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Smallest amp actually gigged with-your stories?

N

nsmar4211

Nov 11, 2007
1,016
8
#1
DI boxes into PA's don't count :D

What's the smallest standalone amp you've actually done a paying band gig with (solos don't count)?
I've done two small tiki bar venues now with my practice amp -
a Crate 15 watt 8" combo. Oh, and with a 5 string bass! I've done a few sit ins and open mics with it also :).

First gig was two guitars (one acoustic, one electric) and me. Went fine except when we went to do White Rabbit....I use the B for the low part......and it sounded so anemic that the singer and guitarist started crackin up on stage :bawl:. *sniffle*. But the crowd didn't even notice!

Second gig was last night with the full band at another tiki bar.. talk about squished! There was one foot between the monitor and the bar stools.... The drummer used bass/snare/hihat/one crash and a hand drum as his tom. The electric guitarist was using his little practice amp (think his was only a 6" speaker) turned wayyy down. Drummer turned off his snare, and the venue loved it! We got told to turn down a couple times, but the bar was only about 5 feet from the PA speaker/drummer so it's understandable. I however got told to turn up several times:).

The only problem is the B string....my little amp can reproduce it, just not at any large volume. Couple of songs I had to octave up on the fly, but it worked out fine :).

If you're ever in that situation, one word: Chair. We put both little amps up on chairs, they ended up with about shoulder level. Had we put them on the floor, never would have heard them. Ohhh make sure the chair has a back or you tie the amp down. I'm so paranoid I tied the chairs to the railing :).

My next purchase is going to be a bigger practice amp :) . :hyper: Anybody done anything similar?
 
#4
My first gig as a paid musician:

I was about 6 months into playing bass and I was worried sick. I was playing with people who had been together for 20+ years. I had a Behringer bx300 combo. We didn't even have a mic stand that would reach that low to the ground!

side story, same gig....

Everyone was supposed to learn the songs on their own and do a 10 minute practice the night before the show (bad idea). When we practiced for 10 minutes we skipped BEG because "everyone knows that one" (bad idea). So we were playing it at the show ad I was just barely holding down the roots. All of a sudden everyone stops playing and looks at me. "Oh fudge, there's a bass solo in this song," I thought to myself. About 4 bars later the rest of the band kicked in right on cue together and made me look like a total jackalope.
 
#6
In the early 90's my band did a couple of Dept of Defense sponsored tours of US military bases in Europe. The tours were about 6 weeks long. Great fun- but you had to supply all instruments, backline and PA. You could only have 20 pieces of gear and none could be over 70 pounds. It could be done easier now with class D and neos, but it was tough then. Anyway, I brought a GK 200RB. I think it was 100 watts into 4 ohms, so I was probably running about 60 or 70 into the 8 ohm 1x10" guitar cab I brought. The plan was to get that somewhere close to ear level as it put out next to no low end and crank thru the monitors. First week-monitor amp died. Rest of the tour-barely heard a note I played, as we were a rock band with a moderately loud drummer. Of course we didn't hear any vocals either. I had it better than the keyboardist, thigh-she was relying on monitors entirely, so she just had to watch her fingers the rest of the tour.
 
#7
I've used my MB minimark on about one hundred gigs. Mostly duo or trio acoustic pop/rock-ish stuff. It's my main practice and rehearsal amp too . . . love it

I've played a few places so small where if I'd had a bigger amp it might not have worked

also used a 5'r w/ it for a while, and at relatively low volumes it was ok. would crap out every so often when we had a drummer.

I've semi-replaced this rig w/ a LMII and GS112
 
#8
I ran a Roland CB-100 for almost a year as my only amp. Direct line out to the PA and no worries. The guitarist ran a Roland Cube-30, mic'ed and all was good. Was playing a Yamaha TRB 6P back then, no trouble with the low B. 3 piece rock/pop band with a female singer, was a fun little group which I still miss.
 
#11
My MarkBass CMD121 12 incher has worked EVERY indoor gig we have played and even one outdoors! The output of that little box is not to be believed.

Part of the secret is to get it into a corner when possible so the room walls act as a giant horn. Guys were coming up asking to see my bass "stack" and were blown way when I showed them the little box on the floor. HA HA!
 
#12
My first amp was this little guitar amp and I played bass through it for gigs.

An amp that was intended to be a practice amp or a cheap beginner's amp. I would guess this amp to be around 5-7 watts. One control: volume, which also happens to have a switch built in it - pull it out and the power comes on.


Greg007-2.JPG


Also, at a gig a few years ago, a tube in my Music Man bass amp blew during soundcheck. I had to play through a little Fender 5 watt Vibro Champ guitar amp and mic it to get through the gig.
 
#13
I flew down to Mexico and did a festival a couple years in a row with my Gallien Krueger MB150S. The amp fit in my dufflebag (in a box, surrounded by clothes) and held up outdoors with drums, percussion, 2 guitarists, vocals, keys and horns.

For 11 years, that amp was my main workhorse for any occasion where the big rig wasn't needed.

Now I use a LMII head with an Acme Low-B1. That setup is slightly larger & heavier but sounds M U C H deeper. :bassist:
 
#15
When I did a run of HAIR a couple summers ago, I used my Vox 25w 15" amp. I kept the volume at around 8-9 or so, but it held up the entire run without breaking up. Given that it was a rock show (keys, guitar, bass, drums and horns), I was pretty happy with it. It worked well.
 
#19
Pssssst if you're mic'ing an amp, you're using the PA system speakers and not a standalone amp......doesn't count :). And DI'ing was already eliminated :).

Hrm, I should've said "post the watts and speaker size".......cause I don't know what size half these amps are!

Richland-how big is that little thing?! I can't even imagine trying to put a 5'er through that!
 
#20
nsmar4211 said:
Richland-how big is that little thing?! I can't even imagine trying to put a 5'er through that!
Click to expand...

I bought the 007 amp new in 1970. We did not have a PA to sing through. The guitar player used one channel on his amp for his guitar and one for a high impedence mic. Everytime he hit a string, the mic would cut out. I used that amp for gigs for about a short while and traded it in for a Kustom 150.

Here is more imformation about the 007 amp. It was small.

This is the inside of the 007 amp with the back cover removed. The speaker is about 6" or so. The output transformer is attached to the speaker frame instead of the chassis probably to use the cheapest possible chassis by constructing it out of the thinnest possible material.

Greg007-1.JPG
 

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