In Part One and Part Two of this series, (Issue 208 and Issue 209), I noted the fact that I’ve played in rock bands for more than 50 years, and during that time, I’ve seen people make uncountable mistakes that could have been easily avoided – and also hit heights of fantastic musical and performance greatness. This series will talk about what to do…and what not to, when playing in a rock band.
You have to have instruments and gear that are up to the task. That basically means two things:
The gear has to sound good.
But more importantly, it has to be reliable.
Can you imagine a digital mixing console crashing at a Dead & Company or Metallica or Billy Joel concert? Happily, pro audio and MI (musical instrument) companies invest a lot of effort and expense into making their gear as bulletproof as possible. Even if you’re playing the local watering hole or farmer’s market, you need reliable gear.
And you have to pay for it, and it’s worth it. I realize people, especially budding musicians, might be on a budget, but you should get the best gear you can afford.
Look, budget gear like inexpensive small guitar amps and PA speakers with cheap piezo tweeters (literally; Parts Express sells them for 23 cents) are fine for beginners, practicing, and maybe rehearsals, but cheap gear is not built to withstand the rigors of gigging. Inexpensive guitar, bass and keyboard amps are made using cost-saving techniques like soldering the jacks and potentiometers directly to the PC boards, a construction method that practically guarantees they’ll eventually break after being knocked around in a car trunk.
Inexpensive PA gear…I’ll never gig with it. Cheap keyboards usually don’t have touch-sensitive action, and don’t have the quality and range of sounds of pro models. I’ve heard nothing all that good to be said about inexpensive band instruments. Budget cymbals sound one step away from banging on trash can lids, and inexpensive drum hardware – well, you’re lucky if it doesn’t come crashing down.
The good news, though, is that affordable guitars and basses have never been better, and pro-quality equipment is extremely reliable (except for the rare bad design). I’ve been present at probably over a thousand gigs and concerts, and I have never seen a PA head fail, other than that time in the 1970s when some clown poured beer into the mixing board at a Frank Zappa concert at the Long Island Arena. (They had to stop the show for about 10 minutes while the front-of-house guy frantically reconfigured the board and got it working enough to finish the show. To say Zappa tore into the guy, who was hauled out of the building by security, would be an understatement.)
There's a reason why pro PA brands like JBL, Mackie, QSC, Yamaha, EAW, and others are pricier than other makes: they're built to last and sound superb. For a club or even outdoor gig, two high-quality PA speakers on poles will more than suffice. Subwoofers are nice, but ironically, it seems to me that DJs are the ones who really need them these days, not bands, unless you're playing in a big indoor or outdoor venue.
And the sound quality of the good stuff is exceptional. I recently did a gig where Nexo on-stage floor monitors were used, and they sounded incredible. I could distinctly hear the different kinds of reverbs and delays the sound man was putting on the vocals. These days you can go with either powered mixers and passive speakers, or the other way around, or on big stages, passive mixers and speakers and separate power amps, but this is overkill for 90 percent of average gigging situations.
I don’t know any gigging keyboardist who carries a backup, and have never seen a keyboard fail except when Ian Hunter played the Paramount in Huntington NY some years ago and his electric piano went out during “All the Way From Memphis,” a song that needs keyboards the way “Johnny B. Goode” needs guitar. Hunter simply stopped the song, calmly turned his keyboard off and back on while telling the audience what he was doing, and resumed playing. But this is the only time I’ve seen a keyboard crap out on stage.
