What are your performance rigs?

[zionstrat]

Changed up some of my gear recently and interested in hearing what you're using.. and yes this is a discussion of pedals and amps combined..

1. My favorite rig is also my lightest.. I don't know if the photo comes through but it's simply a Black Star HT going into a Sidekick.. the black star gives me an actual tube going from bypass to warm crunch and up to metal.

The Sidekick is a delay, chorus with excited reverbs in a tight little easily controlled unit. It's great to have at the end of the chain because it has ground lifting, speaker emulation and an XLR out to run straight into the house.

So whenever I can get away with it, that's my rig and I often take along my little Spider and set it flat on the floor in case the monitoring environment gets iffy and it's ridiculously simple backup.

2. Another light rig is my boss GT-10. As you'd imagine, the effects and tones are wonderful, and frankly in the mix you can't tell that it's not tube but I remain slightly biased

However the reason I'm writing, is I'm having to substitute it into one of my regular gigs where it turns out that the house noise is simply ridiculous. I'm pretty sure they've got something screwed up on their mains but regardless of why, my light rig doesn't need noise rejection but this venue has to have it... so it's nice to have a very full-blown noise gate with the GT-10.

However the other reason I'm writing is, I have to admit that there are some true advantages when I drop back to digital. I have a CV voltage pedal to control overall volume and dedicate the onboard volume pedal to shift between completely clean and fully crunched tones. It is amazing how many great sounds fall in between.

And of course the other advantage is the volume pedal is after the gain stages so you can take whatever sound you running with and literally just turn it up and down without changing anything.

3. Fender mustang 40.. this one goes out a lot primarily as a backup and I've got three broad patches immediately next to each other so that I can pedal and easily switch between them. Again it's modeling but with all the FX you could ever imagine and, in the mix, nobody knows...

4. Peavy 4*10 classic 50.. of course this is actually my favorite rig, especially if I combine it with, rig number one, but it only comes out in big big venues or it's absolutely perfect for outdoors. In itself, it's got gorgeous cleans mid and heavy crunches and the verbs good too. But it's a heck of a lot of work

And yes the Splawn and Music Man are my actual favorites but they don't leave the studio

So that's everything I use from light to heavy.. what are you guys do? Always interested in learning!

 

[Securb]

My JCM 2000 and AC30 side by side, we don't gig a lot so I don't worry about portability. I use a stripped down version of this for the studio

 

[Seashore]

For bass I use a parallel-processing pedalboard setup into both channels of my old Traynor YGL 3A mk 3, and have a 2x10 and a 2x12 cab going. Mostly going for a mid heavy distorted sound with a good amount of top end (really just high mids that sit under the guitar attack). One channel is fat clean and the other is gritty. It's kind of a bi-amped sound, but from one amp.

For guitar, VHT Pittbull 100CL through a 4x12. Sometimes with pedals but more frequently just a channel switcher and a noise gate. The last "real" show I played, I had to use my old Line6 Flextone head, which surprisingly held its own in that situation.

And I guess I'm done playing live, so, that was that.

 

[beaubrummels]

1. Light rig: AMT volume, Zoom MS-50G
2. Pedalboard rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, Wampler ThirtySomething for cleans, RambleFX MarvelDrive for dirt/distortion
3. Alternate rack rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, SansAmp PSA-1 into Alesis 3630 compressor
4. Amp rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, Orange AD50, Randall 1x12 w/Celestion G12H30 Anniversary
5. Full amp recording rig: Fender '59 Twin tweed reissue or VOX AC30 for cleans, Wallace BKW45, Marshall 1960BX for grit/distorted, A/B box to flip between amps

All of them do the same thing. Fender or VOX cleans, Marshall plexi distortion. The difference is just size of venue and volume levels (and accuracy of the sound).

 

[zionstrat]

My JCM 2000 and AC30 side by side, we don't gig a lot so I don't worry about portability. I use a stripped down version of this for the studio

Wow very cool rig! Are you using the pedal to shift between the vox and the Marshall for cleans and crunches?

 

[zionstrat]

For bass I use a parallel-processing pedalboard setup into both channels of my old Traynor YGL 3A mk 3, and have a 2x10 and a 2x12 cab going. Mostly going for a mid heavy distorted sound with a good amount of top end (really just high mids that sit under the guitar attack). One channel is fat clean and the other is gritty. It's kind of a bi-amped sound, but from one amp.

For guitar, VHT Pittbull 100CL through a 4x12. Sometimes with pedals but more frequently just a channel switcher and a noise gate. The last "real" show I played, I had to use my old Line6 Flextone head, which surprisingly held its own in that situation.

