B-rig for a separated basement?

[Sedaxel]

Mates, What would you do in this situation? Just for fun.

I´m about to buy a basement (semi-basement, should say... it´s not totally under ground level). It´s going to be used as storage space, to leave the bikes, little workshop, rehearsals of my girl´s theatre shows and... of course, some kind of guitar-joy space for me. It´s not acoustically isolated, and even when I´m planning to isolate it a little, it´s not going to be fully isolated at all (you know how much would it cost… I can´t afford it). So I´m not going to be able to put a tube amp to its paces more than I´d do at home. If I manage to moderately isolate it, yeah, a little more volume would be possible, but not a full “shaking-balls-volume” anyway. I don´t want to disturb the neighbours.

The basement is in a residential building (750 m away from my home). Since I´m not going to be there all the time, I´m a little concerned about a couple things (humidity, thieves...).

The thing is, I want a B-rig to leave there without worries. At home I want my main gear because I´d still play more at home than in the basement (I guess).

AMP

Between the Boogie and the Champion 50XL, logic tells me to choose the Fender because I don´t want humidity to make its things to my tube amp. The Fender was dirt cheap (used) and sounds great with modelers. Or should I buy a Tube Harley-Benton 15W? It´s been tempting me for so long for this type of cheap solution. Maybe just an "FRFR"?

EFFECTS

I could just carry the laptop and play with plugins, or even the NC (it´s so tiny...), but I know that, at the end, the best is having something to leave there all the time. I think maybe the best choice is the Raspberry for NAM and effects, coupled with the Chocolate-MIDI. What do you think? Digital is the way, I think.

GUITARS

The PRS is staying at home, of course. I have a great MIJ Strat (HSS) and a partscaster Strat (SSS) assembled by me (which is better quality, IMHO, but obviously has less economical value because of the brand). I´m thinking about leaving there the MIJ because it´s more versatile (HSS). I feel a little worried leaving this great guitar there, though...

Acoustics: Larrivee L-03 (not going anywhere from home, of course), Sheeran by Lowden S03 and Yamaha FG800 (these both with K&K pickups installed). I think I´ll chosse the Yammy. What a great guitar for the price!

AUDIO/MUSIC

I´ll use a couple speakers from an ancient ITT hifi and a little class-T poweramp, the laptop, and a Zoom AMS22 interface. Got all of this lying around, and all works perfectly (well, the AMS22 is not too good for hi-gain plugins, but using the Raspberry+Hifiberry, solves the problem).

What would you choose for a B-Rig in a situation like this?

 

[laxu]

I've got my Bluetone 4x10 cab sitting in my parents' basement, so whenever I go visit I bring my BluGuitar Amp 1 ME. It fits into a backpack so the train ride is easy. I have a few guitars and pedals at my parents' place, or I can bring a few from home, again fitting into my backpack.

But security is not a concern for me. In your situation I'd leave the Fender Champion 50XL in the basement, then just bring a guitar and NC in a gigbag when you visit.

If you are driving there, and you find out you can play louder...then I'd just leave a cab in the space and bring your Boogie (assuming it's a head).

 

[Sedaxel]

If you are driving there, and you find out you can play louder...then I'd just leave a cab in the space and bring your Boogie (assuming it's a head).

The Boogie is a 12" combo. I switched the Black Shadow speaker for an old Eminence which was in a 2x12" Fender combo in a local guitar academy. It sounds so much detailed and clear...

Yeah, if I needed to drive to the basement, there´s no problem in carrying a guitar. But I plan to walk (it´s 10 minutes away from home), and it happens to be an uphill walk. I could do it, sure... not too big of a problem at all. But I guess I wont feel like doing it "with load" too often.

 

[Jarick]

Personally I'd do something like a used Boss Katana 100 and a Squier HSS. You should be able to find those all day long for not much money. The Squier may need a little TLC or maybe a couple electronics upgrades, but better than losing a decent rig. If you want to go all out you can get the Katana footswitch too.

 

[Sedaxel]

Personally I'd do something like a used Boss Katana 100 and a Squier HSS.

Yes, that's another option. Building a budget rig with cheap but good gear.

First I need to verify if the conditions in the basement are acceptable. If so, I'd be good just leaving there some gear.

Taking into account that I've got more gear than I really need, it could be a good way of justifying my GAS (I told you it all was going to be useful...)...

