backup amp? yes/no

Teetonetal · September 2017

ICBM said:

nickp said:

so is it easy to change fuses and valves - if so I'll get some spares (s) as long as I now how to find out what's ferked

You need to remove the back panel of the amp, pull the power valves (it's almost always a power valve that dies), fit new ones, and change whatever fuse has blown - usually the HT. If you're not confident about it I would allow 5 mins. If it's a preamp valve it might take a bit longer since you really need to replace one at a time, unless you want to carry a full set. They don't blow fuses though.

If you don't normally mic up and would prefer a backup to use with your cab, an ID100 head would probably be a good match for the S1. You can pick them up for £250-£300 second hand quite easily.

@ICBM out of interest, if you have to replace a power amp mid gig, I doubt it's going to be biased. Any issues with that, or ist it a case of short term fix then get sorted asap?

olafgarten · September 2017

Teetonetal said:

ICBM said:

nickp said:

so is it easy to change fuses and valves - if so I'll get some spares (s) as long as I now how to find out what's ferked

You need to remove the back panel of the amp, pull the power valves (it's almost always a power valve that dies), fit new ones, and change whatever fuse has blown - usually the HT. If you're not confident about it I would allow 5 mins. If it's a preamp valve it might take a bit longer since you really need to replace one at a time, unless you want to carry a full set. They don't blow fuses though.

If you don't normally mic up and would prefer a backup to use with your cab, an ID100 head would probably be a good match for the S1. You can pick them up for £250-£300 second hand quite easily.

@ICBM out of interest, if you have to replace a power amp mid gig, I doubt it's going to be biased. Any issues with that, or ist it a case of short term fix then get sorted asap?

A lot of amps will be Cathode Biased and so they won't need to biased.

For fixed bias amps, as long as it's the same type of tube and preferably the same brand you should be able to get by without biasing. Worst case is that if it's set too hot the valve won't last as long and if it's set too cold then the amp will have less drive.

ICBM · September 2017

To get through a gig it usually won't matter, even if the bias is not ideal. It's unlikely to be so hot or cold that it would cause any major trouble, assuming it was set right before.

I forgot to mention to take a cloth or a thick leather glove (I tend to wear these for load-in/out anyway, to prevent hand injuries, so I always have a pair with me), since the power valves will be easily hot enough to badly burn your fingers otherwise.

mark_jwedge · September 2017

I would definitely always have a back up. I would highly recommend one of the dv mark or quilter guitar amps. I have a dv mark 50 head. It's tiny (so small it lives in the back of my 2x12 open back combo), weighs nearly nothing and gives me a very usable and very loud clean sound that I just run my pedal board into. If my amp fails I just run it through the speakers of my combo using a little speaker extension cable. Even has a line out to go direct to PA. for some shared backline gigs I often take just that as it's so small and light and just run it through the cab of the supplied backline or direct to desk as per the sound man's preference.

They crop up second hand here from time to time. Got mine for £180 posted from the classifieds

mal1971 · September 2017

I'm used to always take a spare amp or head to a gig, but recent bought the quilter microblock. It sounds very very good and is a wee pedal sized thing. I'm now only screwed if my speaker cab blows.

ICBM · September 2017

mal1971 said:

I'm now only screwed if my speaker cab blows.

The chances of that are extremely small if the speaker(s) are rated for at least double the full power of the amp.

bbill335 · September 2017

mal1971 said:

I'm used to always take a spare amp or head to a gig, but recent bought the quilter microblock. It sounds very very good and is a wee pedal sized thing. I'm now only screwed if my speaker cab blows.

I like the look of those Quilter's but I might build one of the fuzzdog ruby kits as a cheaper alternative.

midlifecrisis · September 2017

i always took a litle orange micro terror head ( i know not much love here) which i could plug my combo speakers into if the combo failed, loud enough for pub gigs unmicced. these days i just have my zoom g3 on hand which can go direct to PA if needed.

57Deluxe · September 2017

Danny1969 said:

These days with PA's and a mic you can get away with using some pretty small stuff. I use this little Fender Champion 110 for backup but also for a lot of gigs in it's own right. Here it is on the stage at Portsmouth Guildhall ...... looks stupidly small but it's fine once mic'ed up

...so how does your Hotel California with the Double Neck sound through that now then??

ESBlonde · September 2017

I use valve amps to gig. If the gig is critical but small and we only have the singers vocal type PA then I take my 20w practice amp as a backup. If I've taken my trailer and Grown up PA then I have the DI (emulated output of the blackstar HTdrive) and monitors option, so tend not to despite having lots more carrying space! the DI option is always available with the small vocal PA, but without monitoring is much harder to play.

siraxeman · September 2017

I often use 2 amps at the same time so if one goes down I'm still going without missing a beat. However about 2yrs ago I decided to leave my AC30 in the boot and just use the Marshall....and well never before (or since) had any problems....this night 3rd song in just doing the 2nd chorus of Cant Get Enough Of Your Love just starting to think about the upcoming solo and silence! We was a 5 piece back then and as the other guitarist knew the solo the band carried on while I fiddled with my amp for a minute before giving up and getting my AC30 out of the car.

Like others have said nowdays lots of multi FX do decent DI sounds so that is an easy backup plan. I remember a few years ago in another band that never got out of the rehearsal room to gigging......the girl singers BF joined us (therein was the beginning of the end) but he just plugged his mex Strat direct to the PA via my Bad Monkey OD pedal (which has a speaker sim built into one of its outputs) and I was shocked how good it sounded in the band mix overall!

bloodandtears · September 2017

Pod v2.. or HD500x.. that'll see you through...

thomasw88 · September 2017

been through a whole bunch of options, best by miles is quilter pro block.

I quite often gig with it as its that good, takes pedals beautifully, works great with single coils/buckers etc, has an fx loop, reverb and has di out as well. they're not cheap but if you look at is as a 2nd giggable amp rather than a backup it makes much more sense. I've put my acoustic guitar, and bass guitar through it as well and it sounds great, and I'm currently using it with a synth as well!

Nerine · September 2017

I've been gigging for about 23 years. I've never had an amp fail on me at a gig.
I guess I've been lucky. Either that or I keep them well maintained and look after them.

not_the_dj · September 2017

I had an output transformer blow during a soundcheck in a pub once (egnater tweaker 40). My back-up, the fabulous little Orange Micro Terror did the gig....we had a great night, got a repeat booking from the pub and a party gig out of it.

So don't be convinced by people that tell you they're the worse sounding amp on the market ;-)