So we all know things can go wrong at gigs, and on the whole, no matter how prepared you are with the best gear it still happens.If you think about it, a gig is a very complex beast, and with each connection, piece of cabling, power source, light, pedal, you are adding to the complexity of the system and also adding another point of failure. Having said that, even if you just plug a guitar straight into an amp, there is still the possibility  that it won't work…it could be a bad lead, valve, pickup or you could break a string.Now I have been doing this for more years than I care to think about, I have had so many things go wrong over the years, and as such I like to think that being a good boy scout, I am always prepared. But the point is how much back up is the right amount. I appreciate that if it was a tour like U2 or Iron Maiden, each element has redundancy built into it, there are two or maybe even three items taken, each which can be easily switched to given a point of failure. But what about us guys at the other end of the spectrum? How many amps is it feasible to take with you for example? Should you have a back up for every pedal?The answer is a relative to the situation. On the whole, my backup situation is a

• back-up guitar (always on stage ready to go),
• a very cheap Behringer GDI-21 direct box with amp modeller (as an amp replacement),
• strings and a couple of leads.

That pretty much ensures that I can play a gig in the worse case scenario. (Main guitar has a fault, amp has a fault, wireless has a fault). I would hope that pedal wise they all won't break at the same time, but I guess it is a possibility (I hope I am not tempting fate!)So it was a complete shock that at a gig on Saturday my amp started making the strangest of noises, a really nasty horrible distortion, of course this happened at the exact moment we had to be out of the sound check. I didn't have any time to really get to the bottom of it. I took my logical approach and worked through the signal chain quickly. Guitar directly in to amp, fine (although quiet), amp into first pedal fine, amp into other pedals (fine), amp in to Nova System…distortion.Okay, so I took all the pedals out and guitar plugged into Nova system …distortion. Hmmm and over all level was low. Unfortunately at that point we had to leave the stage. In my head, it was either Power tube issue or Nova Issues (but what!) Fortunately, the venue was close to home, and we weren't on stage for a couple of hours, so I went home to get  another amp (otherwise it would have been the Behringer!).Due to the nature of the event, I had to wait until the moment we went on stage to switch amps. Anyway, just before starting, quick strum on guitar showed that there was at least sound with the new amp. Four notes into first song, nothing!! Okay, so before going on, I had changed batteries in my wireless pack. Unfortunately the ones I had picked up were dead!!! So quick change of batteries (yes I did have another back up) and I am back in action….but no, the amp (the new one) was still distorting!! Okay, so it had to be the Nova system, so quickly taking it out of the loop and leaving only distortion pedal and a wah, that was my gig….but we got through!! Oh wait a minute, then the wireless IEM packed in as well, batteries were fine, but was dropping out like crazy!! So out with the monitoring too. Now that was one fun gig!!Having backups certainly took the stress out of the situation, I knew that I could put on a show regardless, just not ideal. Having said that having other units fail at the same time was very frustrating and obviously sod's law! The lesson to be learnt from this is about being systematic in your approach to trouble shooting. If I have had more time, I would have been able to find out the point between the Nova system and my amp which was causing the problem.Roll forward to the next day, Guitar into amp, no problem. Check valves (no problem), Nova into amp….PROBLEM. Check levels, all fine, check input gain structure…PROBLEM…..yes the problem was somehow the input gain was being very sensitive to the guitar pickup and causing horrible overloading into the amp. I have been running this set-up for nearly two years with no issue, and without changing the setting. But it had changed slightly, a ghost in the machine? Again something I would have checked eventually had time been on my side, but a relief that it was nothing terminal (dead valves!).I love my valve amps (as you know if you read this blog), but when something like this happens (even though it wasn't necessarily their fault in this occasion), it makes you realise and remember how fragile those little light bulbs actually are and how temperamental they can be. A case for solid state perhaps? Given that I played a show on my backup amp, with two pedals, it also goes to show that nobody in the audience could give a flying monkey if you are using valve or tube! So I might consider solid state again…..maybe….nah!It is also a relief to see that it happens to the best of us! Steve Vai's amp blows ampLesson :

• Have a back up of enough gear to allow the show to continue (not a back of every element. This will relive your stress.
• Prepare for everything going wrong at once
• Take a systematic approach to fault finding (work from one end to the other, breaking the system down into testable chunks)

Good luck!PeaceNeil