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Pro concert audio, very big company. I’m a shop guy, got added to “road staff” for a local gig. Nice bucks, no big deal as it’s a local gig, sorta thing I used to do all the time. Well I blew up a speaker. Not the first in my career, nor the last. This speaker, I asked for as I thought the rig wasn’t properly spec’ed. Pitched to account exec and everything. My shop job is amplifier tech. So I managed to fuck up what I do every day, on a gig I’m “questionably” qualified for, on an item I kinda demanded.... We didn’t need that specific box at all over the weekend, show would have gone on no matter, but I’m waiting for this absolute fuck-up to come to light. Coworker on gig and speaker repair guy know, I certainly ain’t gonna deny it, but this is not a good thing for the further weekend gigs, or the fact that I’m on to get promoted to head of amps in 9mo.... Not getting fired, just a real setback. Fuckin amateur mistake. I’ve almost finished the fat slice of humble pie. And y’know what, I deserve that because I was obviously getting a lil too big for my britches, more hubris than humility.

Tldr I’m a fuckin idiot

Update, speaker bro checked it and nothing is broken. Protection circuit caps absorbed the current. Still metered inf resistance when I measured. Beyond my depth (fuckin obviously). Guy in charge of the gig said no big deal, thanked me for reporting it, and said the guys upstairs have much bigger issues, like if we have enough equipment on this continent for the crazy, jeezusy rapper if he decides to do another giant show, ha. I’ve become very ambitious at work, which is good. Just gotta deliver....

Pro concert audio, very big company. I’m a shop guy, got added to “road staff” for a local gig. Nice bucks, no big deal as it’s a local gig, sorta thing I used to do all the time. Well I blew up a speaker. Not the first in my career, nor the last. This speaker, I asked for as I thought the rig wasn’t properly spec’ed. Pitched to account exec and everything. My shop job is amplifier tech. So I managed to fuck up what I do every day, on a gig I’m “questionably” qualified for, on an item I kinda demanded.... We didn’t need that specific box at all over the weekend, show would have gone on no matter, but I’m waiting for this absolute fuck-up to come to light. Coworker on gig and speaker repair guy know, I certainly ain’t gonna deny it, but this is not a good thing for the further weekend gigs, or the fact that I’m on to get promoted to head of amps in 9mo.... Not getting fired, just a real setback. Fuckin amateur mistake. I’ve almost finished the fat slice of humble pie. And y’know what, I deserve that because I was obviously getting a lil too big for my britches, more hubris than humility. Tldr I’m a fuckin idiot Update, speaker bro checked it and nothing is broken. Protection circuit caps absorbed the current. Still metered inf resistance when I measured. Beyond my depth (fuckin obviously). Guy in charge of the gig said no big deal, thanked me for reporting it, and said the guys upstairs have much bigger issues, like if we have enough equipment on this continent for the crazy, jeezusy rapper if he decides to do another giant show, ha. I’ve become very ambitious at work, which is good. Just gotta deliver....

(post is archived)

[–] [deleted] 6 pts

Sounds like you stuck your neck out for no good reason. If you turned out to be right then it would be just you doing your job. And if you turned out to be wrong then, well, this.

Look on the bright side. Weird shit happens at concerts. Better to blow a speaker than a tranny.

[–] 1 pt

I did. That is pretty big in this fuck up. Audacity and incompetence... Ha! Just a JBL hi driver voice coil. Few tours take these speakers anymore, they’re ok but not nearly the best. Weeell I stay far away from any kinda tranny. 90 KVA’s included!

[–] 5 pts

Best you can do is own it. If your management/ownership are people of integrity they will respect that you are being a man about it.

Either way, first thing tomorrow go tell them before they find out from somewhere else. Better they hear it from you.

Good luck.

