Backline

[ghance]

Hi, Got 3 small festivals back to back.. mostly indie bands - defo no A listers.. and no riders!.. gotta supply drums & amps, not too nice (aka expensive) but want something bands will accept and easy to work with. So was thinking of supplying:

 

1x Yamaha Oak Custom X 5-piece (black sparkle)

1x Trace Elliot 4x10" bass combo

1x Fender twin 2x12" combo

1x Marshall head + cab.. JCM800 maybe.. dunno..

 

thoughts please.. other than this should be in a muso's forum.. I'm looking for advice on:

 

1. rider friendliness

2. reliability

3. easy to work with

 

ta mucho

 

.g

[tomrbland]

In terms of drums a drum kit is a drum kit (as much as people with argue with this) they are all pretty similar at the end of the day (I am a drummer that gets paid for gigs - I wont say semi-pro because that word seems to kick up a fuss here!) You will get drummers being arsy saying they NEEED their kit but until you get nit picky all you want the drums for is to provide a beat at these small festivals. As long as the kit isn't your budget kit from the local music shop it should be just fine; I presume drummers will bring breakables/personal gear (snare, cymbals, bass drum pedal etc)

 

Bass amps - some thing simple and not powerful so that they can't wack it up to 11 (this goes for guitarists too!) I use a roland with a customised volume knob that wont go up more than half way. (turn the volume to your fake 'max' then pop the knob off and reposition it at 11. nobody turns it down past half way so they don't notice that it doesn't go past halfway!

 

Guitars - everyone knows how to work a marshall B-) again the trick with the volume control!

 

That's just IMO and what I tend to use (although I have a laney head with a marshal cab now for guitar as well as a marshal stack, its more versatile)

 

Edit: went for lunch!

[Wilflet]

if the kits well tuned it'l be fine. bass amp is fine.

 

for indie bands theyd probably prefer fender, vox or orange over marshall.

Id personally for festivals go for separate cabs and heads over combo- gives anyone who dosnt like your choice, or who really wants a particular sound to bring their own head in and use your cab, not really adding anything to the changeover but the bands happy.

 

If possible supply the two guitarists with the same- otherwise they will argue over who gets what and want you to swap the amps over every act completely defying the point in shared backline. also makes it easier to keep them at the same level on stage rather than the one with the marshall drowning out the fender.

 

in terms of reliability and ease of use anything well maintained from the big names will be fine for a festival.

If you do have separate heads and cabs label the cabs with the impedance. Did a festival a few weeks ago with house cabs and band heads, backline company didnt label the cabs - every single changeover I had atleast one guitarist in monitor world asking me what socket he needs to use either because he cant find the number on the cab or he dosnt understand the maths for using 2 cabs.

 

but at the end of the day if you dont send a rider you cant complain about what you get.

[benweblight]

Fender for guitars and Ampeg for bass tend to be common/safe choices.....though others can work just as well.

 

I would definitely recommend having at least a spare guitar amp and bass head....as something will inevitably go wrong if you don't have one and it'll be a real pain.

 

Also handy to have a few keyboard/guitar stands and a stock of spare leads.

[azlan]

I would say ampeg or ashdown for bass...

and for guitar at least one marshall 1/2 stack, and possibly some fender/vox/orange combo's as indie bands seem to like these

[ghance]

thanks.. all good so far..

 

Combo's vs Heads: was thinking combo for quickness and to keep in all the 100w ballpark.. but yes.. like the idea of having the option of swapping out just heads.. good call

 

identical gtr amps?.. yes, but surely better to have the choice.. not everyone will want a fender/vox/orange sound.. some will want the distortion of the marshall. - let them fight it out themselves if they both want a marshall.

 

so go on then.. what are we saying?

 

kit - anything quality & well tuned.. be it yamy, DW, pearl whatever

 

Bass - Ampeg over TE? - you sure? ..possibly a 4x10" cab plus a head?

 

Gtr 1 - a marshall 1/2 stack

 

Gtr 2 - fender/vox/orange something

 

 

cheers guys.. all helpful

[philw44]

What you have listed is fine. Oh and Trace elliot over ampeg any day for the bass B-)

[azlan]

the ampegs are probably going to be more what most bands are going to be more comfortable with as they seem to be more or less the standard backline at small/medium venues, from my experience anyway

[paulears]

I've been playing bass for a VERY long time - I'd be far happier being given a Trace Elliot any day. Ampeg are a little 'niche' - people who want loud and maybe even a little retro. More thump than finesse. I see more bass players with Trace kit than Ampeg because the small Trace combos and separates sound a lot bigger. Ampeg are all big, or bigger. Lots of people get impressed by size, of course.

