What three pieces of gear have made your gigging life better?

[Teak]

My home built 200 W inverter for playing where there's no AC power. My Redeye preamp when I use the house sound system. My Carvin AG300 when I don't.

Another thread derailment. Sorry.

Mandobart, what do you do for the inverter? Do you carry a car battery with, or do you park in close and use the cigarette lighter jack to connect the inverter to the car battery? Also, how long (hours) will a car battery power that Carvin? I am considering the Carvin AG200 for just voice, mandolin, and keyboard. No need for bass.

Back on track now. Thanks!

[Mandobart]

Mandobart, what do you do for the inverter? Do you carry a car battery with, or do you park in close and use the cigarette lighter jack to connect the inverter to the car battery? Also, how long (hours) will a car battery power that Carvin? I am considering the Carvin AG200 for just voice, mandolin, and keyboard. No need for bass.

Back on track now. Thanks!

Hi Teak. I have a Cotek 200 W pure sine wave inverter, powered by a 12 VDC 35 amp-hr deep cycle battery I got from Harbor Freight, in a home-made frame.

You can read all the details and discussion at this cafe thread. It weighs about 30 lbs and will power my Carvin AG300 for about 7 hours on a fully charged battery.





I've added a powerstrip since I took these pics for powering pedals, fan, etc. I would recommend a marine or RV deep cycle battery over a standard car battery. Automotive batteries are designed for being continuously charged in use - not deeply discharged like boats and RV's. You'll quickly kill an automotive battery if you routinely discharge it.

[Dave Hanson]

Why do I get the impression that everyone who posts here is a professional musician except me ? [ and maybe I or 2 more ]

Dave H

[keithb]

Why do I get the impression that everyone who posts here is a professional musician except me ? [ and maybe I or 2 more ]

Dave H

I'm certainly not a "professional" if you mean someone whose only source of income is music. That said, for me a big part of the fun is playing for strangers!

Interesting to see so many people using individual amps, but no mention of the Fishman Loudbox, which I thought was pretty popular.

[Mark Seale]

Why do I get the impression that everyone who posts here is a professional musician except me ? [ and maybe I or 2 more ]

Dave H

#3 for me should actually read "a flexible 8-5 job" - bills get paid, and I get to choose what gigs I take.

[Shelagh Moore]

Not gear per se but:

1. Not having to work with musician X
2. Not having to work with singer Y
3. Not having to work with soundman Z

[McIrish]

I just got back from our last tour of the year and I play a lot of different instruments during a show, so here are my picks (not including great instruments):
1) Zoom A3 (to individually EQ and model for each instrument/pickup I have)
2) QSC K12 speakers (great sound and not too massive)
3) Clip on tuners (Snark in my case - no need to be plugged in to tune the 7 instruments before the show)

I am interested in which digital mixer everyone is going with. I think that will be my next purchase before we hit the road again. We've used them in venues that supply them with the house but we don't own one yet.

[9lbShellhamer]

Trying to figure out my 3 that helped with gigs...

1. Google Drive. This is the most important item to me on the list that hasn't been mentioned. I use google drive to create set-lists and my bandmates and I then collaborate, add, delete, etc. You can organize the sets at the touch at the the of a button. I really like that it's spreadsheet format so I can arrange the data in multiple formats. It's so efficient and fast.

2. Hmmnn... Having a dedicated instrument mic is nice so I don't have to share with the banjo anymore.

3. Having our own mixer that wasn't borrowed. We need a dedicated sound guy too, but it's very helpful to finally have our own nice and new equipment. Our singers old PA was terrible and now we're getting dialed in and all learning how to use the mixer. It's getting a little better.

[keithb]

I just got back from our last tour of the year and I play a lot of different instruments during a show, so here are my picks (not including great instruments):
1) Zoom A3 (to individually EQ and model for each instrument/pickup I have)
2) QSC K12 speakers (great sound and not too massive)
3) Clip on tuners (Snark in my case - no need to be plugged in to tune the 7 instruments before the show)

I am interested in which digital mixer everyone is going with. I think that will be my next purchase before we hit the road again. We've used them in venues that supply them with the house but we don't own one yet.

How do you switch between those instruments? Plug and unplug?

[JeffD]

Why do I get the impression that everyone who posts here is a professional musician except me ? [ and maybe I or 2 more ]

Fear not, you are not alone.

Gigging is just one way of participating in the musical life. And not my favorite, at that.

I would much rather play with people than play for people.

I do think gigging is worth doing. For me anyway. The main benefit I get from the occasional gig is that I get to work hard on some piece of music and get it a level I never would consider but for the performance looming ahead. Its like a gun to my head to practice. But to me, the performance itself (playing for and catering to the uninformed tastes of strangers who may or may not be able to identify which instrument is the mandolin) takes all the fun out of it.

[9lbShellhamer]

I'm definitely the 1 or 2 you're mentioning. Ha. Not pro by any means.

Seriously, we only do paid gigs about once monthly, and we turn down more than that because they're gigs we don't really want.

