Old age gig gear choices.

[Dave Scepter]

I always used one of these folding dollies when I was schlepping around a heavy combo...  extremely handy, as it saved my back plenty of times trying to log a oak cabinet with a heavy EV. Speaker

 

Edited February 24 by Dave Scepter

[Jimbilly]

1 hour ago, RobB said:

Put the Neo in the combo. 

for low wattage or if you're not playing super loud, the old readily available lightweight alnico speakers often sound really good (to me anyway), I just weighed an old cts 12, a spare for one of the U45Bs: 3lb 2.6oz. 

[django49]

And if you need more power handling, the newer Neo Copperback 12 (250 watts) weighs a bit over 5 lbs, I think. Maybe 40 % less than my personal favorite Alnico Cream. Hard for me to choose between the two in use. 

[Jack C]

Pretty minimal for me these days: a Kemper stage and a guitar.  And the double neck… because Hotel.

[hamerhead]

21 hours ago, django49 said:

And if you need more power handling, the newer Neo Copperback 12 (250 watts) weighs a bit over 5 lbs, I think. Maybe 40 % less than my personal favorite Alnico Cream. Hard for me to choose between the two in use. 

My go-to has been the 'Lil Texas' from Eminence. 5.8 lbs and a little harsh at first, but breaks-in nicely. The Deluxe Tone Master has a Jensen N-12K Neo which I thought about swapping, but it works really well in there. Neos are the shit. Big fan.

[scottcald]

Neo is the one.

[jwhitcomb3]

This is pretty much it.  

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                 Well I'm going to hit 73 this year, still I play every day and still enjoy it. I'm down to one guitar and 2 amps, all I need at this point. Found the one guitar I had been looking for decades so I'm good to go till I'm off the planet. I had at one time close to 50 guitars at any one time, I remember inviting friends over, and they always had the same response, why do you have all this? Pretty much all debt free at this point so I COULD buy more gear, but then my wife would be dealing with liquating all that. It's been a great run.

[Jimbilly]

5 hours ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                 why do you have all this? 

because it's so much fun!   It's like the spice rack in the kitchen, why do you need more than one spice in the cupboard?, can't you just pick the one you like and just use that? 

[shankyboy]

This is my typical gig rig. 2 guitars, my Silver Sonic and a pretty basic pedal board. Pretty easy to haul around for this old guy. 

[JPDIII]

Not much

 

Tuner, vol., water/verb, od. 

Edited March 1 by JPDIII

[scottcald]

On 2/25/2026 at 2:25 PM, jwhitcomb3 said:

This is pretty much it.  

Looks like a cool combo.  What synth sounds are you using? 

[diablo175]

On 2/23/2026 at 9:23 PM, kurtsstuff said:

I don't gig anymore but I still like to buy, sell, trade stuff constantly.  When I did gig it was always a Marshall JMP2204 with a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks. A 6-8 space rack full of "Tone enhancers" fed into said Marshall and all controlled via a prostage  midi foot controller. Today I can't even imagine schlepping all that around  OH! And had a huge PA system as well..lol! Anyways to get to the point..Now I take into consideration the weight of any amp I might be wheeling and dealing on etc..I still don't have any concern for the weight of any guitar I might grab but when and if that day does come..I'm done with the whole thing..lol!

Yup. I was the one who had to schlepp the PA gear (24 channel board, power amp, mains, stands, milk crate full cables) AND the lighting in the previous band, along with all my shit. It was the hauling it up and down my basement stairs that got to me. If I was lucky, I had another band mate to help. In most cases, it was just me. 😑 

 

[Brooks]

I do solo gigs at wine bars and restaurants, jazzy stuff w/ a looper and a few vocal tunes. Larger rooms and patios I use a Behringer powered mixer and an EV loaded 1x12 guitar cab up on a pole. Smaller rooms I've started using this tiny Fender Acoustisonic 40 combo, it sounds full and has nice reverb.

