AI Corus loud enough for a big room?

[sgcim]

I've got a big band gig tomorrow with no keyboard player in a large room (300 to 400 people) and I'd like to use my newly acquired AI Corus.
It's been fine in small rooms, but I'm wondering if I should bring my Redstone 10" cab to fill the sound up more?
Any other advice on using this amp from Corus owners? Should I elevate it? Which channel should I use, etc...?
I just downloaded the manual from the AI web site, but I get more out of practical advice. Thanks!

[Jim Soloway]

I think your Corus will be absolutely perfect. You will never need your Redstone cab again and therefore you should sell it to me (DISCLAIMER: Please do not take the first sentence of my post as anything other than a self-serving attempt to get someone to sell me a Redstone 1x10 cab)

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

It wouldn't hurt to bring an extension cab, to spread the sound. Plus, your amp will see lower ohms and that will increase the output wattage = more headroom. a 10" cab is pretty tote-able.

[Woody Sound]

This is slightly off topic but....

The keyboard player in my BB uses one,and I think it sounds anemic. Sometime the bass player uses one, and when he does, he sounds anemic. I've never tried one myself in the BB.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

This is slightly off topic but....

The keyboard player in my BB uses one,and I think it sounds anemic. Sometime the bass player uses one, and when he does, he sounds anemic. I've never tried one myself in the BB.

I know some people have AI heads they use with other (non-AI) cabinets. It's hard to imagine a 500W (?) amp sounding anemic for guitar.

[Jim Soloway]

I know some people have AI heads they use with other (non-AI) cabinets. It's hard to imagine a 500W (?) amp sounding anemic for guitar.

Cab design. I had one of their early combos and it had the worst projection of any combo I've ever owned.

[Woody Sound]

This is slightly off topic but....

The keyboard player in my BB uses one,and I think it sounds anemic. Sometime the bass player uses one, and when he does, he sounds anemic. I've never tried one myself in the BB.

I should have been clear - I was referring to the little combos. I'm SURE the heads would sound great with another cab.

[sgcim]

I think your Corus will be absolutely perfect. You will never need your Redstone cab again and therefore you should sell it to me (DISCLAIMER: Please do not take the first sentence of my post as anything other than a self-serving attempt to get someone to sell me a Redstone 1x10 cab)

You said local pick up only.

[Danny W.]

I've been using AI combos with my big band for thirteen years, a Corus for nine of them. I can play more loudly than our leader will let me :-) In big rooms I sometimes have FOH; however, even when we do the sound guys usually tell me they have my fader all the way down (maybe it's my playing). Since I play carved-top guitars my volume is feedback limited in most rooms anyway, although the controlled dispersion of the Corus' speakers allows me to be louder at at start of feedback than most speakers I've used, and unlike my RE cabs, there's no beaminess.

This video is from a church that was sold out at about 500 people, the video recorder was about 2/3 of the way back and the only sound support is for the vocals and piano. I'm sitting in the 'bone row, so the leader is right in front of my amp and me. He thinks my sound with the Corus controls flat is too heavy, so I always have the bass and mid controls set to about 9:30.

Danny W.

[Jim Soloway]

I'll check out how the Corus holds up on the gig tomorrow, alone, and with the RS-10.
I almost never sell things, though. I just throw them in the closets- it's too much trouble.
I've got stuff in there that i haven't used in 45 years!
I

Cool. I won't buy anything in the meantime

[Jonathan0996]

I'll check out how the Corus holds up on the gig tomorrow, alone, and with the RS-10.

I've used the Corus with a big band, and I think it'll be fine by itself unless you're playing funk/rock charts and need to do crunchy rhythm or screaming leads.

You can try it with the Redstone too. It may be great or it may be a mismatch, depending on speaker efficiency.

[sgcim]

Thanks for the replies!
Since I've got two Corus owners that have used them with big bands (this band will probably only have 8 or 9 horns), I'll probably go with just the Corus. It's a morning gig so assuming I don't oversleep it, I'd probably forget the RS anyway.
Don't turn down any good offers, Jim!

