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My rented backline adventures

#121
And today's rig du jour...is that redundant, or did I say the same thing two different ways?

Rig-OC-08-19-13_zps073ffcff.jpg


These are both from 06. Cab was real plywood as 06 was the year they stopped using OSB. Still sounded a bit dark, though it did seem brighter than the 2000-2005 dark years cabs. This rig's definitely seen better days. It was only held in the rack by two screws on one side. Oh well, what do I care as long as it worked?

There was an opening band, a Neil Diamond tribute, and their guy used my rig as well. He used a Ken Smith Proto J5 with EMG J's. Love hearing that REDDI in the PA, even if it's not me playing it. Real nice PA today with too many subs and line arrays. Wasn't boomy, though...today's soundman knew what he was doing. It was louder than most of our gigs, but not too bad.

Fun show. Met Jess Oliver's daughter, too! That was a real treat.
 
#123
Ya, speaking of which, glad you brought that up, Stretch Armstrong ;)

This one I had the gain up all the way and just barely got a slight whiff of grind out of it. The one I used two weeks ago would start grinding when you had the gain on 3:00. Same bass, both were SLM. Still sounded excellent, but I'm thinking maybe the pre tubes were a little weak? Anyone care to venture a reason?
 
#124
I thought of you, Jimmy, at my gig Saturday night. A local Blues guitar player hired me to play bass for him in what was essentially, a showcase gig for other Blues players. One set of of Chicago Blues stuff, backline provided, which turned out to be an old, humpback, SVT 810 !. This thing was beat to crap, all the tolex was stripped off, and chunks of wood were missing, but it humped like crazy, loud as snot. No SVT head, though, it was powered by a hartke 5500 head. Not really my thing, tonewise, but, man, that sucker was loud and thumpy !
 
#125
backline%2520is%2520furnished.jpg


Drummer and I were subbing on short notice for a biker festival in FL...not being in the circle with "fly" dates...more like "road trips"...I was told there was no need to bring my rig...the production company would supply a "pro-level" bass rig. No problem. Drove up, saw the WT800 with a 410/115 and figured all was well. The 410 was dead...as in...no sound whatsoever. The 115 farted terribly...and the WT800...well...at least it looked like a WT800...
No time to open things up and have a look see...had to hit it...fortunately, bacon was saved by a good DI, FOH and engineer..

kim
 
#126
rok51 said:
backline%2520is%2520furnished.jpg


Drummer and I were subbing on short notice for a biker festival in FL...not being in the circle with "fly" dates...more like "road trips"...I was told there was no need to bring my rig...the production company would supply a "pro-level" bass rig. No problem. Drove up, saw the WT800 with a 410/115 and figured all was well. The 410 was dead...as in...no sound whatsoever. The 115 farted terribly...and the WT800...well...at least it looked like a WT800...
No time to open things up and have a look see...had to hit it...fortunately, bacon was saved by a good DI, FOH and engineer..

kim
Click to expand...

Wow! That's too bad. I used to play with a bass player that had a late '90s or early 2000s WT800 that he ran into a 410 and a 215. You could hear that sucker down the street from the bar without it even being in the PA. It was a great sounding amp from what I remember.
 
#127
JimmyM said:
Tru dat, GW ;) Although I had set up the REDDI right next to the amp, and when I came back after the sound crew finished setting up (hideously slow crew, too), they had the line run into the amp's DI...dopes!
Click to expand...

Ha! OK, the amp is one thing. But actually PLUGGING INTO ITS DI with a REDDI sitting right beside it is HILARIOUS.
 
#128
spz8 said:
I don't get all the Hartke hate. I once went to an open mic jam, and the house band bass player used that same Hartke Kickback with a jazz bass. It sounded F-ing amazing! Really huge, and filled the (medium sized) room. I played through it with my Tune 6 string with some friends, and the low B was to die for. It's a great little amp! :bassist:
Click to expand...

Hartke's fine ... but a Kickback for a gig with Bowzer?
 
#129
Sorry I missed it Jimmy. After 2 late nights in a row....I was staying home. As for th 4 Pro, that is usually my go-to amp for most situations when I use just 1 410HE. I have forgotten to have my EQ button on at times as well as plugging into the wrong speaker jack in the back, or the bridged button.

