# If your amp goes down at a gig...



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

...what's your backup?

I'm looking for something small and portable.
The QuarterHorse looks like a good option, but,
I think that I'd prefer to just unplug the mic on the amp and run that out of the backup.
So, I'd need something with an XLR out.

Would this work with the QH? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XVM105M


----------



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

If mine went down I would plug in my iRig through my iPad and be back up within a minute or two.

The iPad is already on stage and the iRig is within arms reach.


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

FX unit into the PA, I suppose. I usually use a two amp system for the cover band so it's very unlikely that both would flame out at once.

I do have two Quarterhorse amps but I never think to put one in my gig stuff. 

It's a good idea to have a field tested backup plan. I hate waiting for bands, including my own, to get their act in order.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

When playing out of town i bring 2 amps. Keep in mind that these are mostly Legion hall gigs and not at high volume. In town with my other duos, i will plug in with my D.I. box in the sound system if something goes wrong with an amp. I did this a few months ago cause my amp was acting up for some reason. 
I can get away with this as we play mostly,pop,country,disco, lounge music.


----------



## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

This happened to me once, 2 songs in. Would have been a disaster if a good friend of mine wasn't in the other band playing that night. He lent me his amp and I was good to go.

Luckily it has never happened to me a second time and it's been many years but this is why I now bring a little Orange Dark Terror to gigs with me. It sounds awesome and is really portable!


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I would probably beg and plead to run both guitars into the other jcm800.


----------



## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

I have a tech 21 DI box, should do the trick!


----------



## Disbeat (Jul 30, 2011)

I had a Peavey VTM 120 for a back up. Can find em for a few hundred bucks, are super reliable and can get pretty close to the tone of an 800.



Budda said:


> I would probably beg and plead to run both guitars into the other jcm800.


----------



## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

that's good advice. Those are great heads to have as a spare. Same deal with the Laney Pro Tube series.


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I think that the Tech 21 might be my anwer, thanks Ti-Ron!

I'd prefer that to lugging a redundant amp, or even tubes.

I do have a spare set for the amp I run with the band,
but instead of futzing around on a dim stage with them,
or possibly wrecking them in the gig bag, a portable unit makes sense to me.

Nothing against any of the other the suggestions offered, it's still interesting to see what the alternatives are.


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

backup? id prefer to just have a big, public tantrum.


----------



## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I bring two combos: My DRRI and either mt Princeton Reverb or a Marshall DSL401. Under normal circumstances I run them in stereo through an H2O pedal and it sounds glorious. If one amp fails then I would just switch to the other. I am a believer in redundancies - I always have 2 guitars, 2 amps, extra od's on my board as well as spare cables and power supplies. It has saved my own bacon as well as that of other band mates numerous times over the years.


----------



## Guest (Apr 15, 2015)

My bass player is using my pedalboard with a Tech21 California on it -- that's my plan b. Haven't needed it ever though.


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I don't disagree with redundancies, just trying to avoid the heaviest redundancy. 8)

Guitars, cables, etc., sure, 
but if I can get away with a portable solution to another amp, I'm all for it.

Again, not judging, whatever works, works. 8)


----------



## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Another +1 to the Tech 21 pedals. I've got a British as my backup to my JTM45 or '59 Bassman. The plan is to run the pedalboard into it and then feed the signal into my DI box and to the board. I won't have much in the way of on-stage volume, but I can throw some into the monitors. Fortunately, I've never had to resort to it, but I keep the Tech 21 and DI in my bag at every show just in case.


----------



## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

I havent played many gigs, but I always carried a second small amp and a mic. in my case it was my valvetrain princeton clone.


----------



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

My changeover would be disconnecting one 1/4 cord from the Pod and plugging it into the iRig. Should be back up with decent sounds within a minute.

Of course, that's not the way I would want to finish the night, but it fits in my brief case and after all, the Pod stuff doesn't exactly fail very often in my experience.


----------



## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

sulphur said:


> I don't disagree with redundancies, just trying to avoid the heaviest redundancy. 8)
> 
> Guitars, cables, etc., sure,
> but if I can get away with a portable solution to another amp, I'm all for it.
> ...


Not feeling judged - we do what we feel works best for us.............. and it's not as if my Princeton is a boat anchor anyway.


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

allthumbs56 said:


> Not feeling judged - we do what we feel works best for us.............. and it's not as if my Princeton is a boat anchor anyway.


Ha, it's all good.

My rig for the band consists of a combo and a cab.
If the combo were to go down, I'd need another combo and I only have a couple of heads.
The cab has a fairly dark speaker, so I'd avoid using it just on its own.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Mooh said:


> FX unit into the PA, I suppose.
> Peace, Mooh.


If there is a PA, that is an easy solution.


----------



## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

New boy in town, straight from the Orange Costom Shop: http://www.premierguitar.com/articl...eetar-guitar-pre-eq-and-rockerverb-mkiii-amps


----------



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Not in my opinion. The QH is looking for an 8 ohm load, just like your amp, it has a "speaker out" jack. If my amp went down I'd just unplug the speaker from the head or combo and plug it into the QH. Good to go in less than a minute. The QH is always in my bag at a gig but I've never needed it, fortunately. I usually like to run an EQ in front of it.




sulphur said:


> ...what's your backup?
> 
> I'm looking for something small and portable.
> The QuarterHorse looks like a good option, but,
> ...


