fox5150
Inspired
Today marked my second festival gig, and first one with the Axe-FX II. Last year's gig was an absolute shambles and the distance from the car park to the festival was ridiculous. We were told that they were providing carts and the like so we could move stuff around, but that was just silly as it wouldn't fit through the various gaps along the route. So we schlepped everything by hand. Of course, this was before the Axe-FX, so was a bloody heavy tube amp and G-System setup. I remember carrying everything back to the car this time last year and just chucking a bottle of water over my head and sitting in the car with the AC on, I was so hot and shattered!
Fast forward a year, and my rig is much more compact, thanks to the Axe-FX and accoutrements. However, it still represents a few trips and definitely far too much to carry over these kind of distances. Despite this, I was buggered if I was making the same mistake I made last year and leaving it up to the venue to sort it all out. So I PM'd Yek a few weeks ago asking for his thoughts on the Gruv V-Cart Solo, as on their website it looked ideal, but I wasn't quite sure about the dimensions. Yek confirmed that I'd struggle to get everything on in "trolley" mode, but in the special "V" mode it should all fit. So I ordered one!
When it arrived it was in a pretty scrappy box, but who cares about the box. Needed some very minor assembly, which was no real hassle. The mechanism was a little stiff to get to work when it first arrived, but a bit of trusty WD-40 and it all works like a charm now. It's a little heavier than I was expecting, but given the amount of tubing and just how well made this thing is, it doesn't really matter. To give an idea of its size when collapsed, here it is with my gear as comparison:
Today was the festival and I wasn't really sure what to expect as it was a different venue to last year. We were advised that there was plenty of parking which was "adjacent" to the main venue, but that could have meant anything. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I was expecting and whilst still a bit of a distance, it was relatively flat, with just grass and gravel to contend with, with a slight incline on the way there. I had with me the following:
The idea being that everything bar the Mono Case Dual goes on the V-Cart and the guitars go on my back. Talk about made to measure!
The Mono Case is leaning against the last foot or so of handle.
It was so easy to move around on the grass and even on the gravel, which was a real surprise. I had no trouble whatsoever getting from the car to the tent we were playing in. I put it back into dolly mode when I got there and left everything stacked on it until we were ready to go on. Easy to shift around, and tidily kept everything out of the way. Honestly, it made the whole experience a breeze, which was completely different to how I felt this time last year when I swore blind I was never doing it again!! One trip there, one trip back. The majority of the venues we play at, this is a little impractical as we can usually park right outside and there's steps and wotnot in the way that it's just easier to lug the gear in. Any time there's any kind of distance, the V-Cart is coming out to play!
Fast forward a year, and my rig is much more compact, thanks to the Axe-FX and accoutrements. However, it still represents a few trips and definitely far too much to carry over these kind of distances. Despite this, I was buggered if I was making the same mistake I made last year and leaving it up to the venue to sort it all out. So I PM'd Yek a few weeks ago asking for his thoughts on the Gruv V-Cart Solo, as on their website it looked ideal, but I wasn't quite sure about the dimensions. Yek confirmed that I'd struggle to get everything on in "trolley" mode, but in the special "V" mode it should all fit. So I ordered one!
When it arrived it was in a pretty scrappy box, but who cares about the box. Needed some very minor assembly, which was no real hassle. The mechanism was a little stiff to get to work when it first arrived, but a bit of trusty WD-40 and it all works like a charm now. It's a little heavier than I was expecting, but given the amount of tubing and just how well made this thing is, it doesn't really matter. To give an idea of its size when collapsed, here it is with my gear as comparison:
Today was the festival and I wasn't really sure what to expect as it was a different venue to last year. We were advised that there was plenty of parking which was "adjacent" to the main venue, but that could have meant anything. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I was expecting and whilst still a bit of a distance, it was relatively flat, with just grass and gravel to contend with, with a slight incline on the way there. I had with me the following:
- 4U rack, with my Axe-FX in it, Line6 G90 and Vafam panel
- Atomic CLR Wedge
- MFC-101, 2 x Mission Engineering Expression Pedals, mounted on a PedalTrain II, in a Mono Case
- Mono Case bag, with all my leads and stuff in it
- Guitar Stand
- Mono Case Dual, with a PRS Custom 24 and PRS 513 in it
The idea being that everything bar the Mono Case Dual goes on the V-Cart and the guitars go on my back. Talk about made to measure!
The Mono Case is leaning against the last foot or so of handle.
It was so easy to move around on the grass and even on the gravel, which was a real surprise. I had no trouble whatsoever getting from the car to the tent we were playing in. I put it back into dolly mode when I got there and left everything stacked on it until we were ready to go on. Easy to shift around, and tidily kept everything out of the way. Honestly, it made the whole experience a breeze, which was completely different to how I felt this time last year when I swore blind I was never doing it again!! One trip there, one trip back. The majority of the venues we play at, this is a little impractical as we can usually park right outside and there's steps and wotnot in the way that it's just easier to lug the gear in. Any time there's any kind of distance, the V-Cart is coming out to play!
