Blew a speaker at my set last Friday night

Was playing a small gig in San Miguel and my right monitor just gave out halfway through the second track. Had to finish the whole hour using one ear of my headphones and eyeballing the crowd. Any tips for keeping cheap gear alive longer?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.jamie28d ago

Man, I had a similar nightmare back when I was playing a block party in St. Louis. I was running a 15 year old mixer that sounded like it was held together with duct tape and prayer. Right as the bass dropped on a Daft Punk track, the whole left channel just went dead. I had to spend the rest of the set swapping cables and praying the other side wouldn't blow. @dixon.amy is spot on about having a backup though. I started keeping a spare power amp and a pair of old monitor wedges in my car after that night. Cheap gear is like a ticking clock, you just never know when it's gonna give out.

dixon.amy28d ago

I had my subwoofer catch fire once during a wedding DJ set in Austin. Nothing like that smell of burnt plastic to really get the dance floor going. Truth is, cheap gear is always a gamble, I've learned the hard way that keeping a backup speaker in the trunk is cheaper than buying a whole new one after a gig. Also, I started carrying a little portable fan to cool down my amps between sets, especially in those humid venues.

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