[Woody Sound]

Another consideration is what KIND of big band. If you're just comping to simple 40's swing or dance tunes, then sure the Chorus combo is sufficient. But in a more modern jazz bb, it won't cut through the blare.

[christianm77]

They burst into flames when there's a power spike. Never use one without a power breaker.

Other than that I couldn't tell you much.

[artdecade]

They burst into flames when there's a power spike. Never use one without a power breaker.

[sgcim]

Well, it didn't burst into flames, but it might as well have.
I carpooled to the gig with three other musicians, so there was barely enough room for the Corus.
When we get there, guys in the band see the weird shape of the Corus, and tell me that the drummer is already here, so I can go home. Ha ha ha...
I tell them, 'it's my new amp; wait till you hear this thing'.
I set up and immediately play Donna Lee as fast as I can (at that hour) to put the fear of the Lord in them.
As usual, everyone just ignores me, but at least I've verified my new amp is working.
I look at the book on my stand, and it's the piano book(there's no keyboard player on this gig), so I borrow a pencil from the drummer, and write in some of the changes to the charts that are just bass and treble clef without any chord symbols.
Before I know it, they call the first chart, and we start playing.

The Corus is sounding fine till the middle of the chart, when all of a sudden, it just dies.
This is a four hour gig, and my new amp has died on the first tune!!!!!!!!!
After I check every possible thing that could've caused this, I give up, and plug into the PA, and face the speaker towards the band. I have a solo, and I can't hear a note that I'm playing.
The contractor (luckily, a friend of mine) tells me he can't hear me, and I tell him what's wrong, and he tells me to raise the volume on the PA. I raise it, but all I can hear is the PA speaker on the other side of the room. I realize that the PA speaker nearest me isn't working. Just to hit a guy when he's down, the drummer yells at me, 'Hey, give me back that pencil you borrowed from me!'
All of a sudden, an opera singer who is on the show, walks in with his own PA. He lets me plug my guitar into his PA, and hooks his PA up to the speaker nearest me, and I finally get a loud enough (but lousy) sound.

Luckily for me, the leader of the gig came late, and didn't witness this debacle, and complimented me at the end of the gig, unaware that anything was wrong.

I guess I'll email AI, and ask them if i should send the Corus back to them to be repaired.

[John Link]

For the last 8 years or so I have been using an AI Corus. I have never had one problem with it, even after it fell out of the back of the band van and bounced down a paved road like a basket ball for about 50', it continued to work just fine. Except for a really loud rock gig in a very large room, it will fill the bill. And for that occasional rock gig I bought a AI Two Ten extension cabinet that is just great. Plus I can use the combination of the two for jobs when I play electric bass. I can't say enough good about the amp, blows my Deluxe Reverb away and weighs half as much.

[Woody Sound]

For the last 8 years or so I have been using an AI Corus. I have never had one problem with it, even after it fell out of the back of the band van and bounced down a paved road like a basket ball for about 50', it continued to work just fine.

Kinda related, one time our kb player dropped HIS out of his truck just before a gig and it landed in a funny way that broke and bent the zipper on the cover, and we couldn't get it open. Tried everything. We finally had to CUT THE COVER OPEN with a big knife to get the amp out.

[Stringswinger]

I have been using a series 3 Clarus for nine years. I probably use it 150 nights a year. Never had a problem.

[christianm77]

I'm serious about the power spike thing btw. I'm not saying it's a flaw inherrent to AI gear, it just so happened my AER blew a fuse and was otherwise fine, the bass player's Corus was destroyed.

A lot of equipment was destroyed that afternoon, including a $3000 PA set up (for the other band) and several electric cookers.

The insurance situation is messy. Lots of big claims. Unlikely to see any pay outs soon...

Always make sure that when you plug into a power supply from a generator you use a power breaker.

So not really connected to the thread, but there you go ;-)

[Danny W.]