There are better local bluegrass bands here in Louisville and we're not near there caliber YET but we're all working hard to get there eventually and we have a game plan to get where we want to go. For now, we take gigs that suit our ability level and are appropriate for us. We also do some pro-bono gigs when people ask because they're fun and low pressure.

[McIrish]

How do you switch between those instruments? Plug and unplug?

Hey Keith,
Yep, I unplug and hang the right angle plug of my chord over the boom stand in front of me that I use for vocals. (this, after hitting the tuner button so the sound is muted). Then I grab the next instrument and plug in. Last step is to keep pressing the A3 pedal till the right patch comes up for the instrument I'm on. I used to have a huge pedalboard with multiple preamps, EQs and ABC switchers. This is much more manageable. The whole board is:
1) A3
2) EQ pedal set to boost my level for solos and cut some high end
3) Tuner pedal (the tuner on the A3 is worthless on some of the instruments)
4) I split the signal with one going to a Loudbox amp and the other feeding an overdrive pedal (like an OCD) for a little dirt on dobro solos. That then feeds the second channel of the Loudbox or to a Fender Deluxe reverb on larger shows.

It works for me. I'd love a better user interface and possibly MIDI in on the A3 so I could use a pedal board to select the patches instead of having to step on a button 5-6 times to get to the right patch, but this still works. I know it seems kind of stupid and overkill but I end up writing songs on specific instruments and I really want my band to sound as close to the albums as possible, thus the need for a more complex rig. I'm often jealous of my violin player who travels with one instrument case and a small amp, while I'm dragging around two guitars, a dobro, an Irish bouzouki, a mandolin, a mandola, a banjo and at least one amp. Tuning is a nightmare. :-)

I guess I would be considered a semi-pro at this point. We don't make enough to completely leave our day jobs but the vast majority of time is spent recording or traveling with the band. There isn't much of a music business anymore but we keep on keepin on.

[keithb]

Hey Keith,
Yep, I unplug and hang the right angle plug of my chord over the boom stand in front of me that I use for vocals. (this, after hitting the tuner button so the sound is muted). Then I grab the next instrument and plug in. Last step is to keep pressing the A3 pedal till the right patch comes up for the instrument I'm on. I used to have a huge pedalboard with multiple preamps, EQs and ABC switchers. This is much more manageable. The whole board is:
1) A3
2) EQ pedal set to boost my level for solos and cut some high end
3) Tuner pedal (the tuner on the A3 is worthless on some of the instruments)
4) I split the signal with one going to a Loudbox amp and the other feeding an overdrive pedal (like an OCD) for a little dirt on dobro solos. That then feeds the second channel of the Loudbox or to a Fender Deluxe reverb on larger shows.

Nice and simple. I've been switching between mandolin, resonator guitar and OM recently, and I don't have a good way to DI all three. Micing isn't easy, either, since the guitar is so much louder than the OM. I've been thinking about running the mandolin and OM into my Red-Eye twin, and using a mic for the resonator and solos on the other two, but I'm going to take a hard look at the A3 now.

[Lou Scuderi]

The first thing that comes to mind is a bluetooth page turner for my ipad. I can't even begin to express how frustrating it was trying to turn pages by hand while in the middle of a set

The next best thing I have is a double mic stand which I can put both my vocal and instrument mic on, as well as clip my ipad to. I got an extra boom arm for even more flexibility.

The third is a versatile gig bag. The one I use is actually a fishing gear bag, and has held up well over the years. It's exactly the right size for my gig stuff (not counting mic stands and larger gear) and makes gig prep easy: just grab it up and toss it in the car.

[Mandobart]

How do you switch between those instruments? Plug and unplug?

I run through an A-B-C pedal then through a tuner pedal before going to my amp. If I'm going to a house PA it's ABC to Redeye with tuner in Redeye loop then on to PA. This allows me to mute with the tuner when I switch instruments as the ABC gives an audible pop otherwise. I can have three instruments plugged in and ready to go.

[kjbllc]

i also use the a3 and loudbox, a nice combo for fiddle and electric mado, the ipad has made organization with two or three different groups ( solo, and two duos) a whole lot easier for set lists etc.

[farmerjones]

I gig in a bunch of different configurations from solo to six piece band. I read a bunch of those "rig rundown" articles and learned a bunch, but mostly keep it simple. I used to play fiddle through a mike, but found a good pickup called a Cherub. Run it through a TubeAmp pre amp to a 30w amp on a stand. Stands are great for not only get the sound off the floor, but to get the knobs within sight. One more vote for one's own mike and mike stand. If I'm solo, I play guitar or piano and sing so vocals are runs into a Roland micro-cube. Acoustic guitar gets a Cherub pickup clicked on, and ran through the same pre-amp. I used to think two mikes, one for the instrument, one for the vocals was the answer. If you can find a pickup you like, that sounds good, there's no fighting as much feedback. That made me a believer.

Did I hear anybody mentioned wireless in-ear monitors?

[Teak]

Hi Teak. I have a Cotek 200 W pure sine wave inverter, powered by a 12 VDC 35 amp-hr deep cycle battery I got from Harbor Freight, in a home-made frame.

