RAISING THE TONE …
This month, editor Jamie Dickson ponders the ultimate lightweight gigging setup…
Years ago I bought a 90s Marshall Bluesbreaker reissue at auction. Nice amp, great sounds, plenty of welly in terms of volume and, of course, an iconic look. I sold it less than six months later, for one reason. It weighed an absolute ton – well, 31kg to be precise – and had but one woefully inadequate carrying handle on the top. It was like trying to lift a suitcase filled with lead blocks. It had to go.
Currently, my main gigging amp is a Dr Z Jaz 20/40 combo, which is right on the limit weight-wise. But because I love its sounds so much, I’m prepared to put up with its bulk for festival shows or larger gigs. But what about those nights when you’re just going to sit in on somebody’s set or join a blues jam in a little bar? I’d say there’s a strong case for having a‘B’ rig that’s optimised for just such occasions. For example, when my friend and ex-guitarist for Robert Plant, Innes Sibun, invited me to sit in on his set a while back, I took along just the bare essentials – aMarshall Class 5 combo, my guitar and a Hudson Electronics Broadcast pedal for an overdrive.
That setup actually worked really well on the night – I don’t think we even needed to mic up the Marshall as it is deceptively loud for a 5-watt amp.That said, that setup would only really do for a rowdy blues set – the amp was cranked as far as it would go, didn’t have any reverb and, in that state, would only do one sound – wide open, small-combo wailing – which fortunately suited the occasion. If I had needed more headroom, dynamics or flexibility, it wouldn’t have sufficed. So what are some lightweight alternatives that might offer a more capable all-round solution for not much more weight?
First of all, Blackstar’s innovative 50-watt St James amp range (£1,099 as reviewed in issue 488), with its specially designed lightweight Celestion‘Zephyr’ speakers, candlenut ply cabinet and switched-mode power transformer, was a bit of a revelation. The St James combos offer 50 watts of really ear-pleasing tone in a very lightweight (12.8kg), compact package that comes in both EL34 and 6L6 versions. I’d very much recommend trying out a St James if you’re looking to put together a highly portable, punchy rig, especially as it has some great cab-sim tech on board for silent recording when you’re back in the home studio.
But it’s still possible to go lighter and more compact, and do so for less money, too.As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, the Laney Cub-Super is an amazing little amp for the money (£419 for the 1x12 combo), while the headand-cab version lets you carry one part in
