Redundant Systems?

[Doctor Intrepid]

I was chatting with my partner and it came out that I have two rigs that are essentially the same. It is two stacks and then I have some smaller amps for practice and such. Well she suggested I should sell one stack. That I didn't really need two stacks that are almost exactly the same. The insanity!

Anyway, I am a hobbyist really. I play out at open mics and have a trio project focused on original material. So maybe I don't need redundant systems like the folks that play out on the regular or professionally. I thought this might make a fun poll.

Should one have redundant systems? Is it extravagant, or my money so I'll buy what I want? Or is it better to have multiple rigs to add tools to the tool box? Or should one keep it as simple as possible? One bass one cord, a rig and a pedal board for FOH support? Bass only?

Cheers,
Doc.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Do what ya want to do and a bag of carrots.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Could the money be spent/saved on something better?

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

Could the money be spent/saved on something better?

Is there something better than more bass gear?

The vacation is paid for, and we are not in need, so the bass gear seems like the best option. She does have a lot of shoes ...

 

[Wasnex]

It's not a bad idea, but it's a bit extravagant for a hobbyist. At your level, I think having variety is more important than exact duplicates.

IMHO, having exact duplicates become more important at the highest level. For example, if you were touring in an A-list group, then it makes sense to have exact spares. You will also most likely have guitar and amp techs on tour. Roadies setup two exact rigs and you may only use one during the show. The second rug is the spare. Also if your bass goes out of tune, someone might hand you a duplicate that has been freshly tuned.

Presumably you are making very good money as an A-lister, so the cost of the spares is very low compared to your musical income. As a hobbyist, it's not unusual for your gear to cost way more than you make, so IMHO it doesn't make sense to double the total investment when you may not even recoup the cost of your primary gear.

I toured professionally for many years. My last rig was a rolling rack with a drawer. The drawer had extra cables, batteries, and spare strings. I did not carry a spare duplicate bass, amp, or cab.

A few times my amp went down on tour. My signal path is bass, DI, amp. One of the amp's let out a bunch of magic smoke during sound check. This failure had no impact on the following show. We set out an extra monitor wedge and made some adjustments to my monitor mix during sound check.

The second amp failure occurred during a show. The amp started making random loud explosive sounds. I turned the amp off mid song. When the song stopped I asked the audio tech to dial some bass into my wedge and we started the next song. The delay to dial-in my bass was a matter of seconds. Before the song was over, the second engineer brought out an additional wedge for me.

I have collection of over 30 amps. There are a few duplicates, but they were not really intentional. I bought the vast majority of the amps after I had pretty much retired from performing. I also own 9-10 bases. No duplicates. I have one 6-string (primary), two 5-strings, several 4-strings, and an ABG. I have gigged one of my amps and three of my basses.

For the record, when I toured, the band provided all of my gear, but I sometimes used my own bass. It would not have been a problem for me to carry spares, but I did not feel it really warranted the extra hassle and wear and tear on the gear. We served as our own roadies, setup crew, drivers, etc. Priorities tend to be a bit different if you have crews doing all of the grunt work for you. When you gig on a daily basis and have to deal with all of the logistics, you start to consider the benefits of using less gear.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

It's not a bad idea, but it's a bit extravagant for a hobbyist. At your level, I think having variety is more important than exact duplicates.

IMHO, having exact duplicates become more important at the highest level. For example, if you were touring in an A-list group, then it makes sense to have exact spares. You will also most likely have guitar and amp techs on tour. Roadies setup two exact rigs and you may only use one during the show. The second rug is the spare. Also if your bass goes out of tune, someone might hand you a duplicate that has been freshly tuned.

Presumably you are making very good money as an A-lister, so the cost of the spares is very low compared to your musical income. As a hobbyist, it's not unusual for your gear to cost way more than you make, so IMHO it doesn't make sense to double the total investment when you may not even recoupl the cost of your primary gear.

I toured professionally for many years. My last rig was a rolling rack with a drawer. The drawer had extra cables, batteries, and spare strings. I did not carry a spare duplicate bass, amp, or cab.

A few times my amp went down on tour. My signal path is bass, DI, amp. One of the amp's let out a bunch of magic smoke during sound check. This failure had no impact on the following show. We set out an extra monitor wedge and made some adjustments to my monitor mix during sound check.