It weighs about 30 lbs and will power my Carvin AG300 for about 7 hours on a fully charged battery.

Thanks again for the advice Mandobart! I read this back in October but hadn't gotten to commenting on it until now.

Several months back I went with your advice on the Carvins and bought an AG200 for a good price. (The price drop made it seem like they were going to discontinue that line.) I play mandolin or mandola and sing so didn't need the larger speaker for a keyboard or bass. The two players that I gig out with (keyboard, electronic drums) provide their own amps. The AG200 is perfect for me; I use a Sennheiser vocal mic in one input and a Sennheiser e614 with the mandolin or mandola. Both sound good through the AG200 and allows me to control things rather than depending upon the house system which is usually unmanned (or unwomanned).

My follow on question is about providing my own percussion when playing alone. There is a SEND/RECEIVE loop function on the AG200 and I would like to use my Boss RC-20XL loop station with it. The Boss has two input jacks (MIC, INST) and one output. I have used it with electric guitar IN and OUT to an amplifier but I was wondering if it could be used with the AG200. The Boss has tap tempo that I could use at low volume to set the beat for my solo mandolin and voice.

What is your experience with using external loop pedals on your Carvin AG300?

[Br1ck]

I have a looper and a AG 300. The send/return works fine, but I don't like two more cables running to the amp, so I just go inline between instrument and the input. Not good enough with the looper to use it live.....yet.

[varmonter]

1: Grace design Felix 2 channel pre.i play guitar and
Mandolin in the band.
2: line 6 gt50 wireless for all instruments.i also run sound in the band.helps me if i can hear what it sounds like from the back of the room.
3: ipad and onsong app..and mikestand adaptor for
Ipad...helps keep stuff organized and makes learning new songs easier for me..

[lukmanohnz]

I would much rather play with people than play for people.

This is me. I gigged extensively in college and then again years later as part of an acoustic duo. But I got tired of being the lugger of most of the gear, inattentive and rude audience members, and, curiously, increasingly intense stage fright. (Would have thought it would mellow with time but it just got worse.) When I did gig, I found the following of great help:
1) Shure Beta 87A - very unidirectional, extremely high fidelity vocal mic (I still use it often to record vocals)
2) Mackie VLZ1402 mixer (built like a tank, quiet, reliable - I think there are better options these days)
3) High quality mic, guitar and speaker cables - I got so tired of noisy or intermittent signal drops. There is no substitute for good quality connections.

[Bob Visentin]

When I gig I play bass guitar and going wireless was a big change. Not being on a leash and worrying about crossing wires or coming unplugged when I step up to a mic (I don't sing much) is surprisingly liberating to me. Also it allows me to step of the stage and do my own sound check for tone and volume. Big change.
Something else I have been doing for a long time is putting up my own wall hanger in clubs where I play regularly. It keeps my bass safe and I don't have to pack a stand.
The third thing is a built in tuner I installed on my bass. Pull the knob up and the tuner turns on and the sound is muted. The 9V battery lasts for over 2 years!

[Teak]

I have a looper and a AG 300. The send/return works fine, but I don't like two more cables running to the amp, so I just go inline between instrument and the input. Not good enough with the looper to use it live.....yet.

Thanks for the reply. I tried this last night with my Boss 20-XL and it worked. However, I have to figure out how to get the tap tempo working. The built-in rhythms are all funk or heavy metal so won't work with my Irish and swing tunes.

The alternative would be to buy a stomp box that goes into the AG200 but that would entail me doing three things at once. It takes time and practice to become a one-man band!

[Pete Martin]

1) good instruments
2) good mics
3) good amps

Have several of each, and each has a specific job nothing else does as well. It took a lot of trial and error over a lot of years, but I now have what I want for my sound.

[Mandobart]

Thanks again for the advice Mandobart! I read this back in October but hadn't gotten to commenting on it until now.

Several months back I went with your advice on the Carvins and bought an AG200 for a good price.... The AG200 is perfect for me; I use a Sennheiser vocal mic in one input and a Sennheiser e614 with the mandolin or mandola. Both sound good through the AG200 and allows me to control things rather than depending upon the house system which is usually unmanned (or unwomanned).

My follow on question is about providing my own percussion when playing alone. There is a SEND/RECEIVE loop function on the AG200 and I would like to use my Boss RC-20XL loop station with it. The Boss has two input jacks (MIC, INST) and one output. I have used it with electric guitar IN and OUT to an amplifier but I was wondering if it could be used with the AG200. The Boss has tap tempo that I could use at low volume to set the beat for my solo mandolin and voice.

What is your experience with using external loop pedals on your Carvin AG300?

I have an old Boss RC-2 looper (gift from a friend). I have not mastered using it yet. I plan to lay down rhythm with guitar or mandocello while singing, then play mandolin or fiddle leads while the rhythm loop is playing. I've tried the RC-2 thru the Carvin's SEND/RETURN jacks and also the RedEye effects loop. It works better in the RedEye effects loop then the AG300 send/return because anything plugged into the amp (instrument and mic channels) get "looped." Since I only want to loop the instrument I use the RedEye instead.