AdrianP

As ikay said, it's because some Hartke Hydrive drivers have two voice coils. One at 4 ohms and one at 8. For instance, my HY112 cabs can be run on their own at 4 or, together, at 8 ohms each for a combined load of 4 ohms. Mind you, I have run one cab on its own at 8 ohms and there isn't a massive difference in volume when compared to running it at 4. But it does provide a certain amount of versatility. By the way, I don't think that all Hartke cabs have dual voice coils, or even all Hydrive cabs. The one in my KB12 combo is definitely 4 ohms only (as confirmed by their tech support line).

Or, to look at it in a more positive way, the best mate has learned an important life lesson. Think things through before acting. It only cost him £60 but it could have been a lot more. And he had a free guitar set up thrown in for good measure!

I would have thought that a 2X12" would be fine for any rehearsal room. I use two Hartke HX112s as part of my main gigging rig, powered by a Peavey Tour 700. Together, easily loud enough for an outdoor gig we did recently on-board a boat at Canary Wharf. And, if switched to 4 ohms, one on its own can cope quite well for smaller gigs. In rehearsals, and with a very loud drummer, I've never struggled even with one cab.

I suppose it's a question of balance really. I've just been reading Greg Lake's autobiography. One of his principles was that the band should always perform "four for them and one for you". Four songs for the audience to every one for the band. That's a principle that goes out of the window in our band. It's basically whatever the band leader or guitarist fancies playing. We've recently added a few new songs that I really don't think are going to go down well with audiences. Long widdling guitar solos in what is basically ment to be a fun rock covers band. But some people just won't be told.

For me, above everything else, there is one thing that really gets my goat. The band leader changing the key in which we play a song without telling anyone. Or, more specifically, without telling me. A case in point. We had a band rehearsal on Saturday evening. One of the songs we're going to try to introduce into the set is an instrumental version of Jolene. Sounds all well and good. Been practicing it for a couple of weeks at home. Listen to the original on the commute into work each morning. Got the bass line down with a few nice fills. Plays in C#m. All good. We start to play and immediately it sounds like a car crash. I stop us after once round the verse and chorus. Me: "Er. What key are you guys playing in?" BL and lead guitarist: "A minor. I know we're meant to play with a capo on the 4th but we thought we'd just try it like this". Me: "And you didn't bother to tell me? Cheers." So I'm busy transposing everything in my head as we set off again. And then I'm thinking, if the BL AND lead guitarist are both playing in Am, have they agreed this together? On their own? So now I'm peeved AND paranoid. I'm going to have to make sure the BL states precisely what key he wants to play in to avoid this sort of thing in the future. But this isn't the first time we've had this sort of thing. He texted me last week that we're doing a medley of Babe I'm Gonna Leave you and Jessica. But he tells the guitarist we're doing Babe... and Stairway to Heaven. In the end, we sort of did neither. But Jessica never got mentioned again. Glad I got that off my chest.

Well it was, sort of! I was actually thinking about the other thread on here about the differences between pro, semi-pro and weekend warrior musicians. I was wondering if there are other differences besides sources of income. I was also thinking that, if I was so wired up after a day's work every day, it would drive me crazy within a week. I think with me, I'm a really poor sleeper anyway. I get off OK but keep waking up constantly during the night. I've just noticed that, after a gig or a 'gig conditions' rehearsal, my sleep is even worse. Actually, I'm glad that so many on here have found ways around this. I'll probably take a leaf out of Keef's book and see how far that get's me!

Been thinking about this for a while but the recent thread on nerves and anxiety prompted me to ask. I sleep really badly after a gig. The band did two gigs last year, our first two gigs in ages, and I probably didn't sleep more than an hour after each one. I put that down to the raw emotion of actually being up in front of an audience. But we did a major band rehearsal last night, where we hired a stage, and ran through our entire set four times at gigging pace. Didn't get home until after 23.00 and was still buzzing hours later. Slept, again, maybe about three hours and now in work on a Monday morning looking for a hole to crawl into and die. So how do you guys sleep after a gig, or a big rehearsal? Particularly the pro musicians for whom, after all, this is just a job. Or is it just me?

Not a funk person at all but just been mesmerized listening to Jerry Barnes playing with Chic. Great tone and a really tasteful player. Won't make the mistake of comparing him to Bernard Edwards but will definitely seek out more of his stuff.

Yes, I've got one of the KB12s. I bought it when PMT were blowing them out for £220 about six months ago. Whether it's underpowered or not depends on what you expect from it or compare it to, I suppose. For me, it's a £200 combo amp which packs away quite small and is easily powerful enought for rehearsals. That's up against a loud guitarist and a drummer who thinks the only sure sign that he's been hitting hard enough is if he ends up in A&E for precautionary X rays. Actually, we've rehearsed in a couple of studios where I've had to turn down because the KB12 has set off worrying vibrations in the walls and ceiling. So I can't fault it as a rehearsal amp, even with a loud band. I've only gigged it the once and that was outdoors. So probably not a really fair test. But I would say that it got a little lost in the mix under very testing conditions. The drummer kept asking me to turn up the volume as he couldn't hear me. But turning up past about 2 O'clock had it starting to fart out quite noticably. I'm not sure if that was the driver going past its excursion limit or the class D head starting to clip. But about 1 O'clock was about it's practical limit. So I get the feeling (bearing out that previous post which I've also read) that the KB12 is probably quite sensitive to room dynamics and placement. In a relatively small room, well placed near a back wall, it could blow your fillings out. But get a badly shaped room, or less than ideal placement, and you could struggle to hear yourself. But that's a difficult thing to test without trying it for real. For what it's worth, I've started putting together a rig consisting of a 700 watt head and, so far, a 12 inch cab. All off the classifieds here. I'll probably add another 12" cab before too long as I know we will be doing more outdoor gigs next summer. And I don't think the KB12 will cut it. Don't know if that helps any. A