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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Chordie's Chat Corner → Not really sure where this belongs...so I'll leave it...here
I need to invest in a PA system for my band, however, I know nothing of them. We have a pretty loud drummer and will need it for bars/medium gigs. We play Rock and blues and really just need it for singing. Also the cheaper the better.
Any suggestions?
There's a lot of options out there and how you want to mix. We play a lot of bars and smaller venues so we generally only mic the vocals and allow the guitar amps to do the work. That makes mixing a bit more of a pain but it means easier setup and tear down.
If you're looking for expandability (more mic inputs), I'd get a separate amplifier and mixing board. That will let you mic multiple guitars and drum kits if you want. If you are looking for something small purely for vocals there are a lot of "all in one" setups that are portable (Fender Passport, etc...) that will give you enough inputs to power two or three mics.
The other thing to consider when you go to a PA system is you will need stage monitors, too. As soon as you start blasting through that thing, you aren't going to be able to hear squat on stage and will need something to keep track of each other. We use passive floor wedges but they suck. I just bought a couple of 600W Pyle powered amps to use for that, and I'm very happy with them. I'd like to go to in-ear, but that is just more setup. What I really want to do is play more venues that have their own sound system. 
Wattage is kind of like horsepower in boats, too. You can't have too much, so get as much as you can.
The first thing I would ask is what is your budget? then go from there.
places to start
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Phonic-Powe … 1396723.gc
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Soundcraft- … 1861537.gc
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi … h-monitors
Anything more than this,, you need to talk to the sound guys at guitar center or concider renting a PA system. Some bands will rent the gear if they are not presently using it.
That Yamaha setup is sweet.
yeah it is sweet for $2500 big ones thats some serious cash for a garage band,I have the smaller 100 watt Phonic its ideal for me but for a group playing in a club you would need more watts at least 200
The Soundcraft has monitors and sports 200 watts and a fair price it looks like they have a payment plan if you have some good credit this might be the way to go and there are always other choices but I would go to a Guitar Center in your area and check it out live and see if it has the punch your looking for
200 watts isn't going to be enough for a bar for a full band, particularly if they're playing amplified guitars. 1000 watts is about where I'd start, I think. More if I have passive monitors.
The Phonic is nice, too, but you can put together a bigger system on the cheap if you want, and then grow it according to need.
Amazon has these...
Mixer for $200 (I own this one and will vouch for it's quality)
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-X1222US … amp;sr=1-4
1400W 2 channel (to power mains and monitors) amplifier $125
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PTA1400-Prof … amp;sr=1-1
2 500W speaker mains @ $65 each ($130)
http://www.amazon.com/PYLE-PRO-PADH1079 … mp;sr=1-52
2 600W stage monitors @ $60 each ($120)
http://www.amazon.com/PYLE-PRO-PASC12-T … mp;sr=1-12
Total cost for a complete 1400W 16x2 system around $600 after cables and taxes. This kind of setup is expandable and configurable. The drawback is that it's a PITA to haul around.
You can always upgrade different parts if you want to. These speakers can handle a total of 2200W RMS, so you can upgrade the amp without having to re-buy speakers but if you think you want bigger, spend a little more and get some more headroom on your speakers. Or you can just keep the volume down a bit.
Don`t forget used. You can get a lot more wattage with used than if you bought brand new. Look in music stores and craigslist. With the economy the way it is, it`s a buyers market. The only thing I don`t go for is buying stolen. No matter how good the price is.
Thanks a lot everybody, you have given me somethings to ruminate on. So, just to summarizing question, I need a 1000 plus watts in speakers (active or passive), mixing board, monitors, and mic/stands?
If it's just two guys with acoustic guitars in a quiet bar, the 200W setup would probably work fine. If you've got two Les Pauls going along with a bass, vocals, and drum kit in a busy bar, you will need considerably more power in order to be heard.
I'd start at 1000W minimum for what you've described, and double that if you can afford it. The thing about volume is the louder you get, the more power it takes to get even louder. It's not a linear thing, it's logarithmic. So it takes an order of magnitude more power to get from loud to really loud.
And Joey makes an excellent point. Used deals can be had everywhere. Craigslist is your friend here. Just check the retail price of anything you might buy (scammers on Craigslist? Nowai!) to be safe.
Thanks a lot guys!
My songbook has "maxed out" and won' let me delete! Any suggestions welcome.
Frank
FMS
You can have multiple songbooks. Start a new one. I had that problem too.
Also, it would be helpful to start a new thread in the future when you have a completely new topic to address. To do that, from the forum view where you can see all the topics listed, click on the New Topic button at the top of the appropriate forum.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Chordie's Chat Corner → Not really sure where this belongs...so I'll leave it...here
