Going on tour. Tiny car. Need good, clean stage volume. Advise me please!

JamesSGBrown

Hi everyone! My band is going on tour and I can not fit my 4x10 Traynor and 1x12 MM combo in the car. We will lose a shit ton of money if we hire a van. I have a Vox Pathfinder 15r which sounds pretty good- not loud, clean or sweet enough but it'll suffice. However, we are a power trio and I rely heavily on high stage volume, headroom with pedals and feedback manipulation. I am considering getting a smaller, 15w valve amp to pair with the Pathfinder but I wonder- will there be enough air pushed between a 1x10 and 1x8 speaker?
Here's my other considerations:


- Pathfinder + ZT Lunchbox, Quilter Interblock 45 or Two Notes Le Clean into neo 1x12 cab
-Just one louder, small 1x12 combo
- Pathfinder only as a stage monitor, with Two Notes Le Clean on pedalboard going to FOH via cab sim (could fit in another 1x10 ampm so would be 3 signals)
- Pathfinder only into ext. 1 x12 cab (seems more sense to run two amps independently)

I know the audience couldn't care less but my sound is heavily reliant on pedal dynamics and as this is a headline tour I don't want to compromise too much!

ESBlonde

Default answer is probably a used HRD. 40w 1x12 and clean-punch for days.

Buy used £300-375 sell afetr the tour for not much loss.

JamesSGBrown

ESBlonde said:

Default answer is probably a used HRD. 40w 1x12 and clean-punch for days.

Buy used £300-375 sell afetr the tour for not much loss.

Annoyingly I can fit 2 of these pathfinders in the car laying down. I think a HRD is deeper and wider than two put together- which is why the other tube amps i'm looking at are equally small (laney vc15, groove tubes single soul-o). 

ICBM

Crate G160XL. There is no smaller, louder amp - 160W and an EVM speaker in a box not much bigger than the speaker. Absolutely astonishing volume for something that small.

stickyfiddle

I'd rather mic my amp(s) than go on tour with something brand new.  In fact, I'd rather mic my amps than not in any situation, tbh. 

Also, are you packing the car efficiently? We used to get a stage piano, 3 guitars in hardcases, a big pedalboard in hardcase, a Laney VC15, a Vox Valvetronix-something 1x12, a snare, kick pedal, a cymbal case, and couple of kit bags full of cables & stands plus 2x 6-foot-something blokes in a Polo... 

And with that in mind, a Laney VC15 is a great 15-watter that sounds very good for such a small amp. But I'd still mic it - nothing that wattage will give you much headroom if you have anything but the very politest drummer

randella

ICBM said:

Crate G160XL. There is no smaller, louder amp - 160W and an EVM speaker in a box not much bigger than the speaker. Absolutely astonishing volume for something that small.

I can attest to this - I had one of these as a teenager (I'm now *cough* considerably older).  It really was loud, and clean with it.  The amp died after years of service and more years sitting idle in a utility room at my parents'.  In fact @ICBM helped me diagnose the problem as I recall, (possible) power transistor drivers in the end.

It took an almighty amount of abuse until it did die.  I still have the ply cab and speaker, and gig them regularly more than quarter of a century later.

DartmoorHedgehog

A different approach might be to get a bigger car rather than smaller kit.  If you buy an estate or something, use it for the tour then sell it, it could end up costing very little as long as you're not putting epic mileage on it.  Obviously there's the hassle of buying and selling the car, but financially it's way cheaper than hiring.

Doesn't have to be anything expensive - boring but useful 10-year-old estates can be had in decent nick for not a lot, and it will still be worth the same when you sell it on.

JamesSGBrown

stickyfiddle said:

I'd rather mic my amp(s) than go on tour with something brand new.  In fact, I'd rather mic my amps than not in any situation, tbh. 