In the 1960s when many of us old-timers were learning how to play guitar, most imported and many US-made guitars were almost literally unplayable, with high action and rough frets, to say nothing of the fact that they were made of various varieties of mystery wood that were one step above the quality of popsicle sticks. Maybe. Today’s budget guitars from Squier, Epiphone, Schecter, ESP, Ibanez and others are on a totally different level. You can get a perfectly playable instrument for $300 or even under if you look hard and are willing to buy used. Here's Jack Pearson, who has played with the Allman Brothers, tearing it up on a Squier Stratocaster:
Sure, the wood, pickups and hardware won’t be on the level of, say, a Japanese Yamaha or US-made Fender, but they’ll be good, working instruments, and can be upgraded with better electronics, hardware and tuners if desired. Some budget guitars, like the Paul Reed Smith SE Series, offer remarkable value for money. And the difference between a hard-to-play guitar or bass and one that “plays like butter” (a hackneyed phrase you’ll encounter ad nauseam on guitar forums) can be in the setup. That’s a more detailed topic than I’m going to get into here but the upshot is this: learn to do your own setups if you can (really, it's not that hard), or find someone trustworthy.
This isn't going to be a column on choosing a guitar or instrument or amp that's right for you, which would require at least an article in itself. Look at what reputable sources such as Premier Guitar, Guitar Player, Music Radar, and others have to say. Talk to knowledgeable friends and if possible, bring them with you when shopping. A trustworthy local retailer is invaluable. Be very skeptical of YouTube videos featuring sensationalistic clickbait headlines and guys making goofy faces on the thumbnail screen. If possible, play a number of instruments until you find one that "talks" to you.
You need a guitar or bass that stays in tune during a gig. I take a hard line on this. For me, if a guitar or bass won’t stay in tune, it’s firewood. The only thing more annoying than having to constantly tune during a set is watching someone else do it. (I’m not sure if banjos are excepted.) I once saw Donovan do a solo gig and he spent as much time tuning his guitar between songs as he did playing it. It completely ruined the concert. Get a guitar that you have to tune once at the beginning of the set, and then maybe tweak a little here and there. I have guitars that I tune once a month whether they need them or not. I'm not exaggerating. They exist.
A tuner pedal or clip-on tuner is a must. You young 'uns don't know how good you have it! Back in the day we used to, with varying degrees of success, tune to the keyboard in the band, or a tuning fork, or each other, or if you were well-heeled, a Conn strobe tuner. Check this out: someone made a "supercut" of over an hour of on-stage tuning up by the Grateful Dead in 1977. These days anyone can get an inexpensive tuner and get their instrument in tune in seconds.
If you’re an electric guitarist, you basically need three sounds: clean, “crunch” (the word is onomatopoeic), a slightly distorted overdrive rhythm guitar sound, and a more-overdriven lead sound for solos. Effects like reverb, delay and phasing/flanging/chorus are fun (and mandatory if you're in a Pink Floyd cover band), but you can live without them. Keyboards can get by in a rock band with good electric piano (Rhodes and/or Wurlitzer), faux Hammond organ, and credible acoustic piano sounds, and can play through either a dedicated keyboard amp, a PA speaker, or the PA system itself. Drummers can handle most gigs with a basic four-or five-piece kit with bass, snare drum, rack tom (or toms), floor tom, hi-hat, and cymbals. I’ve seen drummers use electronic drum pads and kits very successfully, especially in places where you can’t play loud or don't have a lot of setup space.
Bass players have a wealth of four- and five-string options, but you simply can’t go wrong with a Fender Precision Bass. The advent of Class D amplification has made bass amps remarkably small and light compared to the behemoths of old – many consider the mighty Ampeg SVT to be the best bass amp ever made (along with Ampeg’s B-15), but it takes two people to carry the head alone, not to mention the eight 10-inch-speaker bottom, appropriately named “The Refrigerator.” But you should use a bass amp with at least one 12-inch or two 10-inch speakers for anything other than playing a coffeehouse or small restaurant, Phil Jones amplification excepted – I don't know how in the world they get such sound out of such small speakers. (Basses can also be plugged directly into the PA; we'll get to that in a future chapter about live sound.)
******
Well, if you’re going to play gigs, sh*t will happen. Strings and snare drum heads break. Cables pop loose. Rarely, an amplifier will crap out (well, maybe much more rarely than back in the day when roadies for Grand Funk Railroad would be changing the tubes in the West amps they used, while the band was playing). So, you should carry some backup: depending on your instrument, extra strings, picks, batteries, cables, and anything that might fail during a gig.
