Lighter weight or fewer trips?

[lowfreq33]

Ok, say you're putting together a new PA from the ground up for a touring band. Bars, clubs, the occasional small outdoor show. No crew, only your bandmates. Money is irrelevant, let's assume it's a trailer full of gear, mixer, power amps, monitors, mains, subs. Would you rather:

A) pack everything into large heavy roadcases to reduce the number of trips in and out.

Or

B) break things up into smaller lighter cases requiring more trips but less effort per trip.

 

[EricssonB]

Large, with handles and wheels for two to handle.

 

[M0ses]

Fewer trips!!!

 

[fishstix]

Stackable smaller cases for tricky load-ins and stairs?

 

[onosson]

B. Not just for fewer trips, but it's far easier to organize your equipment at the venue if you have fewer pieces.

 

[MuzikMan]

I like more trips with lighter gear because my back is shot. Really, there is no one that can tell you what works best for you.

 

[electracoyote]

If it gets the female singer to actually pick something up and carry it (besides her tamborine), I go with more and lighter loads.

 

[Cohacq]

Heavy roadcases with wheels!

Put everything you can on wheels. Makes everything much easier to get from one place to another.

 

[testing1two]

If budget is not an issue then weight will not be a problem. Generally speaking cases stack better and allow you to pre-configure gear which makes your total setup faster. You can buy ATA cases made from fiberglass or ABS molded plastics (which are at least 30% lighter than plywood) and the latest generation of amps & speakers are lighter than ever. You should also have good dollys and/or carts for anything that doesn't warrant a rolling case.

Also, since money is not an object skip the trailer and buy a box truck with a lift-gate. Not only is it safer to drive but the lift-gate will further reduce the amount of physical labor required to load and unload.

 

[onosson]

Actually, if money is irrelevant, I'm hiring some roadies instead!

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Food for thought, sometimes the place your playing will be up a narrow set of stairs that is difficult to maneuver through. In places like that, lighter gear is definitely the better option.

 

[testing1two]

Food for thought, sometimes the place your playing will be up a narrow set of stairs that is difficult to maneuver through. In places like that, lighter gear is definitely the better option.

While this is true, I would not make 90% of my setups take longer to make the other 10% easier. I would just reconfigure my rig for those particular gigs or hire some extra muscle.

 

[Dave W]

In that scenario, fewer trips.

 

[lowfreq33]

Pretty sure I'll be doing a somewhat modular setup, stackable smaller cases. Mainly for safety purposes when stairs are involved. We've got one female (who out works most guys, but still isn't as strong as a man, it's just biology), and the drummer is a smaller guy, so there's just not a lot of brute strength available to lift a 400 lb amp rack onto a 4 foot stage with no ramp or steps.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Try to have half your gear packed lightweight so the other two can carry it.

Don't skimp on quality of wheels, make sure they lock/unlock reliably.

Invest in a trolley that can go up stairs i.e. Has 3 wheels on each side, and pack smaller for gigs with stairs. Or hire help for just those gigs with stairs.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

As a someone who's been there, done that, didn't bother with the t-shirt: small, stackable cases would win every time.

And EVERYTHING in ATA style cases, and I really mean everything. Not in back-packs, not in some SKB scrap, not in padded cases, not in "hard-shell" cases, ATA is Your friend on tour. If You want to go modern, check out PELI cases.

Even if there's only 20 or so cases, IME they should be numbered, and if You want to lose 'em in a hurry, stencil the bands name and what's in them on the sides as well (been there, done that, the t-shirts were in one of the cases) .

Unless of course You're only playing venues that have a direct loading ramp or elevator straight into the stage. In that case, as big and heavy as You can imagine.


Regards
Sam

 

[Stumbo]

Always have someone guarding your truck/trailer when loading in/out, especially if you have more, smaller cases to move requiring more trips.

 

[jaywa]

Big cases, with wheels, fewer trips.

UNLESS you have a load-in from hell where there are flights of steps or something that simply won't accommodate huge cases... and for which you should be getting paid a premium by the venue... but as a rule, the fewer trips the better.

We recently migrated our 5 plastic "totes" full of cables, cords, and other miscellanea, to a single 3 x 3 x 4 wheeled case (with three partitions) and it's the best move we ever made. Each of those totes took one guy to carry, so we've basically collapsed five person-trips into one. Plus, we can put other smaller cases on top of the big case and ride that much more gear in and out with a single trip. That big case wasn't cheap, but time is money and consolidating all those sundries into one place has probably knocked a good 15 minutes off both the front and back end of our gigs. Plus there's no longer the question of which tote some particular cord got tossed into this time.

 

[Marko 1]

With few stairs to contend with, a trailer with a ramp, and five healthy guys, I went with bigger/fewer trips.

Everything heavy has big casters, and I have a couple dollies.

Also saves time.

 

[armywalaby]

I try to make it as few trips as possible, but if something is wearing me out I have to carry it in a way that doesn't let me carry something else, I'll get different gear. But I have to work with whatever I have at that time. I love 15" combo amps for this reason; I have a dual bass softshell that goes on the back, backpack of cords on the amp, amp with wheels rolls right in. However, my working rig now is a 2x15 and a hartke ba5500. I managed to get my hands on a refrigerator dolly and it pretty much stays on that. I have two trips now - 2x15 and head, backpack and basses. So I suppose it goes the same either way.