Expensive Equipment at smaller gigs

seclusion

seclusion

Experienced
I know we all laugh at the saying $5000+ worth of gear, traveling 2 hrs to gig for $100. But just curious if any of you use less expensive equipment for gigs that either don't justify all the lugging around, less damage risk or just for simplicity.

For me my current system is for all my gigs.
This consists of my Ax8 and Ev ZXL 12's powered monitors.
I have 3 Ev's and they are versatile as wedges and or the main PA for small gigs, sometimes just for guitar in my band and can add or take away depending on the gig I'm doing. An 8 Chanel small Yamaha mixer and Presonus 16.0.2.
No complaints on sound, I am able to be heard in a solo gig, in a 2 piece and in a band. I fit in and get compliments on sound.
However I am considering a "B" level system for some of the smaller gigs and wonder.
If you have a smaller rig, I assume some comprimize on sound, what do you use?
The smaller gigs, would be vocal, acoustic, electric, not always but would include backing tracks.
Doing some beach front gigs consistently now and worry with the rain season, damaging the good stuff.
 
I tried it. Got a Katana 100 and footswitch. Used it for one gig...haven't touched it since. I suppose I might revisit it under really bad conditions.

The AX8 rig goes with me to everything (including acoustic shows), and the replacement cost of the stuff I'm taking to crap bars makes me shudder.
 
I use the same rig (and guitars) at every gig. When I first got my AFX II 4+ years ago, I would always take my old POD XT Live with me as a backup. I stopped doing that after a few months once I felt confident the AFX was going to run fine. (I did have one gig early on where I thought the AFX had broken, since I was not getting any signal to the PA. I realized after I got home that I had the volume pedal set on "0". Doh!) I cringe at the thought of plugging into the POD again.
 
seclusion said:
I know we all laugh at the saying $5000+ worth of gear, traveling 2 hrs to gig for $100. But just curious if any of you use less expensive equipment for gigs that either don't justify all the lugging around, less damage risk or just for simplicity.

For me my current system is for all my gigs.
This consists of my Ax8 and Ev ZXL 12's powered monitors.
I have 3 Ev's and they are versatile as wedges and or the main PA for small gigs, sometimes just for guitar in my band and can add or take away depending on the gig I'm doing. An 8 Chanel small Yamaha mixer and Presonus 16.0.2.
No complaints on sound, I am able to be heard in a solo gig, in a 2 piece and in a band. I fit in and get compliments on sound.
However I am considering a "B" level system for some of the smaller gigs and wonder.
If you have a smaller rig, I assume some comprimize on sound, what do you use?
The smaller gigs, would be vocal, acoustic, electric, not always but would include backing tracks.
Doing some beach front gigs consistently now and worry with the rain season, damaging the good stuff.
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great topic.

tried it. hated it. i still try not to bring too much to these smaller gigs, but the quality of the gear makes me sound good, so i bring it. yeah it's pretty hilarious what we bring to get paid $100. but i'd rather feel good during the gig than hate my gear.
 
Thanks for the comments, must say I do like the versatility of being able to fit in many situations and sound awesome no matter loud or soft.
Having the tail end of a solo disappear into nothing, without a bunch of hiss, crackle n hum noise from cheap stuff is almost a distant memory. Yes, I’m not making a ton of $$, but wondered if anyone had done what I might call a “B” system they were happy with.

Yes I used a Axe Standard, but that was only in my studio as I didn’t play out then.
When I got the Axe II, I also had a dusty XTlive I forget the gen and used it as a controller.
Also thinking for backup, I tried and tried to create a few similar tones just in case I had a problem. Never did and I didn’t like the sound.
Cheers
 
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seclusion said:
I know we all laugh at the saying $5000+ worth of gear, traveling 2 hrs to gig for $100. But just curious if any of you use less expensive equipment for gigs that either don't justify all the lugging around, less damage risk or just for simplicity.

For me my current system is for all my gigs.
This consists of my Ax8 and Ev ZXL 12's powered monitors.
I have 3 Ev's and they are versatile as wedges and or the main PA for small gigs, sometimes just for guitar in my band and can add or take away depending on the gig I'm doing. An 8 Chanel small Yamaha mixer and Presonus 16.0.2.
No complaints on sound, I am able to be heard in a solo gig, in a 2 piece and in a band. I fit in and get compliments on sound.
However I am considering a "B" level system for some of the smaller gigs and wonder.
If you have a smaller rig, I assume some comprimize on sound, what do you use?
The smaller gigs, would be vocal, acoustic, electric, not always but would include backing tracks.
Doing some beach front gigs consistently now and worry with the rain season, damaging the good stuff.
Click to expand...