 

Edited February 27 by Brooks

[ARM OF HAMER]

21 hours ago, Jimbilly said:

because it's so much fun!   It's like the spice rack in the kitchen, why do you need more than one spice in the cupboard?, can't you just pick the one you like and just use that? 

                          And at that point in my life, I totally agree, it WAS so much fun! But..................I'm not that guy anymore. Now with this guitar that I have and these amps I can still do all I want to do and look back at all those I was fortunate enough to enjoy.

[Jimbilly]

3 hours ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                          And at that point in my life, I totally agree, it WAS so much fun! But..................I'm not that guy anymore. Now with this guitar that I have and these amps I can still do all I want to do and look back at all those I was fortunate enough to enjoy.

yup!, like other activities, it's fun until it's not, then move on

[kizanski]

3 hours ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

Now with this guitar that I have and these amps I can still do all I want to do and look back at all those I was fortunate enough to enjoy.

I found that I could still do what I want to with no guitars or amps.
That's how much I was playing when I had 30 guitars.

 

[burningyen]

My Floyd tribute rig is nice and tidy:

My Radiohead tribute rig is not:

[hamerhead]

Holy shit, Ben! I've played to that same crowd hundreds of times!

[kurtsstuff]

8 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Yup. I was the one who had to schlepp the PA gear (24 channel board, power amp, mains, stands, milk crate full cables) AND the lighting in the previous band, along with all my shit. It was the hauling it up and down my basement stairs that got to me. If I was lucky, I had another band mate to help. In most cases, it was just me. 😑 

 

Damn....Yeah...I forgot about the lights..4 trees of 4 par 64's for backlight and a shitload of pin spots all across the front etc,etc (Yeah I'm old..lol!)

I wouldn't consider it today..  ...But what a good time we had!!

[diablo175]

20 minutes ago, kurtsstuff said:

Damn....Yeah...I forgot about the lights..4 trees of 4 par 64's for backlight and a shitload of pin spots all across the front etc,etc (Yeah I'm old..lol!)

I wouldn't consider it today..  ...But what a good time we had!!

I luckily never had to work with old PAR lighting set ups! 4 LED units on a tree x 2 was our usual bring-along. We had a bigger set up with the trestle and a 6 mirror reflecting gizmo and some other PAR units. Only used that 2 times in 10 years. Sold everything but the 2 Chauvet 4 unit trees.

[scottcald]

8 hours ago, burningyen said:

Both setups are cool in different ways.  How do you like that Atomic CLR?  

[burningyen]

15 minutes ago, scottcald said:

Both setups are cool in different ways.  How do you like that Atomic CLR?  

I’ve been gigging a CLR since 2013 (initially the original but most of the time the MkII Neo). They never let me down. But it’s hard to recommend in light of numerous reports of people having difficulty getting Atomic to support their products.

[atomicwash]

I've downsized my amps over the last 20 years from an AC30 in a flight case to an AC15 head/112 cabinet. More trips, less weight. My wife is using the new HW AC10. Fortunately, I really like the Celestion Neo V. It plays well with my amps & sound.

My secret weapon is the Vox MV50 AC as a backup amp. I make sure that my combos all have a 1/4" coming off the speaker and then I put a 3' speaker extension cable in the small bag with the MV50. I could gig with the MV50 if I had to.

Aging really sucks, but I'm not ready to give up my fun.

[jwhitcomb3]

On 2/26/2026 at 9:42 PM, scottcald said:

Looks like a cool combo.  What synth sounds are you using? 

Thanks. I only use the GM-800 (synth) for a handful of songs with my band, typically horns, organ, strings/pads, and pianos, with the occasional analog lead. Just enough to add spice here and there. I use the effects and amp models in the VG-800 for my basic guitar tones and effects (think a slightly pared down Boss GT-1000 CORE), and the VG-800 guitar modeling for songs where I need acoustic guitar, sitar, or open tunings for slide. 

Edited March 9 by jwhitcomb3