[–] 1 pt (edited )

Yep. Told the speaker repair guy as soon as it happened. Account exec came to talk today, but he didn’t ask and I didn’t offer it. He may have been fishing, dunno. These errors are not unheard of, much more expensive mistakes happen. Most important is it did not hinder the show, next that it gets fixed and placed back at the job site. Just really fuckin bad cause I’m “the guy”

Edit: I hoped it happened today, but I want the speaker fixed, returned to the site and tested good. Then I tell folks. I fixed the problem I made. But there “wasn’t a problem.” We’ll see what speaker bro wants to do.

[–] 4 pts

Chin up, Faggot. Everyone messes up.

I'm reminded of a quote I like: "When people speak ill of you, live in such a way that noone will believe them."

Just keep kicking ass, and be willing to own your fuck up. Willingness to admit when you fucked up is almost a super power nowadays.

[–] 1 pt

Great advice. Turns out nothing was blown up, must be a giant cap inline with hi driver to mitigate mispatch. I did own up, and will do my job with respect to what I fumbled.

[–] 3 pts

When they ask for an explanation:

I thought that speaker could go to 11

And then y'all will larf

[–] 2 pts

Ha! But I know hi’s only go to ~2. 34.5 dB gain.

[–] 1 pt

At least you didn't back up off the stage while reaming someone else out, crack your head open, break the front row seats and get carried off to the hospital. Saw a guy do that once.

[–] 0 pt

Yikes. Audio personnel?

[–] 2 pts

Yeah a roadie. He was alright iirc got stitches.

I remember they barely got him up and out before another guy that wasn't there came back and sees his slushy spilled (it was on the front seat armrest), and starts screaming at them for spilling his slushy.

[–] 1 pt

Gotcha. Some people’s kids.... Most people I work with have done the roadie life, and are cool as hell. Because all that matters is putting the show on. They also have bad backs, and resolved drug issues ha

[–] 1 pt

Procedural errors: setting patches, physical on the processors and amps, and virtually on processors. Fucked up first but not second. Thus “woofer” to “horn driver.” Then, not slowly dialing up gain to each driver on the amp. Starting with low, issue would have been apparent. I, like a fucking dumbass, did this from FOH console 80’ from stage. Additionally, could have hi-passed the pink noise so it wouldn’t blow Hi’s. Woofer would have produced it without blowing.

[–] 1 pt

Just own it brother, don’t try and make excuses. It hurts more that way, but in the long run it’ll all work out. In a few years you’ll be laughing while telling the story over a couple of beers…

[–] 0 pt

We’ll all laugh soon. Most important is the issue is fixed, now.

I don't think anyone has never royally fucked something up on the job.

Shouldn't admit this, but there has been a time I've royally fucked something up, where rather than fess up to the mistake, pay out of my own pocket to quietly fix it. I'm not saying YOU do that. I'm terrified of being seen as a human who makes mistakes from time to time. Bleep, bloop.

Anyway I'm stuck with something like a few hundred 3.3v SOT-23 300 mA low drop-out regulators with shutdown pin, from a fuck-up years ago. Probably going to try and whack them into a future design, sell them to my work.

[–] 0 pt (edited )

Shit happens dude. I bought an ampeg tube bass head 10 years ago. My retarded bandmate at the time bought the cheapest cabinet he could find and the kid that sold it to him said "it'll take anything you can throw at it". Naturally, first jam; cab blows. Retard thinks it's the HEAD and we had this beautiful ampeg head collecting dust because he couldn't possibly have made the mistake; it was obviously the major company that fuck me, and not some kid who doesn't know shit about shit.
Six months later, we're using my head on an actual BASS CAB (go figure) and it's the best tone we've had.

[–] 0 pt

Was this in a city that starts with a D? I was at a concert this past weekend where a large speaker very obviously blew

[–] 0 pt

Nah this is small-time local shit. Main speakers are a-ok, as I ran the amps on my tester machine. Only in the wild, changing shit.

Touring speakers and amps fail semi-regularly. It’s the workload. Very intense

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