Live rig: amp vs digital

Your live rig

  • Tube amp

  • Digital rig, but I have a great amp at home

  • Digital, but I don't play analog

  • Not gigging atm

Results are only viewable after voting.
Zado

Zado

Well-known member
There are no doubts this is the guitar forum I'm a member of where people have the most badass (and pricey) amps around, so this got me curious: when going out for a gig do you keep the jewels at home and bring the comfy digital, or you go straight with the heavy beast?

bonus pic
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Heavy beast set ups is a young mans game. Carrying a 200lb rack and multiple cabs to gigs or jam sessions sucks absolute donkey balls. I also used to bring out some really pricey amps, but does anyone else get extremely paranoid about it? I had insurance policies out on all my amps, but if a IIC+ got knocked off a cab or someone swiped it would I really get paid out all that money? I'll just bring a small pedalboard now with a modeler. The thought of smaller and smaller boards excite me.


Rack1.jpg
 
im not gigging at the moment, but these are all things i would now consider:

how is the area we are playing?
what is the parking situation?
is it easy load in meaning no stairs??
Is it a big show like an album release or are we opening for others??

depending on the situation i may be bringing three full stacks or my backpack with a couple pedals lol
 
This would be gig dependent for me, if I was actually gigging these days! I will say this though, after seeing many bands set up on Friday and Saturday nights at some larger venue local watering holes, the digital load in and out is a breeze compared to my 3 guitar, 4X12, pedal board, and 2 amp heads (1 for backup) setup that I was running.
 
I usually always take a 4x12 and a 50 or 100 watt Marshall because I still can. We are fortunate enough to be playing big stages where it’s not much of an issue. I will take smaller gear to the rooms that don’t have the real estate on stage and/or capacity for larger crowds.
 
Honestly, at death metal shows, i dont know the difference between a kemper and a 5150 when i am in the crowd unless i watch them set up. (Going to front of house, of course)
 
Both. I use a digital rig for my boomer classic rock cover band that plays wineries that have strict volume restrictions.

Then I have a tube rig for playing in my punk band.

When I've played bigger venues (and have people to help carry stuff) I go bigger with the tube rig - you only live once, right? Might as well do wet dry or stereo.

There's no question to me that tube rigs sound better for any live application, in any legitimate rock or metal setting. Digital rigs with power amps can sound good, certainly, but they have never sounded "holy shit" good.

(In before digital partisans tell me I didn't do x or I need to download patch y, or my power amp is wrong, blah blah blah excuses that are thinly veiled accusations of not being able to dial in a tone)

When you start hearing the keening lamentations of Karen's that the guitar is too loud during "la grange," that's where digital rigs are the answer. And they do that phenomenally well. They also can cover an exceptional amount of ground - for my cover band, I would need a pedalboard the size of mount Olympus and at least two tube amps, and THEN I would need to try to control my volume somehow after carrying a ridiculous amount of gear around.
 
I still play my tube amp at most gigs, but have started in the last couple years using my FM3 for tours on the road and short one off shows where we might just have a 25 minute set and need to set-up/tear down very fast. I do agree with fek that it's tempting when I see (and experience) how much of a breeze it is to load in and out with just the FM3 floorboard. That said, I think my biggest issue with using the FM3 is not that it is digital, but rather that I don't find going direct very pleasant. I really prefer playing through a cab. I think even if I end up using the the FM3 for more and more gigs, I'll still continue to use my tube rig for local/nearby shows and livestreams out of our practice space. I just find my tube rig more fun and inspiring.
 
Played for 20 years carrying 150 pound racks and multiple cabs wanting to get the perfect sound that the crowd never gave a shit about, about 2 years ago I decided to try out the fractal stuff telling myself that if it's 80% as good nobody would ever know anyways. Won't look back, the sound may not be as good but with the simple load in and set up and not having to worry about thousands of dollars in amps, I'll deal with the small sound differences. I miss having a nice amp at home but the fractal will be the only live rig I use from now on.
 
I'm gigging and rehearsing regularly. Like everyone else, I used to slug cabs and heads and large pedalboards. I now leave that at home. I switched to the FM9T2 and use my FM3T as my backup. No issues thus far and everything sounds great and super easy to use.
 
I do both. I use my tube rig (EVH 5150 III Stealth) with my original band and use my Kemper with my Bush tribute band. I could use the Kemper for both, but I still love to feel my pants blowing in the wind...lol! I'm direct to front of house either way- as I use a Captor X with my tube rig.
 
Tube amp for me. Used to be a big stereo rig plus a JC-120 for clean…then just a head and 4-12. 2 4-12’s for bigger rooms. Now it is one or two 2-12’s and a head.

Last practice it was a Blackface Fender Princeton and some pedals. Shocked it was actually loud enough.

Digital is convenient, but just sucks imo.
 
I've gigged with multiple setups over the years. Right now I'm doing my Orange solid state combo but might move to an FM3 and the Fender FR-12. I just don't want to take my tube head and bring a backup in case of an issue but I dig many tones.
 
Tubes are king. I was out of the playing game for roughly 25 years until I started playing out again; so I have not gotten tired of hauling shit around, YET. Sure it’s a pain but I don’t play out enough to worry that every few weeks is a bother. I have streamlined my rig now and the biggest issue is my cabs. And I always bring a second amp JIC.
 
Right now have a tube head (Splawn Nitro) with an FX8 for channel switching, boost, effects. Take either a 412 or 212 to gigs depending on the stage size.

Looking to down size the tube head to maybe a BluGuitars Amp1 Mercury.

Cheers
 
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