ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Miscellaneous => Discussions => Topic started by: Dante on March 24, 2016, 10:03:51 AM
-
Like the topic says, I want a wall of fake speaker cabs. It's all about the show man...I have spent years getting my rig smaller, and here I am trying to make it LOOK big - lol :lol: The thing is, we are playing on some larger stages and my tiny rig looks even smaller than it actually is.
Now, would I be better off getting empty cabs that I have to carry around, or getting a printed facade that can easily be broken down? Actually, I'm considering both or a combination of both. I have read that Marshall makes a fold-up case version of a halfstack with a little LED light powered by a battery. I hear they are very expensive, so I may be constructing my own.
Anybody got a line on options for me?
-
Empty cabs will look more real than a facade, but it will also weigh more. Alot of 80's bands did that same trick back in the day. Some places that rent cabs also rent unloaded cabs, at least they used to. I guess it will come down to how much you want to spend. You could probably make 4 fake stacks for under a couple hundred, particle board, tolex, grille cloth and maybe some Marshall logo's.
-
Or maybe this can help
https://www.etsy.com/listing/223253393/wall-decal-of-marshall-amp-jcm-800-stack
-
Or maybe this can help
https://www.etsy.com/listing/223253393/wall-decal-of-marshall-amp-jcm-800-stack
Do you mean the stack on the left?
-
Nope ,these usually don't have an on/off switch :lol:
-
My local Guitar Center used to have a wall completely filled in with fake stacks: Marshall, Vox, Fender, etc. They appeared to be made of plastic, and were only about 2 inches thick. I have no idea if every GC store has had them, or even if my local one still has them now as I haven't been in there for quite some time. Might be worth a phone call or two though to find out.
-
Nope ,these usually don't have an on/off switch :lol:
haha, I'd be concerned if I found a toggle switch :lol:
-
My local Guitar Center used to have a wall completely filled in with fake stacks: Marshall, Vox, Fender, etc. They appeared to be made of plastic, and were only about 2 inches thick. I have no idea if every GC store has had them, or even if my local one still has them now as I haven't been in there for quite some time. Might be worth a phone call or two though to find out.
They all have them. Our stores have them tooOr maybe this can help
https://www.etsy.com/listing/223253393/wall-decal-of-marshall-amp-jcm-800-stack
Brilliant!!
-
Or maybe this can help
https://www.etsy.com/listing/223253393/wall-decal-of-marshall-amp-jcm-800-stack
Do you mean the stack on the left?
The one on the left is obviously just a thin veneer. No substance to it, but easy to carry around.
-
Hey Dante, I always thought about making a Marshall backdrop with little red LEDs. You could hang it from a couple of mic stands ? This is probably the most cost effective option and you just roll it up like any other back drop so light and easy to move. And well within your graphic artist talents :thumb-up:
-
Remember the Chicago train film where Gene Hackman (IIRC) tried to act like a black dude, complete with black shoe polish and a ghetto blaster?
Then remember the scene where a real black dude says to him "I don't know what your problem is, but you gotta loosen up, man..".
Oh, and of the scene where Gene takes a piss and a real big black dude, complete with cigar, looks down on his weener, whereafter you hear the sound of a really big ressoir being emptied..
Point being: If you're really going for that fake wall'o'sound setup, at least do remember those on/off switches, complete with red LEDs, and have the tech dude walk across stage just before you enter, switching them all on O0
-
I priced a printed version, on fabric, with pockets around the sides to slide PVC pipes into. Then, you simply construct the PVC pipes into a frame and you have a fake cab. It's pricy, but I can design any cabinet I want and make it as big as my budget allows (it could be a 1x15, 2x12 and 12x8 - all in one cab!). The only problem would be light getting behind it somehow, you would be able to see through the fabric. Gotta figure that out - maybe front lighting would eliminate that.
Other option is to make a foldable set of cabs, with a printed front. They would be fairly flat when folded up, still more bulky than fabric and PVC pipes.
-
If you screen print onto stage blacks light shouldn't get through from behind. Also I was thinking you could do a rack of heads next to a couple of double stacks (ala Page or Townsend), then all the LEDs will be close together for easier wiring, and you could also throw in a Hi-Watt and Orange etc.
-
How about simply printing images of speaker cones onto thick black cardboard.
Glue-on small neodym magnets ot the back side, and arrange some easily setup/teardown framework of plastic tubes, assembled using the cheapest drum kit clamps you can find.
Add strips of steel in a pattern matching the magnets, and it should all work out just fine.
-
Isn't it possible to make it in printed cardboard,so you fold and unfold at the end of the gig. Light, when unfold easy to carry...
-
Easiest way IMHO is to take a standard band black (which we've all used for many years), screen print (this is your forte isn't it Dante ??) some "small writing" Marshall cabs (the big writing sucks IMO) onto it, roll it up and bobs your uncle... Make one of the prints a rack of heads with LEDs...... the others just 2 x 4 x 12 cabs, hang it from 2 mic stands or from the lighting truss, cheap cheerful and effective
-
Or do like i do get 3 REAL stacks :lol:
Say R "bobs your uncle" what does this mean? I hear that guy from the EEV blog saying that all the time.