And I guess I'm done playing live, so, that was that.

Bingo, I love the idea of having gritty and clean mixed together on bass... I'm not playing bass live anymore or very rarely, but I love the idea of what you're doing and still do a lot of that in the studio.

And yes I don't think I'd still be gigging if I hadn't been thinning down over the years...

 

[zionstrat]

1. Light rig: AMT volume, Zoom MS-50G
2. Pedalboard rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, Wampler ThirtySomething for cleans, RambleFX MarvelDrive for dirt/distortion
3. Alternate rack rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, SansAmp PSA-1 into Alesis 3630 compressor
4. Amp rig: pedalboard with requisite delays and reverbs, Orange AD50, Randall 1x12 w/Celestion G12H30 Anniversary
5. Full amp recording rig: Fender '59 Twin tweed reissue or VOX AC30 for cleans, Wallace BKW45, Marshall 1960BX for grit/distorted, A/B box to flip between amps

All of them do the same thing. Fender or VOX cleans, Marshall plexi distortion. The difference is just size of venue and volume levels (and accuracy of the sound).

Yeah you're exactly right, with a little fussing and guitar settings, the real difference is the size of the venue.

Great list!

I'm curious considering you've got the AB box between the Vox and the Marshall, have you ever used a pedal to pan between them? Those in between tones can be incredible and make life a lot more easy for me in the studio.

 

[Seashore]

Bingo, I love the idea of having gritty and clean mixed together on bass... I'm not playing bass live anymore or very rarely, but I love the idea of what you're doing and still do a lot of that in the studio.

And yes I don't think I'd still be gigging if I hadn't been thinning down over the years...

There just aren't any opportunities around here to play the stuff I want. I miss playing out, but not enough to put all the time and effort into material I'm not particularly on board with. Thankfully I've had a decent amount of recording to keep me busy. Including a bass recording I'm getting started on, so that rig is back in my head. The basics of it are a splitter, a compressor on one side, and a distortion on the other. Then there's various EQ and effects on one channel or both. I was doing it with an Emma TransMorgrifier and an MXR Dist III for a long time, but now it's a virtual setup inside my HX Effects, and the best model I've found on bass distortion is their faulty Rat model "Vermin". And when I'm recording I mic all of that and then blend it with another fat clean sound. Bass is funny in a mix, at least in the metal mixes I work on - very small differences in settings make for big changes in how I hear something coming through.

 

[beaubrummels]

Yeah you're exactly right, with a little fussing and guitar settings, the real difference is the size of the venue.

Great list!

I'm curious considering you've got the AB box between the Vox and the Marshall, have you ever used a pedal to pan between them? Those in between tones can be incredible and make life a lot more easy for me in the studio.

I'm not sure how I would set that up. I haven't heard of a pan pedal. It might be a cool option, though I can't say I've felt a pressing need to mix like that in any of the music I've had to play.

 

[jeremy]

most of the time i use a '66 deluxe reverb with a g12h-30.
sometimes with a heavily modded musicmaster bass amp with a g12m on top when i want to use my rotosphere in its full glory, both amps always running.
i will also use a tweed princeton clone with a weber alnico 10" full up and the deluxe. deluxe stays on all the time and i switch the princeton on to add dirt.
ive been using my trainwreck express clone into a 1x12 w/ eminence maverick or 2x12 with g12h-30/v30 since i got the head cab made. its the loudest 45w amp ive ever played
the '66 pro reverb has come out a few times as well

i have other great amps but those are the rigs ive gigged with this year. the pedal board depends on the gig. if im using the trainwreck, i always go straight in. sometimes with just the deluxe as well. when using the princeton and deluxe, its always this one due to the aby

 

[zionstrat]

I'm not sure how I would set that up. I haven't heard of a pan pedal. It might be a cool option, though I can't say I've felt a pressing need to mix like that in any of the music I've had to play.

I've got this earny ball centuries ago and was completely flabbergasted when I saw the price today.. I probably paid less than half of that...

However, there are many inexpensive versions out there because it's really just a pan pot and pedal and it's really easy to set up... You just plug into an input and the pedal pans it between the outputs so the only question for me was where to put the effects...

My guess is it goes right where your AB pedal is right now.

I'm betting you'll be amazed if you give it a try.. The sounds in between a clean app and a crunch amp are amazing!

