Just curious. I was going to sell my KN1000, (don't laugh too hard, its got nice stuff for a good combo sound), but just read a post on a different forum, saying he takes two with him.

So, How many have a back-up but leave it home?

How many take two to the job.


How many have the same or very similar board (PA60/80 for example)

How many have a different brand board as a back up?


If you take a different arranger keyboard with you how many use both on the job vs leave it in the car.

Anybody ever break down on the job and what happened and what did you or the audience do.

Only once did I have equipment failure. About 1968, the rock band I was in played for a frat party. I was playing a Capri chord organ as we called it then. Same as the Panther. Italian stuff. One of the contacts got stuck on a bus-bar and continued to play. We took the board apart, we could see it but could not correct it then. So, I finished off the night playing my organ with one foot of one stop of one note (whew) playing the rest of the night. A cypher in other words. Except for when the bass player got too drunk on beer, (we were in high school about 15 or 16 years old) and I started playing bass. Everyone was truly sauced,(I'm a tea totaler now) the frat boys and us, so nobody seemed to care.

Will be interested in hearing your experiences.

Scott Langholff

I kept a backup for 20 years or so, but currently don't have one. I've never had a keyboard go out on the job (or anywhere else for that matter). The Solton X1 flickered and locked up a time or two, but never quit.
The PSR9000 screen locked up once or twice, but it kept playing and cleared up after rebooting. I suppose I usually don't keep them long enough for much to go wrong.
I've accidently blown speaker drivers on p.a. systems, had mic and speakers cables go out, but never a portable keyboard.
I do have music on the Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox that I could use if it does happen, so I guess that's my backup right now.
I keep extra cables, mics, and power cords, and usually even a spare p.a. system in the van.
DonM

its already hard enough work taking one of each item to the job....I ain't carrying another...if it dies...the party is not meant to be

As I mentioned on the Tyrosworld forum, I do take another keyboard to each gig. Not only as a backup, but because it can use custom samples, it has some sounds which are better than the Tyros, etc. etc.

I have had keyboards cut out on my. At one gig, the owner of the club had some electrical problems which actually fried one of my keyboards due to a huge power surge -- even though I use a surge protector. Luckily the guitarists and PA were plugged into another outlet and weren't affected, but the other keyboard survived the surge and thankfully kept on chugging!!

Just one man's experience, I'm superstitious at this point on.

Al G

I don't currently have a backup keyboard with me at my jobs though I have had two keyboards in my stage rig in the past so if one went out I always had the other. I've never had a failure on stage so the extra weight/effort never seemed worthwhile and I now only use one keyboard. However I do have several backup systems at home that I can use in case my main keyboard was to need repair. Since a lot of my stage music is in midi files and in the Yamaha XG format, I have now loaded the S-YXG50 soft synth onto two laptops and one desktop. I have a variety of keyboards I can use with the laptops, or I can use an existing acoustic piano.

I wouldn't mind having a spare 9000 Pro though when the right one comes along.

I do but only for sex.
Terry

I've got backup and backups for my backups.

But, seldom carry them to jobs, unless I am playing out of town. Most problems I have experienced, like worn out contact strips, show up gradually.

Here in Florida, during spring and parts of summer, we have little, itty-bitty bugs called "No See-ums". And, really, you can't see them, but the little buggers bite. They are so small they fly right through screens.

While playing in a screened in patio at a pool party years ago, I was playing a double set up with a PSR 5700 and Roland E20. The PSR suddenly quit. All the lights were on...but no sound. I limped thru the night on the E20...but those old E20 styles drove me nuts.

When I got home I opened the 5700 and there were literally thousands, maybe tens of thousands of No See-ums in the casing which apparantly shorted out the wiring. It looked like a large accumulation of dust..but it was definately No See-ums. And they were all deceased.

A good once over with the vacuum cleaner and all was well again.

Plugging the 5700 into circuits that were used for coffee pots, refrigeration, etc also used to knock out the KB. A USP with battery back-up solved that.

None of the above has been a problem with my PSR 2000, 740 or 9000. (knock on wood.)

Eddie

For backup all I need is my Laptop.... I have done gigs with just the Laptop, 2 powered speakers and a microphone when I left my Kb home by accident!! I usualy have another KB in my studio just in case, but I have thinned out the herd recently amking room for the new. I will definitly get another KB in a few weeks.

Anyone out there ever heard of Murphy's Law? Two keyboards, two speakers, two amp heads, spare mics, spare light bulbs for the music stand, spare midi cables, spare everthing. Yep, it's a big load, but over the past decade I've had several cables go bad, a blown speaker, an internal battery failure on a keyboard, a mixer channel died twice, a mic dropped dead in the middle of a song, and a drunk staggered into the keyboard stand with a pitcher of beer in his hand. The beer sailed over my head and landed on the dance floor, the drunk laughed like hell and there were two keyboards in my lap. Just another fun night at the American Legion.

If you don't pack a spare keyboard and other essential spares with you on the job, it's like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun--it just ain't smart. "Oh I really sorry Mr. President, but I guess your $500 a plate fund rainser just won't have any music this time because the one keyboard I brought just doesn't seem to work."

The bottom line is "If it's electronic or mechanical or a combination of both, such as a keyboard, one day it's gonna' fail. Murphy's Law always prevails"

Gary