I was a full-time working bass player for well over 20 years. After hand injuries and band drama in the last couple of years I decided to take a break from the grind and get a day gig. Now I'm not gigging at all, working full-time, and feeling really good about it. At some point I'd like to pick up some gigs again, and at least have the option to work down the line.
For many years my gig rig was a matched pair of Bergantino 1x12 cabs with a Euphonic Audio IAmp Pro head. I loved the rig, though it's a pain to carry up/down 3 flights of stairs for every gig.
A few years back I found a great deal on a Markbass 1x12 combo with a matching 1x12 extension speaker. I thought it would be great for small gigs or practice, and the second cab wouldn't really be something I'd use. However, after taking it out on a few gigs I found that I really love the Markbass tone, the two speakers sound incredible together, and it's WAY easier to haul around than my heavier Berg cabs.
So now I'm trying to downsize my gear, selling off instruments I don't play anymore, and looking at these two very nice, high-quality stacks of speakers. I had an old heavy Peavey combo amp for home practice but I'm getting rid of that, it seems like a job the Markbass can handle just fine.
The only reason I can really justify keeping both would be to have a backup in case I had a rig failure, but that's only happened a small handful of times in the last 20+ years. If I got back to gigging full time and had such an emergency I'd either borrow something from a friend or hop on Craigslist and pick up some old heavy beater combo amp to get me through until the main rig was repaired.
I suppose if I'm using the Markbass as my only amp for both home practice and gigs it would get a lot of daily use, but probably not any more than if it was on stage 3+ nights a week.
My gut says it's time to sell the Berg/EA rig and just be a single-amp owner for the first time in a long time. Has anyone else faced a similar dilemma , or know of any reasons why I should look at this situation differently?
Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!
For many years my gig rig was a matched pair of Bergantino 1x12 cabs with a Euphonic Audio IAmp Pro head. I loved the rig, though it's a pain to carry up/down 3 flights of stairs for every gig.
A few years back I found a great deal on a Markbass 1x12 combo with a matching 1x12 extension speaker. I thought it would be great for small gigs or practice, and the second cab wouldn't really be something I'd use. However, after taking it out on a few gigs I found that I really love the Markbass tone, the two speakers sound incredible together, and it's WAY easier to haul around than my heavier Berg cabs.
So now I'm trying to downsize my gear, selling off instruments I don't play anymore, and looking at these two very nice, high-quality stacks of speakers. I had an old heavy Peavey combo amp for home practice but I'm getting rid of that, it seems like a job the Markbass can handle just fine.
The only reason I can really justify keeping both would be to have a backup in case I had a rig failure, but that's only happened a small handful of times in the last 20+ years. If I got back to gigging full time and had such an emergency I'd either borrow something from a friend or hop on Craigslist and pick up some old heavy beater combo amp to get me through until the main rig was repaired.
I suppose if I'm using the Markbass as my only amp for both home practice and gigs it would get a lot of daily use, but probably not any more than if it was on stage 3+ nights a week.
My gut says it's time to sell the Berg/EA rig and just be a single-amp owner for the first time in a long time. Has anyone else faced a similar dilemma , or know of any reasons why I should look at this situation differently?
Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!
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