last night i got quasi hosed by the sound guy at an improv gig.
of course, the only reason i was in a position to get hosed was because i didn’t have an amp… unlike the bass, violin, guitar, etc.
so, anyone here running amps and speakers?
if so… are you using multiples or multiple speakers per part?
thoughts?
its a roll of the dice to rely on other people… I was told once that you cannot rely on other people to guarantee your own professionalism…
So, I have done a few gigs and I take absolutely everything I need down to long power cord extensions and splitters… 2 powered PA speakers, speaker stands, mixer, table/keyboard stand, lots of extra cables for length, cables as spares… everything. …all I need is floor area and be within 25ft of one socket.
if I don’t need to take some stuff out of the truck then that’s even better… but the alternative is the prospect of not being able to play, or be heard, or worse, be heard thru some broken or crappy sounding system …
Is it for you and band only (hearing yourself) or PA?
If only for you, how many speakers do you need (i e stereo)?
Hey man I just got fucked in the worst way like this. We asked the guy running the event if there was gonna be a PA. Show up, no PA, just some shirty guitar amp. We “plsyed” through it. It was awful as imagined. Worst part was that some big names in our scene were there to watch us fail spectacularly.
Long story short we bought a PA. Fuck other people
It was in a local club. The gear was adequate… Sound guy thought better of putting me in the mix.
It was complete improv starting at scratch with guys I had never played with. Not being able to hear myself… Made me more tentative.
If I would have had an amp … No problem or ran headphones out of the OT.
It is only stereo 
I used to keep my monitoring speakers at home if the organizers told me they already have a complete set of stage monitoring equipment set up.
This was in former times. Today i ALWAYS go with a pair of active monitoring speakers when i play, mainly because it makes things MUCH easier when you hear yourself sounding as you are used to. Another reason is, that i learned that relying on organizers or stage techs is the biggest failure you can make. If i had one, i’d also bring my own electric generator to a gig.
I work in the live arena, fortunately at the upper levels these days. D&B, L-Acoustics, Midas etc.
If I found myself gigging at club level again I’d definitely carry my own monitoring rig.
Traveling/fly out shows I’d need to see a spec from the promoter before I’d consider it!
Decent sound is everything or else why do we pursue this as an interest?