-
Whatever you do, make sure it's sturdy. Nothing more embarrassing than a 'wall of sound' that baffles in the winds..
-
bob's your uncle = there you go, or that's it, or you're done
For example:
Amp sound crappy? Change the tubes and Bob's your uncle
Car running rough? Get a tune up and Bob's your uncle
-
Ah ok thanks Dante.
-
We've been looking into this theatrical apparatus for a while with my AC/DC band.
Now that we have cannons, a 4 foot tall bell, trigger pads for bell and cannon sounds, backdrops, etc.
We want to move things yet another notch up.
The cheap alternatives...welll...look cheap.
I've seen some nicely built fake double stacks where one of the bottom straight one
needs to be real...That's the one that gets miced up.
THe whole thing is made out of the same actual materials than real cabs:
Tolex, wood, piping, grilled cloth...etc.
They're only like 2 inch thick.
But these things aren't selling for cheap either.
For now (You can see in the videos) we use 2 angled cabs each that we stack sideways,
because obviously there is no room to stack them atop each other.
At least it's real cabs even if the arrangement looks a little uncommon.
Straight Marshall cabinets are hard to come by and people sell them at ridiculously high prices around here. ???
-
Say, those are some nice fake Marshall's..
Just needs some likewise nice fake amps on top - with LEDs - and Bob's gonna be your uncle too.. :lol:
-
Yeah really nice chucky, is that heavy ? Carrying all that stuff means several cars or...even a truck ! or maybe several ride which means you, guys, don't play too far ?
and that's true, you're right : "cheap solutions... looks cheap !"
-
I saw that guy's stuff online when searching myself. Great idea, but I drive a JEEP!! I'll need a trailer - haha
-
Hey Dante, just do a convincing back drop, weight it at the bottom so it doesn't blow around, you already know how to make one, just screen print on stage blacks (and bob's you uncle LoL) Cheap, cheerful, relatively easy, and the audience won't care and you can just roll it up...
-
So, at ZZ Top practice last night, I express my plan to build a couple (or a few) 1x12 faux cabs that I can fold up and take with me. My bass player, a crafty MFer, walked me out to his warehouse where he has built two faux arrays of 4x12 speaker cabs. He has four fake 4x12s for each side of the stage!!! Already built! He says we can take them to gigs if we want to.
If I want to?!? Heeeeellll Yeah I want to! Sheesh, what kinda question is that?
He built them for his AC/DC tribute band. He also wants to put together a Foo Fighters tribute band (I got dibs on playing guitar in that one)
-
Great Dante :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: . We used to do Monkey Wrench, great song to play live.
-
So, at ZZ Top practice last night, I express my plan to build a couple (or a few) 1x12 faux cabs that I can fold up and take with me. My bass player, a crafty MFer, walked me out to his warehouse where he has built two faux arrays of 4x12 speaker cabs. He has four fake 4x12s for each side of the stage!!! Already built! He says we can take them to gigs if we want to.
If I want to?!? Heeeeellll Yeah I want to! Sheesh, what kinda question is that?
He built them for his AC/DC tribute band. He also wants to put together a Foo Fighters tribute band (I got dibs on playing guitar in that one)
You lucky SOB!!! :thumb-up:
-
I like the washing machine backdrop that Rush uses:
(http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg481/GuitarBuilder/rush-time-machine-1_zpscdbrhq7x.jpg)
Complete with flames! :banana-guitar: :banana-guitar:
-
I'm more of a rotisserie chicken backdrop guy (notice, it's mic'd - lol)
(http://jimmydoane.com/images/Rush/Geddy_Lee_Chickens.jpg)
-
Rush keeps telling us: have a sense of humor! :banana-dance:
-
Well we finally decided to go forward with our solution to this issue:
Build empty cabs!!
The rhythm guitar player and I already had 2 slanted cabinets, we needed 2 straight cabs each.
The drummer and singer decided to go all the way, ordered wood, grill cloth, tolex, handles, corners and piping....
And built 4 straight cabinets from scratch!
>:D
Since the grill cloth was different from our actual cabs, they also took those apart and replaced the front grills
to match everything up. Lots of work!
Here is the final look.
We still need to get a few Marshall logos to add to the front of the straight cabs and the piping.
Whenever we get them I guess!
(http://i.imgur.com/O1z0ihk.jpg) (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/commercial-photography/california/palm-springs/)
:whoohoo!:
(http://i.imgur.com/aw7QQDk.jpg) (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/commercial-photography/california/palm-springs/)
-
Wauw you guys are going all the way with this, nice, I like it!
-
THAT LOOKS BADASS
TOTALLY. BADASS. :bow:
May I suggest RockPose #32 in front of that stack? ^-^
-
Looks good !stage is not empty :thumb-up:
-
Anyone noticed the Carvin head disguised as an actual AC/DC amp from a factory that never existed producing such amps? O0
-
Anyone noticed the Carvin head disguised as an actual AC/DC amp from a factory that never existed producing such amps? O0
I totally missed that Carvin head - haha
Where was this gig? In a baseball stadium?
-
Nice Chucky, lots of fun :thumb-up: >:D :metal:
-
It looks like it was a great gig Chucky :thumb-up: