Do you use the room's rig or take your own?

[xgsjx]

Occasionally I've used the room's rig, but most often I take my combo as too often I find the lump there is only good for making sounds similar to farting in a didgeridoo.

The last place I was in had a Line 6 thing with dodgy sockets, the place before that has either some old Peavey thing or a worn out Hartke (that looks like it's been good in the 80s, but needs to retire) plugged into an SWR 4x10 with the drivers removed & a 15" driver bolted to the back of the board they was on & the place we're going next looks like it has a Peavey TNT (woooohooo!!!!).

I can understand the singer & keys/turntablist using the PA that's in there &maybe even the drummer using the basics of the kit, but why would the rest of the band want to use the stuff if their own gear is better (other than lazyitis)?

My band's just formed & the drummer's just bought a new kit. The guitarist said "you're not taking the whole kit are you", to which me & the drummer replied "why not, it needs tuned up". Then he asked if I can leave my combo behind & just use the rig that's in there. My reply was "I'll ask what they have, but if it's the TNT, then No".

Maybe I should ask him to bring his rig? He hasn't so far & wasn't happy with the rig in the last room.

Fair enough we're just getting together & only had a couple of sesh's together, but isn't getting your sound right just as important as getting the song right?


So when you go to rehearsal/practice/jam, do you use what's there or do you take your own amp/cab/combo?

[icastle]

I always take my own.

I'm there to perform, not do battle with a pile of crud.

[chrismuzz]

I take my head with me everywhere my bass goes, so if there is a cabinet supplied I'll plug into that. If they only have a combo, I will just set the EQ flat and run my pedals into it and tweak as necessary. Annoyingly, the new rehearsal space has a Marshall rig that totally doesn't interact with my gear very well!

[EssentialTension]

If the gear was so bad that I'd need to take my own then I wouldn't be using that rehearsal studio.

Anyway, it's just a rehearsal, get over it.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1366398136' post='2052171']
... but isn't getting your sound right just as important as getting the song right?
[/quote]
No.

[Twigman]

Depends.....

At the moment i use what's there as I have sold my cab.
Last week it was a TNT115
Our usual room has a peavey450 head and a peavey 4x10 - I can just about cope with that but God forbid i ever get the Marshall MB410 combo -that gets swapped straight away.

Once my barefaced S12T arrives I shall go back to using my own rig (unless it's a Sunday evening and I have had the kids that weekend as I will have had to return them to their mother and kids and rigs don't fit in the car at the same time)

[Twigman]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366398856' post='2052194']
No.
[/quote]

Yes - it makes a huge difference

[BigRedX]

It depends. Since most of my sound is via the Pod it doesn't really matter what I plug in to, and it does mean that I can walk to rehearsals with my bass in it's gig bag and the Pod in it's carry case. Every so often (normally just before an important gig) I'll take my rig.

[bigjohn]

Depends if I can be arsed, which usually I can. Our rehearsal room has a perfectly good combo (Ampeg B100R) but my rig knocks spots off it

[JTUK]

I wouldn't be using any of that stuff you've listed ( I very much doubt ) and I wouldn't agree that rehearsals aren't for sound as well as anything else.
The gtr will have spent eons on his sounds and board and he wants to hear it in context...ditto the keys.

I wouldn't want to be finding out it doesn't work live LIVE.
The rest of the band will have an input into what the other guys sound like anyway...and just as they would want
endorsments on great sounds... they'll take the negatives on board as well.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1366399074' post='2052198']
Yes - it makes a huge difference
[/quote]
The question was not 'does getting your sound right make a huge difference?'. The question was ' isn't getting your sound right just as important as getting the song right?'.

Getting the song right is much more important and more time consuming than getting the sound right - which only takes a couple of minutes anyway.

[Lozz196]

The only time I`ve not taken my speakers - but still the amp head - was when my shoulder/back was playing up last year. Other than that, I bought the gear to use, an also prefer the whole band to rehearse with what will be used live, so we know the sounds all will be making. Otherwise we`ll sound different live. Admittedly sometimes, with borrowed/provided backline you have to go down this route but if own gear available, use it.

[Twigman]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366399746' post='2052212']
getting the sound right - which only takes a couple of minutes anyway.
[/quote]

Really?

With the wrong gear it can take for ever

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366398817' post='2052193']
If the gear was so bad that I'd need to take my own then I wouldn't be using that rehearsal studio.

Anyway, it's just a rehearsal, get over it.
[/quote]
I agree and I like tnts anyway

[lonestar]

Our room has a nice ampeg ba115 and is up a flight of stairs so a no brainer for me; just tak a bass gig bag and snacks

[lonestar]

And the other band that i play with have a peavey tnt which is also fine

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1366400182' post='2052223']
Really?

With the wrong gear it can take for ever
[/quote]
Well don't waste time on it then. Get on with playing the song. Though I can't say I've ever had the experience of it taking for ever, I tend to plug and play.

[xgsjx]

I would have thought that if the guitarist has a rig sitting at home, uses whatever is provided in rehearsal & then fetches out his own rig for a gig & the guitar sounds completely different through it, then where's the logic?

I've seen bands that could play, but sounded guff as they hadn't spent any time with the gear that they used at the gig (one was actually quite a good blues band).

My band isn't a rock band, more down the lines of acid jazz & I think having a good sound to the groove will get folk dancing more than playing with a poor sound.

[JTUK]

Or..... if you sound sh*te, you are sh*te

[Lynottfan]

Always take my own, I got EBS gear nuff said.

[Stan_da_man]

It's a band practice, not a gig - I'll use whatever POS they have in the room.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1366401579' post='2052266']
I would have thought that if the guitarist has a rig sitting at home, uses whatever is provided in rehearsal & then fetches out his own rig for a gig & the guitar sounds completely different through it, then where's the logic?
[/quote]
It would drive me nuts if a guitarist, or the bassist or whoever, was all prima donna and moaning 'I can't get my sound'. I'd be right pissed off having my time wasted.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1366401579' post='2052266']
My band isn't a rock band ...
[/quote]
No, nor mine.

[JapanAxe]

My own kit - TC head in laptop bag over shoulder, BF Midget in one hand, bass in the other = one trip from the car.

[tonyquipment]

Sometimes but mostly I would take my own gear... You know where you stand with that!

[xgsjx]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1366409202' post='2052397']
It would drive me nuts if a guitarist, or the bassist or whoever, was all prima donna and moaning 'I can't get my sound'. I'd be right pissed off having my time wasted.
[/quote]

Fully agree there. I don't mind using the room's rig if it's reasonable, but if you're going to somewhere you haven't been before, wouldn't you have something in the car, just in case?

I get my sound with my bass & my pedals. But if I plugged into something like the Line 6 they had at the last room we were in, I wouldn't hold any hope of getting a 1/2 decent sound & having dodgy jacks on gear that's probably been abused by every teenager that's went in there wouldn't help either.