My rented backline adventures

[alaskaleftybass]

Don't make me bounce you

But seriously, I must apologize to all the thread readers for not doing due diligence on my fly gigs and posting what I've gotten lately. But the truth is almost all of my fly gigs this year have been gigs where I've been before, and I was thinking it was getting a tad boring to see the same rigs over and over. I do, however, wish I'd have taken a pic of the rig I used on my Alaska cruise 2 months ago. That was pretty unique...an SVT 4 Pro and a B410hlf. They guy who supplied the gear also supplied the SVT 4 Pro and 810e I used in Sandpoint, Idaho, and he offered to take the 810e, but I felt guilty about putting him through it until he told me the only 410 he had was an Eden, and I do not like Eden gear at all. Then I asked him to bring the 810e but did express my sympathy Naturally, he scrambled to find an Ampeg 410 for me, and came up with the B410hlf. It was not bad, not as good as the top of the line cabs, but decent. Since I don't have a picture of the exact rig, here's a couple stock photos:

Also brought my VT Deluxe because I needed both overdrive and fuzz, a Mooer Tender Octaver, and my Line 6 G70. Kind of unhappy with the Mooer. Sounds a lot like the EHX Micro Pog, but seems to have more latency.

@JimmyM let me know when your cruise ship goes through Sitka and I'll buy you a cup of coffee! I think we have just about every major cruise come through every year.

 

[JimmyM]

@JimmyM let me know when your cruise ship goes through Sitka and I'll buy you a cup of coffee! I think we have just about every major cruise come through every year.

This one only hit Juneau and Skagway. We'll see what happens next year. Thanks Will!

 

[AltGrendel]

Rig used in the pit of an outdoor theater.

I think the guy is playing a 6 string Ken Smith through it.

 

[JimmyM]

View attachment 1190166

Rig used in the pit of an outdoor theater.

I think the guy is playing a 6 string Ken Smith through it.

Kind of a big rig for pit work, no? Usually you see them so jammed up in there that they're lucky to get a little combo in there.

 

[AltGrendel]

Kind of a big rig for pit work, no? Usually you see them so jammed up in there that they're lucky to get a little combo in there.

Yea, I think he and the drummer/percussionist get real cosy. I'll try to remember to get a pic of the setup in place next show.

 

[AltGrendel]

@JimmyM
Not as bad as I thought:

 

[GreyBeard]

@JimmyM
Not as bad as I thought:

View attachment 1194452

Looks like a pretty decent little rig.

 

[JimmyM]

@JimmyM
Not as bad as I thought:

View attachment 1194452

Except for micing the tweeter

 

[AltGrendel]

Except for micing the tweeter

I'll mention that to the sound engineer. He is a good friend so he may listen, but who knows.

 

[AltGrendel]

@JimmyM
So I mentioned it to him, and later on he drags me down to the pit and borrows my phone to take a picture of this.

 

[JimmyM]

Hehe! Must have been the angle.

 

[murphy]

That does explain why any sound from the tweeter is only heard on stage....and lots of boom for bass guitar through the PA in clubs

 

[Bass 45]

When I saw the mic placement in the original photo, I assumed it was an SVT-15E.

 

[AltGrendel]

Hehe! Must have been the angle.

He was surprised that there was a tweeter in the cab.

 

[AltGrendel]

Victor Wootens current rig:

 

[AltGrendel]

John Patituccis rig with John Patitucci in the background:


Yes, I saw him and Victor trade solos.

 

[delta7fred]

I don't often get a rented/provided backline but a few weeks ago we supported a band who were happy to let us use their backline. We were told this when we took the booking but both our guitarist and I took our amps, just in case.

He had the choice of either either Marshall or Orange half stacks, both looked as new, he used the Marshall.

I had a beat up old Ashdown 300 Mag EVO 410 with scratchy/intermittent volume and gain pots that kept cutting out (no pictures of it fortunately).

The owner came up on stage when he heard I was having trouble with it and said to leave the volume and gain pots at 100% otherwise it did that. I hadn't touched them from where he'd set them and it was still doing it! I thanked him for the offer of the use of it but said I would feel happier using my own. I was really glad I had it in my car!

Ironically he had a couple of nice basses (USA Fender Jazz and a Ric) but the crappiest amp I have seen on a stage for a long, long time.

 

[Korladis]

So, since this thread is somewhat related, on friday, after we had loaded all our gear into vehicles, we learned that the fest's backline was an Ampeg 810 and two Orange 412s. So while we were a bit annoyed at having not learned this earlier, at least we only had to get one guitar cab on stage (we have three guitarists at times). I used the Ampeg, it worked great. I love when the backline is legit.

However, the next day, the PA's power amp blew out. What they ended up doing I think people here would find highly amusing.

Since the mixer and actual speakers were fine, they ended up connecting them to the power amp of an SVT owned by one of the bands and using that for the last band on the bill (Slow Season). It actually sounded great!

 

[bassdrop]

So, since this thread is somewhat related, on friday, after we had loaded all our gear into vehicles, we learned that the fest's backline was an Ampeg 810 and two Orange 412s. So while we were a bit annoyed at having not learned this earlier, at least we only had to get one guitar cab on stage (we have three guitarists at times). I used the Ampeg, it worked great. I love when the backline is legit.

However, the next day, the PA's power amp blew out. What they ended up doing I think people here would find highly amusing.

Since the mixer and actual speakers were fine, they ended up connecting them to the power amp of an SVT owned by one of the bands and using that for the last band on the bill (Slow Season). It actually sounded great!

Slightly similar story for us last year: we had a gig that was supposed to be backlined. But the event organizer tells us two weeks before the gig that the provided backline would only be for the headliner. So on the day of the show after trucking everything through a large casino, setting up on stage, just prior to soundcheck the bandleader for the headliner tells us we can use the provided bass rig. Well, thanks, but no thanks.

 

[JimmyM]

First entry in a good while...this is possibly the most unique Ampeg rig I've ever been supplied so I figured I had to share it. A 1997 SVT 4 Pro with a 2003 SVT 810e that has a custom grillcloth with all sorts of different color sparkles on it at the Country Tonight Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN. The backline guy said he thinks the grillcloth didn't have the sparkles, but thinks they got permanently added when one of the shows there had a glitter bomb go off Despite it being one of the dreaded "dark years" cabs, I sure enjoyed using it just so I could stare at the grillcloth, which looks a million times better live than in the pic, which suffered from the overly bright work lights we rehearsed with. And I have always enjoyed the cartoony blue-red SVT 4 Pro logo. If we play there again, I'm going to bring a real camera and ask the lighting guy to give me some actual stage lighting. In the meantime, use your imagination.