Or better yet, if you plugged a normally wired Neutrik Speaker Cable into the Bridged Jack, you would only be sucking half power. That is why I have speacially marked SVT-4 Neutrik Speaker Cables that I take with me. One with Neutrik to Neutrik (SVT 4 side marked), and one with a 1/4 plug on the other end.
 
#130
jnewmark said:
I thought of you, Jimmy, at my gig Saturday night. A local Blues guitar player hired me to play bass for him in what was essentially, a showcase gig for other Blues players. One set of of Chicago Blues stuff, backline provided, which turned out to be an old, humpback, SVT 810 !. This thing was beat to crap, all the tolex was stripped off, and chunks of wood were missing, but it humped like crazy, loud as snot. No SVT head, though, it was powered by a hartke 5500 head. Not really my thing, tonewise, but, man, that sucker was loud and thumpy !
Click to expand...
And yet I'll bet it looked better than mine ;) Love those old 810's. Up until the Heritage I've always felt they were unmatched for tone. Guess you fell differently, but that's cool.
 
#131
Munjibunga said:
Hartke's fine ... but a Kickback for a gig with Bowzer?
Click to expand...
Well at least the gig still went just fine, nobody got hurt, and it sounded as good as I played, which was pretty decent that night. And it's not like his gigs are judged by the bass tone anyway, even though it was still awesome because I had the REDDI ;) He doesn't want to hear the bass much at all, so he was quite happy to see it. And it's really not a bad amp at all for its size. Would have been nice if the supplier would have sprayed the pots, though.

FW, sorry you missed it...turned out to be a really good turnout, close to 2000 I'd guess. But I totally understand, having been on the receiving end of a late Friday and Saturday many times.
 
#133
oh man i wish i had pics of the p.o.s. ampeg BA 115 I had to use last year ... blown passive input...freq selector non functioning, which was the only thing that had a knob left on it. Not to mention it looked like it was dropped of the back of a truck at 85 mph.... i bet you blood is boiling and it wasnt even you .. LOL
 
#134
9M2E said:
oh man i wish i had pics of the p.o.s. ampeg BA 115 I had to use last year ... blown passive input...freq selector non functioning, which was the only thing that had a knob left on it. Not to mention it looked like it was dropped of the back of a truck at 85 mph.... i bet you blood is boiling and it wasnt even you .. LOL
Click to expand...
Hey man, at least it was an Ampeg.

:D

I hear you...you'd think these jokers who bring crap gear and call it "pro backline" would rather see shows come off well so more people come to their next shows, but apparently they only care about shaving costs and keeping the money and nothing else. And as you can see, even playing with someone with somewhat of a name doesn't keep you immune to cheap-ass promoters.
 
#135
svtb15 said:
And JUST IN CASE..... I Always fly with my Streamliner head... Ya never know if they will get the translation right in a foreign country...So i come prepared... Just get me a good cab!..
This was the following year at soundcheck time.. Different production company.. This is in Switzerland.. And i did get my 810...

IMG_6470.gif
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Where was that? Considering the stage size I'm a little surprised that you seem to be surprised to get that cab...
 
#136
I just heard back from my buddy who runs backline at large shows, and he's on his way back from doing the Full Throttle Saloon Shows for Sturgis. I guess they had some very nasty hale again this year, and it pretty much destroyed the Penske rental truck they had used to get his gear up there. Busted every window, sheared off the mirrors, tore up the box something fierce. Fortunately, his gear was onstage under the protective awnings at the time.
 
#139
Well there wasn't much in the way of details, Jeff...I posted about it on Facebook, Roberta saw it and said she lived 5 minutes away, her and her husband came out, and we chatted a little bit about her dad, Everett Hull (whom she didn't know personally but her eyes tightened up the second I mentioned him ;) ), current Ampeg, and the show, which she said she loved and spent most of her time dancing. Really nice gal, and her husband was quite cool as well.
 
#140
I don't have pics, but....about a year ago I subbed in a country band. The gig was at a hip-hop club (!). I was forced into a place where I couldn't see the rhythm player. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had had a monitor, but I didn't. So I could not hear the vocalist or the rhythm guitar. I plugged into the supplied Hartke head and 4x10. Two of the tens were blown. By the premature end of the show, the lead guitar had walked out and I had blown the remaining two tens. My worst gig ever.
 

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