[TimmyP1955]

Get those riders!

 

I'd say you should have:

 

A bass rig that's at least the equivalent of a GK 800RB with a 4x10 cabinet (having double that would not hurt). And a spare.

 

A Twin Reverb (no master volume control models).

 

A Hot Rod or Blues, Deville or Deluxe.

 

An AC30.

 

A Marshall half stack (JCM900-4100 with a 1960A).

 

A couple of Cry Baby Wahs.

 

A handful of TU2 tuners.

 

Plenty of cables and spares (including and some 10m or 15m guitar cables).

 

A Triton Pro, Triton Studio, or Triton Extreme (better yet one of each) (and floppies with the factory presets, as the Pro and Studio don't have them stored internally for restoration when a player over-writes the presets with his own sounds).

 

A good Hammond clone (Nord, Roland, Korg, Hammond-Suzuki) with a Leslie or a good clone (and the appropriate gadgets to interface them).

 

A Yamaha Motif.

 

A Roland KC500/550 keyboard amp (and a spare).

 

The Yamaha drum kit should be good, along with Zildjian, Paiste, or Sabian cymbals. Don't forget a spare snare drum, spare double bass pedal, extra heads, spare cymbals (especially ride and hat), a spare hat stand or at least a spare clutch. And an assortment of sticks, power-rods, and brushes (yes, there will be some jughead who does not bring any).

[azlan]

I've been playing bass for a VERY long time - I'd be far happier being given a Trace Elliot any day. Ampeg are a little 'niche' - people who want loud and maybe even a little retro. More thump than finesse. I see more bass players with Trace kit than Ampeg because the small Trace combos and separates sound a lot bigger. Ampeg are all big, or bigger. Lots of people get impressed by size, of course.

 

I wasn't trying to say ampeg ams are better than trace heads, I just know that from gigs that I have been to and worked at, an SVT of some description going into an 8x10 cab has been by far and away the most common setup that I have come across

[ghance]

Thanks Timmy.. I can see where you going with that post.. but I'll be running a small festi stage with a few indie bands.. not competing with John Henry's!.. Good call about kit breakables tho.

 

keys - was going to stay clear of that one.. don't know enough about them. if pushed I'd say a top spec Motif & a lecky piano like a roland RD-700.

 

Clone hammonds? I always thought that was controversial.. please correct me if there are perfectly acceptable alternatives for clone Rhodes & Hammonds for smaller stages (thinking festival stage 3 level).. much rather have a couple of Nord Electro's sitting in wings than half a dozen bits of temperamental retro kit.

 

cheers

[BlueShift]

Hey,

 

I do a fair few festivals and receive a fair few riders, and I would go with the following:

 

Yamaha Maple Custom: Good quality, inexpensive, and maple is generally preferred over oak for this kind of stuff I find. get a 22" kick with 12, 14, 16 toms. No racks (pain to change) get all the toms on their own stands for ease of moving.

 

Ampeg/Ashdown Head + 4x10" cab: Head+Cab combo is generally preferred. I'd get an Ampeg SVT. Very universal and built like tanks.

 

Fender Twin: Preferably a vintage(ish) one. Cheap to hire, everyone loves them.

Vox AC30: Same as above

Orange AD30: Again, same as above but a bit more indie-rock.

 

 

Again, I'm not saying these are what I would pick as my preferred sounding backline - but I see this stuff requested more than anything...

[tomrbland]

kit - anything quality & well tuned.. be it yamy, DW, pearl whatever

 

Quick note on that, go for a 5 piece as opposed to a 4 pieces so that if people want a 5 they have it and if they want a 4 they can just remove one of the toms.

 

keys - was going to stay clear of that one.. don't know enough about them. if pushed I'd say a top spec Motif & a lecky piano like a roland RD-700.

 

I can recommend the Yamaha P-85, a very simple piano with a lovely piano sound.

[ghance]

cheers guys... any more for the Ampeg/Ashdown/TE vote?