I have MusicPro insurance on expensive equipment I take out. It is an "all risk" policy, so it covers just about anything that can go wrong. Back over your acoustic when pulling out the van - covered.

Not affiliated, just a customer. https://www.musicproinsurance.com
 
TG3K said:
I use the same rig (and guitars) at every gig ...
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unix-guy said:
I bought my gear so that I enjoy my tone... I'm not into gigging for the money, so I bring what I need to sound good to me :)
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This summarises my thoughts. I take AxeFX, MFC, and Matrix Q12. I can’t take less. A decent amp and pedal board wouldn’t be any cheaper. We use IEMs from the desk, so I could ditch the Matrix, but it’s our backup in case one of the PA speakers fails.

At one time I played medium priced guitars, around £1,500 each. There were some pubs where I would wonder about the risk. Nowadays I make my own guitars, so what the hell.
 
In the end I invest in my gear to get the sound that I want. Whether or not my gig will pay thousands or just beer money is irrelevant to me. The only concession I am willing to make is when time is of the essence. As in when I have to play a sort of battle of the bands thing and changeover time is short and it just isn't worth to bring a whole Axe FX plus MFC rig along for a 1 or 2 songs. When your sound is going to be shite anyway, so logistics is key. In which case I'll just whip up a small ad hoc pedal board.

TG3K said:
I use the same rig (and guitars) at every gig. When I first got my AFX II 4+ years ago, I would always take my old POD XT Live with me as a backup. I stopped doing that after a few months once I felt confident the AFX was going to run fine. (I did have one gig early on where I thought the AFX had broken, since I was not getting any signal to the PA. I realized after I got home that I had the volume pedal set on "0". Doh!) I cringe at the thought of plugging into the POD again.
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We once did a short set where my sound was an utter mystery. We had to play on the venue's amp and it sounded like somebody had thrown a blanket over my sound. Did I say blanket? More like a stack of matresses. I was getting pissed throughout the entire set and just before we started the outro I noticed the culprit. The wah had been on for all that time in the heel down position. D'oh!
 
Muad'zin said:
We once did a short set where my sound was an utter mystery. We had to play on the venue's amp and it sounded like somebody had thrown a blanket over my sound. Did I say blanket? More like a stack of matresses. I was getting pissed throughout the entire set and just before we started the outro I noticed the culprit. The wah had been on for all that time in the heel down position. D'oh
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The same happened to me. Double d'oh!
That was the last time I used the auto engage function, since then I program a specific scene or switch to turn on the wah block.

Back on topic, if music and playing guitar is your passion, good tones make you feel good and you can afford nice gear without sacrificing more important things in your life, there's nothing wrong in having 5000$ worth of equipment, even if you only play in your bedroom.
Art shouldn't be treated as running a business.
 
I use the Ax8 into the the mixer. I have the EV as a wah pedal. We have a quiet stage and use all in ear. The two mains are Yamaha DBR 15s. The Ax8 sounds good through these speakers.
 
DLC86 said:
Back on topic, if music and playing guitar is your passion, good tones make you feel good and you can afford nice gear without sacrificing more important things in your life, there's nothing wrong in having 5000$ worth of equipment, even if you only play in your bedroom.
Art shouldn't be treated as running a business.
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Well, if you can't even have your dream rig in your own bedroom there's no point in having it at all I'd say. ;)

Lax said:
I would gig with my jp12+axefx2+mfc 7000€ rig even for a 30 minutes gig for 4 people in a remote place lol.
At this price they'll see every use
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LOL!

Still, some considerations should probably be made for the venue though. There's not much point in showing up to a tiny bar which can house 10 people in the audience with a full 2x 4x12 cab Marshall stack which has to be fully cranked up. Thankfully, we Fractal heads have a little more flexibility then that.

I can appreciate the sentiment that it can look weird and arrogant to show up with a massive rig for a tiny show or to play for four people and the owner's dog. There were times that I held that viewpoint myself. But the Axe FX does not depend on needing to be fully cranked like a tube amp, so you can dial it in as softly as you want to go. So as long as you do not take up more stage space then the rest of the band combined......, and also true arrogance is not in gear but in behavior. And you don't need to have the biggest rig or to be the most successful to be an arrogant SOB. Plenty of people manage to be one without those.
 
I bring it all. but my rig is pretty small now, so size is not an issue. I am very particular about letting stuff out of my sight at small shows, any show for that matter. I will not leave my stuff unattended, while loading or unloading. Eyes always on the prize.
 
I'm nearly always using more gear than the pay justifies, but it sure sounds good. Occasionally, when stage size is truly cramped, I can downsize by dispensing with the guitar monitor and run both to my vocal monitor but that's about it for subbing in less gear.
 
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