For the last 8 years or so I have been using an AI Corus. I have never had one problem with it, even after it fell out of the back of the band van and bounced down a paved road like a basket ball for about 50', it continued to work just fine. Except for a really loud rock gig in a very large room, it will fill the bill. And for that occasional rock gig I bought a AI Two Ten extension cabinet that is just great. Plus I can use the combination of the two for jobs when I play electric bass. I can't say enough good about the amp, blows my Deluxe Reverb away and weighs half as much.

I have AI combos to cover all circumstances:



As awesome as the Ten2 stacked on top of the Ten2EX sounds, I still use just the Corus for everything outside my house. Whenever I've used my Ten2 with my current big band the leader complains I'm too loud and heavy sounding.

About ten years ago I did some gigs subbing in a friend's '50's rock group. No longer owning anything remotely resembling a rock & rock amp I used a modeling pedal into the effects return on my Coda amp. During sound checks I invariably had to be told to turn it way down. At almost every gig someone would come over and ask where my amp was. My favorite was a guy who said I sounded great in the audience and wanted to know if I was micing or using a direct out to the FOH--when I told him that it was just my little amp all by itself he flat out didn't believe me, even after showed him that there was nothing attached to or in front of my amp that ran to our sound system. I did another round of these gigs a few years later and used my Ten2, which probably sounded better.

This is from one of the gigs with the Coda. We were in a country-club restaurant, but the dance audience of several hundred was outside on the patio:



Danny W.

[DanH8482]

Really sorry to hear your Corus failed on the gig, that's never fun (understatement!)

I've played my Corus (the one for sale) on many gigs, including with fairly loud pit bands and never had an issue. In fact, mine was owned by Jonathan who commented above. Hopefully Acoustic Image can repair it for you.

[JazzNote]

Well, it didn't burst into flames, but it might as well have.
I carpooled to the gig with three other musicians, so there was barely enough room for the Corus.
When we get there, guys in the band see the weird shape of the Corus, and tell me that the drummer is already here, so I can go home. Ha ha ha...
I tell them, 'it's my new amp; wait till you hear this thing'.
I set up and immediately play Donna Lee as fast as I can (at that hour) to put the fear of the Lord in them.
As usual, everyone just ignores me, but at least I've verified my new amp is working.
I look at the book on my stand, and it's the piano book(there's no keyboard player on this gig), so I borrow a pencil from the drummer, and write in some of the changes to the charts that are just bass and treble clef without any chord symbols.
Before I know it, they call the first chart, and we start playing.

The Corus is sounding fine till the middle of the chart, when all of a sudden, it just dies.
This is a four hour gig, and my new amp has died on the first tune!!!!!!!!!
After I check every possible thing that could've caused this, I give up, and plug into the PA, and face the speaker towards the band. I have a solo, and I can't hear a note that I'm playing.
The contractor (luckily, a friend of mine) tells me he can't hear me, and I tell him what's wrong, and he tells me to raise the volume on the PA. I raise it, but all I can hear is the PA speaker on the other side of the room. I realize that the PA speaker nearest me isn't working. Just to hit a guy when he's down, the drummer yells at me, 'Hey, give me back that pencil you borrowed from me!'
All of a sudden, an opera singer who is on the show, walks in with his own PA. He lets me plug my guitar into his PA, and hooks his PA up to the speaker nearest me, and I finally get a loud enough (but lousy) sound.

Luckily for me, the leader of the gig came late, and didn't witness this debacle, and complimented me at the end of the gig, unaware that anything was wrong.

I guess I'll email AI, and ask them if i should send the Corus back to them to be repaired.

Fate can work mysterious ways, so i usually make sure to take a backup amp to the gig.
The service of AI is as good as can be. Rick Jones repairs and ships back almost immediately - best repair service i ever experienced.

[citizenk74]

1) Acoustic Image has the best customer service on the planet.

2) I make it a rule to never run anything electrical without a good circuit breaker.

3) I never run electronics off a generator. Ever.

Sorry about your amp, man. See #1

[christianm77]

3) I never run electronics off a generator. Ever.

Presumably you don't play music for a living? This, in my experience is an unavoidable part of the job.