Also, are you packing the car efficiently? We used to get a stage piano, 3 guitars in hardcases, a big pedalboard in hardcase, a Laney VC15, a Vox Valvetronix-something 1x12, a snare, kick pedal, a cymbal case, and couple of kit bags full of cables & stands plus 2x 6-foot-something blokes in a Polo... 

And with that in mind, a Laney VC15 is a great 15-watter that sounds very good for such a small amp. But I'd still mic it - nothing that wattage will give you much headroom if you have anything but the very politest drummer

Definately going to see if we can pack any more efficiently before making any silly decisions. But I hiiiiighly doubt my 4x10 Traynor will fit with a full drum kit w/ shells & stands, 3 guitars, 1 pedalboard, 3 blokes. But maybe.
I'm thinking a more powerful 1x12 is my best bet here.

JamesSGBrown

DartmoorHedgehog said:

A different approach might be to get a bigger car rather than smaller kit.  If you buy an estate or something, use it for the tour then sell it, it could end up costing very little as long as you're not putting epic mileage on it.  Obviously there's the hassle of buying and selling the car, but financially it's way cheaper than hiring.

Doesn't have to be anything expensive - boring but useful 10-year-old estates can be had in decent nick for not a lot, and it will still be worth the same when you sell it on.

I say 'tour', really it's a few sporadic dates over about 8 weeks. We just need to not lose money, basically. I'm putting on a few of the shows myself, and we most likely will lose money on those, so other costs need to be nil aside from petrol. 

menamestom

JamesSGBrown said:

I'm thinking a more powerful 1x12 is my best bet here.

Musicman 1x12, Fender super 60 or a small Boogie could be had reasonable cheap and give some big 1x12 headroom.

ICBM

menamestom said:

Musicman 1x12, Fender super 60 or a small Boogie could be had reasonable cheap and give some big 1x12 headroom.

The Mark Series Boogies are a good call if you want valves - not quite as small as the Crate, and about twice the weight, but the original 100W Mark Is and IIs are probably the loudest 1x12" combo ever made, they have huge clean headroom and take pedals really well, even if (like me) you're a heretic and don't like the Boogie overdrive sound. The only problem is that they're extremely directional, and at that volume it really is a 'beam of death' if you end up pointing it at anyone.

monquixote

Jet City head and a compact 1X12

hywelg

We've heard a lot about your gear but bugger all about your car. Is it a Smart? Is it a VW Sharan? Big difference.

p90fool

I doubt you'd get even the drums in a Shart, let alone the whole band.

Hopefully it's one of these;

http://i63.tinypic.com/287glg3.jpg

munckee

Cheapest option would be moped for the drummer. 

John_A

Trailer or roof box ?

JamesSGBrown

hywelg said:

We've heard a lot about your gear but bugger all about your car. Is it a Smart? Is it a VW Sharan? Big difference.

Some 5 door Alfa Romero. Drummers car. I know bigger all about cars

ICBM

JamesSGBrown said:

Some 5 door Alfa Romero. Drummers car. I know bigger all about cars

You’re going to tour for 8 weeks in an Alfa?! Do you have full AA/RAC cover including supplying a suitable replacement vehicle? If not then fitting all the gear in it may be the least of your worries...

MrBump

My Egnater Tweaker 40 is in the classifieds - 2 channels, but the clean one has masses of headroom.  Easy to carry, loads of switches to customise your sound too.

Musicwolf

It was described as a 'few sporadic dates over an eight week period'.

I can appreciate that you don't want to hire a van as there isn't much money in this venture (isn't that the problem for us all?) but, for the same reason, I would try to avoid purchasing any kit especially for the occasion (although it's always a lot easier to self-justify the need for a new amp).  How far away are these gigs?  Any possibility to use two cars?

Travelling together is a blast.  I still have very happy memories from travelling down to London (about 150 miles) all together in a Transit van to play a gig to about 5 people.

p90fool

How badly paid are the gigs if using two cars are a deal breaker?