Bring tools you might need: small and large screwdrivers, a knife, pliers, nail clippers (in case you break a nail and need to trim it to keep it from catching on a guitar string, which can be very uncomfortable), wire cutters, a string winder, and maybe even a soldering iron, though, again, trying to fix a broken cable or bad connection on a pedal is almost impossible to do in under-the-gun playing situations. Learning to solder is a useful skill, but not mandatory. Also, bring a first-aid kit, or at least Band-Aids. In the scramble to set up and tear down gear, sometimes you’ll bump and scrape into things, or get a splinter from a wooden stage.
This may sound like surprising advice, but bring a cooler with drinks, snacks and food. The reason for this is something I learned the hard way, and which I’ll go into much more detail in a separate installment about eating and drinking when playing a gig.
I’ve heard recommendations for carrying an extra set of tubes if you play through a tube amp, but I’ve never seen anyone change the tubes in an amp on a gig, and personally, I think this would be impractical to impossible in such a pressure-filled situation on a dimly-lit stage. You’re better off carrying a small spare amp, or do what I do – bring a small pedal-sized amp like a Quilter Superblock US that can be plugged into a PA or small speaker you can stash in the trunk.
While on the subject of tube amps, consider them to be like cars: they need routine maintenance. I recommend having a qualified tech check them out every couple of years or so; more frequently if you’re hard on your amps and play them at volume. Tubes should generally last for about a year-and-a-half to two years (these are guitar amps we’re talking about, not audiophile components); less if you’re someone like Angus Young and pummel the living daylights out of them. And look for a qualified tech. I and other musicians have encountered butchers who don’t know what they’re doing – the late, great Long Island amp tech Richie Johnson once told me that he got a lot of work for undoing the “repairs” that hacks had done to peoples’ amplifiers.
Avoid those cheap 1/4-inch instrument cables with plastic molded ends. They will eventually break and in my opinion are completely unsuitable for gigging.
Most guitar and bass players don’t bring a spare instrument, but it’s not a bad idea if you have room in your car or on the stage (and sometimes you won’t, in either). It’s easier to swap an instrument than change a string onstage, but the latter is something you should learn to do. Just look at this amazing clip of B.B. King changing a string while playing.
I bring a spare guitar and keep it in the car, so I know it’s there but I don’t have to schlep it when setting up. It’s my security blanket and a good luck charm.
Bring your own mic! While it’s true that if you’re playing a gig with a supplied PA, microphones will usually be provided. But do you really want to sing into a mic that someone else might have put their mouth on? Especially in post-COVID world? I admit; I get lazy in this regard and should not live so recklessly, but on the other hand, when using a house mic, I don’t put my lips on it. Also, such a microphone may not be as good as the one you usually sing through.
Audio-Technica did a humorous series of videos on the subject that illustrate the point quite unequivocally:
Many musicians, especially guitarists, like to use pedalboards, a specially-designed platform that effects pedals are mounted on. The pedals are all wired together and held down in place so you simply have to connect to the instrument, amp, and AC power and you’re good to go. Multi-effects units perform a similar function and can offer dozens or hundreds of effects in a compact package.
If you have more than two or three pedals, a pedal board is a must. Otherwise, you’ll waste 10 to 20 minutes connecting everything, and this is not an option when playing a gig with several bands on the bill, on a dimly-lit stage, and/or when time is tight. A pro tip – bring a backup overdrive pedal in case your pedalboard or multi-effects unit fails. You don’t want to be trying to diagnose what went wrong while you’re on stage. Trust me; I’ve been there.
