Using US gear in the EU?

All instruments that aren't guitars (or bass guitars).
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cestlamort
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Using US gear in the EU?

Post by cestlamort » Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:12 am

Exciting news:
My band has been invited to play a couple dates in Germany this November, so we've set up (and are still setting up!) a short European tour (Italy, France, Germany). (Very last minute for German scheduling, as we're discovering. Itinerary so far is based around where we have friends: Florence, Paris, Münster, Hanover).

It's all a bit DIY, so the backline might be a bit of question mark at some of the dates. Is it worth bringing gear beyond guitars + (small) pedalboard? We'll be traveling by train, so that limits things.

Amps: We're already bringing one of those newfangled Aguilar tone hammer bass amps (it's dual voltage + DI, plus it sounds amazing for being 4lbs!) but I'm trying to think of some portable guitar solutions, too.

The simplest solution may be to get a sansamp (or similar) and run straight to PA as a last resort.

How hard would it be to get a US Pro Junior to run on European power? (I'd hate to haul it over there and fry it). I fear the step down transformer might weigh as much as the amp. Or: would it make sense to have a dual (or EU) voltage transformer installed?

Drums: at the mercy of venues probably. One of our Paris dates is supposedly "no drums" so we're planning on bringing our Roland SPDS sample pad thing for a low volume set, leaning more to Kraftwerk than MTV Unplugged... (And for the record, if you are doing an unplugged thing, for the love all that's good: *brushes not bongos* )

Any advice / thoughts welcome.

And please drop me a line if you have any club / band contacts (esp. Zurich, Milan, Bologna, Cologne) for this tour (and we're planning on coming back in May/June 2018.)

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Kent
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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by Kent » Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:31 am

Come to Vienna!

I will suggest using some sort of DI/Modeler for guitar duties. I switched to a Fractal Audio device partially due to this. Dealing with a tube amp on a small tour will be a PITA. Can someone provide one for you if you go this route?

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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by cestlamort » Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:39 am

Kent wrote:Come to Vienna!

I will suggest using some sort of DI/Modeler for guitar duties. I switched to a Fractal Audio device partially due to this. Dealing with a tube amp on a small tour will be a PITA. Can someone provide one for you if you go this route?
Gerne spielen wir in Wien. (!)

Ich habe gleich gelernt, dass wir in Florenz und Deutschland total ausgestattet sind (mit Verstärkern, usw). So vielleicht ist es doch kein Problem...

Sorry, English: Just got word that we're set for gear in Florence and our Germany dates. So, less urgency than before.

Tangent:
Funny to think how, even now, this tour is challenging my own cultural / regional assumptions. First, the lead times are much much longer than in the US (6 months seems to be the sweet spot for Germany, rather than two months here). Second, the culture here (NW US) is that you expect to haul amps around with you to shows, rather than backlines. (Easy because SF twins are a dime a dozen, for example).

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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by thisisnickpaige » Sun Sep 24, 2017 10:09 am

cestlamort wrote: How hard would it be to get a US Pro Junior to run on European power?
First off, congrats! Second off, easy. Check amazon for a step down transformer. If you don’t mind doing it a dual voltage transform is the best idea. I was never bold enough to do that to my amps. But i’d vote for a SansAmp type solution. There are tons of really good ones I discovered in my search. And then plus, you’ve got nothing to lug.

Edit: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=105165
The thread I started asking about pedal solutions for replacing an amp, if you want to go that route.
Jesus

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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by cestlamort » Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:53 pm

thisisnickpaige wrote:
cestlamort wrote: How hard would it be to get a US Pro Junior to run on European power?
First off, congrats! Second off, easy. Check amazon for a step down transformer. If you don’t mind doing it a dual voltage transform is the best idea. I was never bold enough to do that to my amps. But i’d vote for a SansAmp type solution. There are tons of really good ones I discovered in my search. And then plus, you’ve got nothing to lug.

Edit: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=105165
The thread I started asking about pedal solutions for replacing an amp, if you want to go that route.
Thanks. I look forward to the tips in that thread.

For a step down transformer, what are the guidelines? How much 'headroom' should there be there? etc. I'm all in favor of "not lugging" if possible.

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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by Kent » Mon Oct 02, 2017 4:04 am

Go for 20% overhead.

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Re: Using US gear in the EU?

Post by RandyRandom » Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:37 am

Kent wrote:
Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:31 am
Come to Vienna!

I will suggest using some sort of DI/Modeler for guitar duties. I switched to a Fractal Audio device partially due to this. Dealing with a tube amp on a small tour will be a PITA. Can someone provide one for you if you go this route?
Wien ist immer eine gute idee :P:P*


*Vienna is always as good place to go/play
:D Gotta love them Offsets :D

Any other austrians around here?

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