Ernie Ball 6165 500K Stereo Volume / Pan Pedal | Sweetwater https://share.google/KZ15jVyQCzMhig2fB

 

[zionstrat]

most of the time i use a '66 deluxe reverb with a g12h-30.
sometimes with a heavily modded musicmaster bass amp with a g12m on top when i want to use my rotosphere in its full glory, both amps always running.
i will also use a tweed princeton clone with a weber alnico 10" full up and the deluxe. deluxe stays on all the time and i switch the princeton on to add dirt.
ive been using my trainwreck express clone into a 1x12 w/ eminence maverick or 2x12 with g12h-30/v30 since i got the head cab made. its the loudest 45w amp ive ever played
the '66 pro reverb has come out a few times as well

i have other great amps but those are the rigs ive gigged with this year. the pedal board depends on the gig. if im using the trainwreck, i always go straight in. sometimes with just the deluxe as well. when using the princeton and deluxe, its always this one due to the aby

I've mentioned before that I absolutely love your rig! I think I would duplicate if I had someone to move everything for me

I really shouldn't complain though.. I play occasionally with a jack of all trades who literally brings 40 of or so instruments to every gig... pretty much anything you can imagine from clarinet to crunch guitar with lots percussive stuff and ridiculous amount of electronics in there.

He's a little bit older than me and literally has all of this on a nearly pallet sized road case and he stands inside of it to perform!

I am not nearly that brave.

 

[Mincer]

Currently, it is either a Fractal FX8 or Line 6 M9 into a Fender Tone Master Deluxe. It is light, quick to set up, little can go wrong, and I can go direct to the PA system.

 

[jeremy]

thanks! i have nice toys for sure. the weight is not too bad for the deluxe and small amps. the pro reverb and trainwreck with 2x12 got some weight for sure, but thats not the typical rig. ive thought about bringing those two amps to some bigger festival gigs, but it hasnt happened yet lol.

 

[zionstrat]

Currently, it is either a Fractal FX8 or Line 6 M9 into a Fender Tone Master Deluxe. It is light, quick to set up, little can go wrong, and I can go direct to the PA system.

Sounds like a great balance between tone and weight... and I've had my eye on that fractal!

 

[Securb]

Wow very cool rig! Are you using the pedal to shift between the vox and the Marshall for cleans and crunches?

No, I use them in parallel. The lows-mids go through the Marshall, and the mid-highs go through the VOX. I have a switch, but they are both switched on. The switch just works mostly as a splitter and to allow me to toggle the amps when I am dialing them in.

 

[zionstrat]

No, I use them in parallel. The lows-mids go through the Marshall, and the mid-highs go through the VOX. I have a switch, but they are both switched on. The switch just works mostly as a splitter and to allow me to toggle the amps when I am dialing them in.

Very cool..That's more like my recording rig... When I got it locked down, the lowmids are going to the Splawn and the high mids to the Music Man although I often pan them as well.

 

[JamesPaul]

No real gigging since 2022, but I was mostly using my Vypyr VIP 3 and the Sanpera II footswitch (? footboard). Mic'able or I can run it into the board. With it I would use the JSX, Triple XXX and Classic 50 models. Boxed in Red in this insurance pic.



What I always want to take, but once every 9 months or so when I did reminds my back why I don't, is my JSX 212. It has the Triple XXX Clean channel tone, a passable Classic 50 Lead channel tone on the Crunch channel and Triple XXX gain levels on the Ultra channel. A quality line out for the board as well. I do relent and use my pickup booster and a delay beyond my usual TU-2 with it. Boxed in Yellow here.

 

[zionstrat]

Ah, another Peavey head! Good to know ya!

Most of mine have moved on, but in the '70s I found them the most versatile amps, especially for getting thick and warm.

As you probably noticed in my original post, my 410 classic 50 is my only tube that gigs anymore.

Part of it is due to the fact it's built like a tank and just can't get damaged but honestly the range between clean medium and overdrive is almost as good as it gets.

I've got the 4x10 which makes it a monster to haul around so it doesn't get out all that often. But those four tens not only move a lot of air, they are also very articulate on the high end and tight on the bottom.

But you clearly have a lot more experience with Peavy than I do and I wish more people would give them a shot.

As from the beginning, my students often down play the brand until they play it and then they really want one

 

[JamesPaul]

They are just amazingly versatile amplifiers. Actually traded my Marshall in on a Heritage VTX in the mid-80's. I have owned most of them, but relied on my C50 410 heavily through the 90's. All in storage at the moment, except my VIP 3. You can stop by the Peavey Forum and see all of them in my sig link.

But yeah, my C50 410 is a keeper. You will recognize it on the top right in this pic.