And don’t be the a-hole who brings a huge pedalboard that takes forever to set up to an open mic or a gig where acts have a 20-minute set. The bands that have to follow you won’t appreciate it when you go over your allotted time and cut into theirs because you screwed around with your stupidly-excessive rig just so you could get “your sound.” If you’re Robert Fripp or Steve Hackett and have the luxury of hours of setup time, fine…but chances are, you’re not, and you don’t. I once saw a guy spend 15 minutes setting up a pedalboard for his mandolin. We were the following act and it cut our time in half. There’s nothing else I could say here that wouldn’t involve expletives.
The author's Samba pedalboard. It takes just a minute or two to plug it in. Top row: Chase Tone Secret Preamp, J. Rockett Immortal Echo (delay), DigiTech Mosaic (12-string guitar emulator), Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe (Uni-Vibe repro). Bottom row: Jetter Dharma (dual overdrive), Paul Cochrane Timmy (overdrive), Sonic Research ST-200 tuner.
Protect your instrument! Most local gigging musicians I know use gig bags and soft drum bags, not hard cases. They weigh a lot less and are easier to carry, but perhaps more importantly, they take up less space in a cramped trunk or back seat. (My rectangular hardshell bass case won’t fit in the trunk of my 2018 Elantra.) That said, don’t go cheap – inexpensive gig bags have inadequately thin padding for anything other than home storage use, and don’t hold up over time. Spend the money and buy something like a Mono or Reunion Blues gig bag, or one of those overpriced Nord keyboard bags. They’re more durable and probably more economical in the long run. I’ve had my Reunion Blues RB Continental Voyager, about $250 list, for hundreds of gigs and rehearsals, and it barely shows any wear. Regarding amplifiers, get at least a fabric cover for them, which will protect the amp from getting scuffed and dinged while being loaded in and out.
If you’re a touring musician, that’s different. You’ll need an airline- and truck-proof case like a Gator TSA Series, Hiscox, SKB, or a road case, the type that has metal edging.
Budget tip: you can get really cheap bags and suitcases at garage sales and thrift shops. I like the old Samsonite hard-sided suitcases – remember those ads with the gorilla stomping on them? They offer excellent protection and I've never paid more than $5 for one, usually less.
A hand truck or rolling cart is one of the best investments you can make. You don’t need a big industrial model; Milwaukee makes a lightweight foldable hand truck that makes load in and load out far easier. (Get the aluminum one.) The Rock N’ Roller Multi-Carts are the gold standard for moving gear, but they’re pricey. A cheaper alternative is one of those fabric-sided folding wheeled carts you can get from WalMart, Amazon and other places, if you don’t need the ruggedness of a pro model.
As much as you might want to bring a Terry Bozzio-sized drum kit or Keith Emerson keyboard stack to a gig, it’s a heck of a lot easier to think in terms of carrying as little gear as possible, that weighs as little as possible. (Yamaha makes some wonderful lightweight drum hardware these days.) At a lot of local gigs, the stage – if you even get to play on a stage and not on the floor in the corner of the bar – won’t be very big. Let's just say this kit will not fit onto the stage at the Corner Galley:
Try to minimize the amount of trips you have to make from your car to the venue. You’ll appreciate this at the end of a long night. And in today’s world, stage volumes are quieter. Do not play at a volume that irritates customers, or especially, the bar owner. You want to be asked back again. In the 1970s, my regular gigging amp was a Fender Twin Reverb, 85 watts, two 12-inch speakers. Today it’s a Princeton Reverb, with 12 watts and one 10-inch speaker.
The author's main amp, a 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb. It's been used on hundreds of gigs and rehearsals, to this day. Leo Fender built things to last.
When it comes to on-stage equipment, think small, light, mobile, fast, and easy.
Here are some other gear-related considerations that I’ll address in depth in future installments:
Using an iPod or music stand and cheat sheets onstage.
Whether or not to play along to pre-recorded tracks.
What to do when something fails.
How to deal with the audience when a mistake happens.
Lighting, or the lack of it.
Until then, rock on!
Header image: the road cases for the gear for James Blake at a concert at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity church, Manhattan, July 12, 2024. (He was fantastic.)
