The Weight

[Happy Jack]

For reasons I won't bore you with, I needed to weigh a couple of band items this evening.

Seeing as I'd carted the bathroom scales down to the studio, I thought I'd weigh a few more things.

Stone me.

Well knock me down with a feather.

For a typical gig, I'm likely to be carrying 53Kg (117 lbs) of bass-related gear, not including the basses themselves.

I'm also the keeper of the PA.

For a typical gig, I'm likely to be carrying 112Kg (246 lbs) of PA-related gear, not including the singers themselves.

Ah yes, you're thinking, but I bet he could cut down on that.

Damned right I could.

If I strip the load down to essentials, I can reduce the bass-related load to a mere 34Kg (75 lbs), and the PA down - maybe - to just 86Kg (189 lbs) though this means abandoning all foldback.

So a full load, before adding basses and people, comes in somewhere between 120Kg (264 lbs) and 165Kg (363 lbs).

For context, my own current sylph-like figure weighs in at 85Kg (187 lbs).

I'm routinely carting around twice my own body-weight when I'm gigging.

My point?

Not sure I have one actually ...

[Billy Apple]

That's heavy maaan!

[Phil Adams]

And I thought this was gonna be about a Band song.
Put the load back on me..........

[Clarky]

Do you actually need all that PA gear Jack? I've never played a venue yet where they didn't have some form of PA and all you need do then is bring your own uber-light neodymium rig plus bass and a DI box. It might not sound hi-fi but the punters probably don't (bar the lurking BC gear stalkers!) notice the difference

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1369244458' post='2086870']
And I thought this was gonna be about a Band song.
Put the load back on me..........
[/quote]

Me too, take a load of (sic) Fanny....

[louisthebass]

Great song
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjCw3-YTffo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjCw3-YTffo[/url]

Back on topic - I've been in your position where it came down to me having the bulk of the PA as no-one else seemed to have room for it (yeah right...), and having to slot it into a Ford Orion with my gear as well.

Hope your back's holding up well.....

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1369244113' post='2086866']...my own current sylph-like figure weighs in at 85Kg (187 lbs)...[/quote]

He ain't heavy, he's my brother...

[tonyquipment]

My TE rig weighs more than me but I don't mind. Keeps me fit

[JTUK]

We've gone thru the idea of carrying less and packing better and all we managed to achieve was to get rid of a C-Audio amp and replace it with
a Crown. We've kept the Passive EV cabs for Keys, and run actives for P.A....that got rid of another C-Audio, and Martin tops..
We will probably bring in more lights so we haven't achieved much for the spend... and that is without the Nord Piano.

We haven't downgraded the sound...and wouldn't consider that as a reason for change...

Of all the pub type venues that offer a house P.A round here that we would play... we wouldn't use it, tbh as the kit is average and probably hammered.
I've seen other bands there using the P.A's so I know what it sounds like.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1369244589' post='2086873']
Do you actually need all that PA gear Jack? I've never played a venue yet where they didn't have some form of PA and all you need do then is bring your own uber-light neodymium rig plus bass and a DI box. It might not sound hi-fi but the punters probably don't (bar the lurking BC gear stalkers!) notice the difference
[/quote]

I'm with JTUK on this one Clarky.

Your band(s) and mine play very different venues ... in the last five years I have played [i][b]three times[/b][/i] at gigs where the venue supplied the PA and an engineer to run it.

Bringing your own PA is just part & parcel of playing pub rock.

Anyway, I let Silvia carry it all.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Ah but Jack, you usually have yours truly to help with the carrying of stuff...

[Clarky]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1369255838' post='2087046']
Ah but Jack, you usually have yours truly to help with the carrying of stuff...
[/quote]
Read the post above yours Silvia. Apparently "all" the stuff

[icastle]

Put the singers on a diet...

[Silvia Bluejay]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1369255969' post='2087050']
Read the post above yours Silvia. Apparently "all" the stuff
[/quote]

I had missed that last sentence! But Jack does carry quite a lot of THE STUFF anyway, so it's not strictly true

[SpaceChick]

This has given me such a funny image in my head!!

I'm imagining talking to equipment about the weights, and a note book and a lab jacket.... Don't know why

[TimR]

My bass gear weighs 60kg. It's quite sobering when you add everything up. The max weight my Golf is supposed to take is 600kg. Two blokes is a quarter of that already. That's before you add gear.