-out on me (two went out during gigs) I'm back to heavy but dependable head/amps (Mesa Carbines)....and yes, I never go to a job now with-out a back-up head now thanks to the lessons from the D's I owned.
FYI....my friends 800RB is still going strong!
Back then it was played coast to coast, border to border in road bands, years later played it locally at the bars, pubs, animal clubs, ect.
It was the only bass amp I owned all those years, no back-up ever needed.
It never went down, was never in to a tech for service.
A friend of mine bought it off me a few years back when I thought I "NEEDED" to go lite with class D amps.
After having three lite weight D's burn-out on me (two went out during gigs) I'm back to heavy but dependable head/amps (Mesa Carbines)....and yes, I never go to a job now with-out a back-up head now thanks to the lessons from the D's I owned.
FYI....my friends 800RB is still going strong!
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We were at our monthly gig at the Little Brown Jug in Mincoqua WI...15 minutes before we started. My GK1001RB was on my cabinets just in front of the fireplace and our drummer brought me a glass of ice water and put it on the mantle...the warped mantle.
The cup sweated, the mantle got slippery, and I watched the cup slide off the mantle and dumped the entire cup of ice and water into the running fan on top of my GK. Fried it big time. I used a Crate Power Block to get through the gig.
I bought a PF-500 and never fixed the GK (yet.) I now keep a PV class D PA head with two 600 watt power amps in it for backup as well as a Sansamp. My PF-500 has worked without incident for over 4 years, but we did need the backup for the PA at one gig.
The cup sweated, the mantle got slippery, and I watched the cup slide off the mantle and dumped the entire cup of ice and water into the running fan on top of my GK. Fried it big time. I used a Crate Power Block to get through the gig.
I bought a PF-500 and never fixed the GK (yet.) I now keep a PV class D PA head with two 600 watt power amps in it for backup as well as a Sansamp. My PF-500 has worked without incident for over 4 years, but we did need the backup for the PA at one gig.
- Oct 22, 2015
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^ This is the old Peavey rite of passage. My TNT took abuse far beyond reason and never failed to see me through.