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

davetcan said:


> Not in my opinion. The QH is looking for an 8 ohm load, just like your amp, it has a "speaker out" jack. If my amp went down I'd just unplug the speaker from the head or combo and plug it into the QH. Good to go in less than a minute. The QH is always in my bag at a gig but I've never needed it, fortunately. I usually like to run an EQ in front of it.


The 1/8" headphone jack is also a line out on the QH.
With no XLR out, that adapter should work.

I'd prefer to still have sound coming out behind me, but not the best option with my setup.

I mic the combo, if that goes down, then I'm repositioning the mic onto the 1x12.
Probably quicker and easier to just unplug the mic and run it out of something like the Tech 21.


----------



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

LOL, forgot about the headphone jack, I've never used it.



sulphur said:


> The 1/8" headphone jack is also a line out on the QH.
> With no XLR out, that adapter should work.
> 
> I'd prefer to still have sound coming out behind me, but not the best option with my setup.
> ...


----------



## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I often jam with the quarter horse at the cottage. It's a surprisingly great tool for what it costs and its footprint. 

The effects are appreciated. 

Here's a recoding with the quarter horse going through a messa boogie 2-12 combo's speakers. RW Strat w/o mods. Fuzz and overdrive from moratto in front. The delay and reverb you hear are from the QH. 

This recording made me buy another QH as they're not made anymore. 

Beware to put a colored mark on the end of the QH's adaptor. It's unfortunately the same size as a 9v yet it's 24v. I cooked a BYOC klon clone. Darn. 

Note that this recording was an improvised jam where the bassist (Baxter - played with Pavarotti, top session player in Bilbao Spain, he was playing a 1962 fender bass!!) had no arrangements. 

https://m.soundcloud.com/collings-933/green-river-brick-in-the-wall


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

The QH is still on the Traynor website, what makes people say that they're not being made anymore?

http://traynoramps.com/guitar/horses/product/dh25h/


----------



## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

LM has slashed them down to $120 new and $99 open box/ used and they're harder and harder to find. Perhaps they're just not currently in production. Initially they were $250.


----------



## Guest (Apr 16, 2015)

davetcan said:


> LOL, forgot about the headphone jack, I've never used it.


that's the main reason I bought mine. so as not to disturb my wife.
I also use the line out into my computer to record using Reaper.
still learning the software. no clips, yet.

custom made pedal board courtesy of GTmaker


----------



## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

If you're ok with digital, you could probably get a used Digitech RP355 for under $200 and it has XLR outs. Tech 21 stuff is great if you want to go analog. The new Fly Rig 5 might be a good solution, but you'll need the XLR cable converter. Ideally, you'd go through a DI box rather than just using a cable converter. Most venues have DI boxes on hand.

On that note, Tech 21 has the para-driver DI stuff that includes their sans-amp. It can be powered from the board too so you won't need an extra wall-wart.

In general, there are lots of good direct rigs in the under $300 range (especially if you go used). Not many of them have XLR outs though...


----------



## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

Another option that hasn't been mentioned is the Carl Martin Rock Bug. It is analog, has an XLR out, headphone out, built tough. I use mine in a variety of ways, including headphone practice, as a backup solution and, increasingly, for recording.


----------



## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

Tech 21 Sansamp as part of my rig. Use it as an effect for it's tonal qualities but have had to use it twice straight to the board; once when my amp suddenly fried after we set up and then a gig where all I brought was a bass and the DI as I was on crutches. Works awesome f you trust your sound-guy.

Wish my guitarist would do something like this. His amp is in the shop and his back up amp is a POS and wouldn't work without squeeling last week. A friend of his in the town we were playing brought over a little Line 6 25W amp to get through the gig.


----------



## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

This !


----------



## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

I used to have a pod 2.0 and floorboard. Used it a few times when I didn't feel like lugging around the
marshall. Traded them a while back. Now I gues I'd bring my ac4 head. Wouldn't quite take the place of my marshall 800 but it's a great amp for the price I got it for. 125 bucks!


----------



## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

Not a light solution, but we cart around my singers old YBA-1 as a backup amp. It'll sub in for either guitar or bass. I also bring an attenuator in case I have to use it. I think I've only had to use it once when my Marshall went down. Killer old amp, but it is a heavy beast.


----------



## SensoryOverload (Apr 19, 2015)

I have a VOX AC4TV, which still sounds good and is relatively loud when cranked. Id like to get a VOX AC15 though, Im sure that would be a solid backup for any style too. Good mix of everything amp and its only like 500 sticks


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

My Vox Nighttrain fits nicely in its padded bag in the back seat footwell. I generally use a 2 channel amp when playing out, but I could get through a night with that if I had to. With the bright/thick switch and full tone stack, it covers a wide range of sounds, albeit one at a time.


----------



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

I toss my 68CPR in the trunk whenever we gig. I leave it there just in case.


----------