 

[Jarick]

Yeah for sure, and it depends on what you want to do. It's not bad to have a "minimalist" rig that gets you focused on playing rather than tweaking. If the Fender sounds okay, you could maybe throw a couple cheaper analog pedals out front for drive and whatever else.

Otherwise I'd consider something like a Pod Go or Boss GX-10 into a Fender FR-10, but that's 3-4 times as much as a Katana.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Mates, What would you do in this situation? Just for fun.

I´m about to buy a basement (semi-basement, should say... it´s not totally under ground level). It´s going to be used as storage space, to leave the bikes, little workshop, rehearsals of my girl´s theatre shows and... of course, some kind of guitar-joy space for me. It´s not acoustically isolated, and even when I´m planning to isolate it a little, it´s not going to be fully isolated at all (you know how much would it cost… I can´t afford it). So I´m not going to be able to put a tube amp to its paces more than I´d do at home. If I manage to moderately isolate it, yeah, a little more volume would be possible, but not a full “shaking-balls-volume” anyway. I don´t want to disturb the neighbours.

The basement is in a residential building (750 m away from my home). Since I´m not going to be there all the time, I´m a little concerned about a couple things (humidity, thieves...).

The thing is, I want a B-rig to leave there without worries. At home I want my main gear because I´d still play more at home than in the basement (I guess).

AMP

Between the Boogie and the Champion 50XL, logic tells me to choose the Fender because I don´t want humidity to make its things to my tube amp. The Fender was dirt cheap (used) and sounds great with modelers. Or should I buy a Tube Harley-Benton 15W? It´s been tempting me for so long for this type of cheap solution. Maybe just an ""FRFR""?

EFFECTS

I could just carry the laptop and play with plugins, or even the NC (it´s so tiny...), but I know that, at the end, the best is having something to leave there all the time. I think maybe the best choice is the Raspberry for NAM and effects, coupled with the Chocolate-MIDI. What do you think? Digital is the way, I think.

GUITARS

The PRS is staying at home, of course. I have a great MIJ Strat (HSS) and a partscaster Strat (SSS) assembled by me (which is better quality, IMHO, but obviously has less economical value because of the brand). I´m thinking about leaving there the MIJ because it´s more versatile (HSS). I feel a little worried leaving this great guitar there, though...

Acoustics: Larrivee L-03 (not going anywhere from home, of course), Sheeran by Lowden S03 and Yamaha FG800 (these both with K&K pickups installed). I think I´ll chosse the Yammy. What a great guitar for the price!

AUDIO/MUSIC

I´ll use a couple speakers from an ancient ITT hifi and a little class-T poweramp, the laptop, and a Zoom AMS22 interface. Got all of this lying around, and all works perfectly (well, the AMS22 is not too good for hi-gain plugins, but using the Raspberry+Hifiberry, solves the problem).

What would you choose for a B-Rig in a situation like this?

The Fender amp and whatever you wanna use for modeling.

The bigger issue is the guitars -- sounds like the place isn't temperature/humidity controlled? I kept an old plywood Yamaha acoustic and an oil-finished electric in an above-ground garage that was heated during day hours but not at night in a climate that got quite cold in the winter (well below freezing) and aside from the finish on the acoustic checking all to hell, was surprised at how stable both were to wild temperature swings. The humidity swings, however, made keeping them set up in good playing condition a bit of a chore. Within reason "on the high side of acceptable" humidity should be fine, but if its varying a lot, will get to be a pain in terms of keeping instruments in good playing condition.

 

[Sedaxel]

The bigger issue is the guitars -- sounds like the place isn't temperature/humidity controlled?

Humidity will go from 50 to 90%. My village is beside the sea in the north of Spain. Temperatures are more stable... Even when global heating is making weird things like having 22C in the middle of the winter.

I still hope that guitars could be more or less safe...

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Maybe something to consider: what would be the incentive to walk 750m when you only have a B rig waiting for you..and all the nice stuff right at home?

I have a studio in my garden with fluctuating temperatures, so I don’t keep the “pricy babies” there…and even though it’s superclose..I have more playtime in the house then in the studio cause of it.

What gets me in there is either recording…or the fact that I have a lot more speaker surface there (in a stereo setup). More speakers is simply a fun thing where you drown yourself in guitar sound.