The second amp failure occurred during a show. The amp started making random loud explosive sounds. I turned the amp off mid song. When the song stopped I asked the audio tech to dial some bass into my wedge and we started the next song. The delay to dial min my bass was a matter of seconds. Before the song was over, the second engineer brought out a second wedge for me.

I have collection of over 30 amps. There are a few duplicates, but they were not really intentional. I bought the vast majority of the amps after I had pretty much retired from performing. I also own 9-10 bases. No duplicates. I have one 6-string (primary), two 5-strings, several 4-strings, and an ABG. I have gigged one of my amps and three of my basses.

For the record, when I toured, the band provided all of my gear, but I sometimes used my own bass. It would not have been a problem for me to carry spares, but I did not feel it really warranted the extra hassle and wear and tear on the gear. We served as our own roadies, setup crew, drivers, etc. Priorities tend to be a bit different if you have crews doing all of the grunt work for you. When you gig on a daily basis and have to deal with all of the logistics, you start to typically consider the benefits of using less gear.

Love this response! Thank you!

Truth is I should likely never buy anymore gear. The future may not comply with this prescription, though.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I have five of the same exact bass and no gigs

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I have five of the same exact bass and no gigs

Maybe you need one more? That might be the trick.

 

[Snert]

Speakers almost never fail unless they have or are being abused. Electronics are more likely to do so for a variety of reasons, but I'm not saying that will, just referring to probabilities. So in your situation of I were to move on some gear it would be some of the cabs.
Not saying you should, just explaining my process.

 

[Killing Floor]

Question before I vote.

How do you know they are 2 stacks unless you stack them? Seems like you have an opportunity to be louder.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

Question before I vote.

How do you know they are 2 stacks unless you stack them? Seems like you have an opportunity to be louder.

Lol, yes that is the point. What I lack is the opportunity to put both stacks together. She and I are in the process of moving in together, so once things are moved in I might have to try both stack combined!

 

[BazzaBass]

Lol, yes that is the point. What I lack is the opportunity to put both stacks together. She and I are in the process of moving in together, so once things are moved in I might have to try both stack combined!

You are not living together yet and ALREADY the pressure is on to cull. Red Flag

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

You are not living together yet and ALREADY the pressure is on to cull. Red Flag

I know, right! She let me set up a mini-rig in her living room months ago, so I suppose that won me over.

 

[Engle]

I would rather have different amps than doubles.
I usually bring my MB200 as a backup.
It’s good to have multiples of the same cabinet, so you can run 2 for more volume.

 

[micguy]

I gig weekly, and I don’t have even one stack, much less 2. Of course, all my gigs are ampless at this point.

I carry a bunch of stuff for redundancy, but not amps or cabs.

 

[gln1955]

She does have a lot of shoes ...

Do not try to use this as a justification. It won't work. Trust me.

 

[two fingers]

If you're a hobbyist, there are only two questions to answer.


1) Can you afford to have that much money tied up in both?

2) Do they make you happy?

Nothing else matters.

 

[Wasnex]

Lol, yes that is the point. What I lack is the opportunity to put both stacks together. She and I are in the process of moving in together, so once things are moved in I might have to try both stack combined!

The only limiting factor for me is ceiling height. These won't stack in the room behind them due the raised pedestal. They also won't stack in my basement, which is were I keep my amp collection .

This is a vintage Fender P Elite II and a quad of Genz Benz 1288T Uber Quads . That particular amp is an Epifani UL902C = 900W x 2 at 4 ohms.

Regarding the cabs:
- One would usually be enough.
- Two is more than most would ever require.
- Three sounds a little bit better
- Four primarily raises the perceived source of the sound. The sound appears to emanate from the center of the array.

Never gigged any of it, but all was bought previously new.

The primary cab in my last touring rig was an Eden D210XLT pushed by about 250W. I also had a D410XLT, but usually did not use it.

 

[pbass2]

Anyway, I am a hobbyist really. I play out at open mics and have a trio project focused on original material. So maybe I don't need redundant systems like the folks that play out on the regular or professionally.

I'm a pro, and I don't have total redundancy at all like you describe, nor do most other pro musicians I know. Frankly, I think for a lot of working pros, you just don't want a lot of gear sitting around that isn't income-generating.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I'm a pro, and I don't have total redundancy at all like you describe, nor do most other pro musicians I know. Frankly, I think for a lot of working pros, you just don't want a lot of gear sitting around that isn't income-generating.

Nice. I thought that distinction might be relevant.