From that perspective..why not go for some bigass tube amps people can’t give away on the used market cause their boatancors . 4x10 HRD, 2x12 peavey valveking…stuff like that. Those will sound great with whatever pre/modeler you bring from home and are super cheap. (At least in my area (EU))
Those 15HB are okish…but unless the room acoustics are great…it’s still a small cabinet, and will sound accordingly.

 

[Sedaxel]

Maybe something to consider: ...

Good points, mate.

All those ideas you say are something to think about, for sure. I guess I can see what happens and the way I feel regarding incentives to play there instead of at home, etc.

An old big tube amp is a good idea too. Yeah, over here they can also be found cheap.

 

[Jarick]

Hot Rod DeVille 4x10 would absolutely be a theft deterrent lol. We had two of those in my old band, absolutely the worst thing to lug around. Good think I was a teenager with a strong back back then!

 

[Shredder777]

rehearsals of my girl´s theatre shows

As long as you are doing it primarily for yourself and not your gf.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

I don't see you mentioned budget. But what about a HX stomp, some studio monitors and a good but relatively inexpensive guitar? The gear I have as my A+ main gear has a total price tag of 1200 euro and that is HX Stomp + Player Stratocaster + JBL305s.

 

[littlebadboy]

I would go for a small modeler and an "FRFR" cab. You will get tons of options in such a small rig. Small enough that you may take the modeler with you to tweak at home. The "FRFR" cab may double as a PA for your kids when practicing, or as a boom box.

 

[BahamaDada]

That's my problem since the beginning of (music) time: I want cool gear, but gear in the rehearsal space is

a) in the rehearsal space and not at home. So even if the place is near I don't go there late at night in my undies. Also why buy an expensive and superb sounding amp if I only play it once a week (at best), bc the other guys don't have more time to jam/play? Then I sit at home with a crappy 10 watt solid state and "dream" of playing big amps in the rehearsal space. Could buy the good amp twice of course, if one has the money. Okay, maybe you can turn up the volume at the place, so that's another factor.

b) vulnerable to thieves and others. Doesn't even have to be someone taking it away. Someone fiddling with it is enough of a no-no for me

c) Vulnerable to climatic problems (Temp differences depending on the buildung, humidity) and even other stuff (Water pipe bursting, fire)

I'd take the Fender champion and use that as a pedal plat. Get everything else than a good clean/edge tone from your NC. Or even just some pedals. Take the NC/pedals and the guitar always with you. A gig bag is not that hard and heavy to carry. I tried leaving a guitar (a cheap one) at the place and I was always "man, I'd wish I'd have the good guitar I played this tune on from home". It was always "Yeah, it's okay, but the *good* guitar is the *good* guitar for a reason" (playability, sound, etc). For acoustics: The cheapest one, that still gets the job done (playing and sound wise). Doesn't help if you have a crappy Harley Benton there, that you can't stand to play, but it's cheap enough to "sacrifize".

Back when I played in a cover band I took my JVM always with me for that reason: I wanted to play it at the other non-practice days. It was a heavy beast. The 2x12 always stayed at the band place. At home I had a 1x12 for it. But I had to use a car and no walking distance to the place. Wouldn't want to do that again. It sucked.

Right now I "only" play bass in a band and I tried bringing the Helix always with me, but it's heavy with the case and I don't trust the place (crappy and flimsy locks/doors). So I bought a cheapish (big enough) amp/cab for the place and if we gig I bring along the full Helix.

 

[Jarick]

If I were in a gigging band, I'd run a modeler into "FRFR" setup, and I'd haul my guitar and modeler back and forth with me to the space. That's where I'd love to see more powerful medium sized modelers like the QC.

 

[Sedaxel]

I don't see you mentioned budget..

Yeah, didn't mention budget because my idea was to use gear that I already own... Maybe gear that is often thought as "not my premium choice" but that, at the end, is perfectly good enough.

Buying an HX Stomp already gets me into spending situation, and I'm not going to be full of money if I buy the basement...

But it's a good suggestion anyway, sure.

 

[Sedaxel]

I would go for a small modeler and an ""FRFR"" .

Yes, it's a perfectly good option. And I own the."FRFR" too. I usually play with the guitar cab at home and let the "FRFR" for music and portable PA. But yeah... Could be!

 

[Sedaxel]

#BahamaDada, Couldn't agree more!