You are not logged in. Please login or register.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → sound system
I'm in an acoustic band just starting out and we were all wondering what sound system we would need to play small bars and or parties. We pretty much know nothing about it... do we need a PA system, a board, do you intigrate your amps, pre-amps? We play with 2 guitars, banjo, and mandolin. Any suggestions would help at this point.... thanks.
Solution 1) All amp-up seperately. This has the advantage that everyone gets the sound they want and controls their own kit. Sound checks work by a friend in the back/middle of the club telling each band member to turn up down until a good all-round band sound level is reached. Crude but players have been doing this for decades.
The down side of the above is when band members become convinced that they're not being heard at the back and turn up, then the guy next to them turns up and the sound goes pear-shaped.
Solution 2) The instruments are close-miked or fed direct into a mixer board which then feeds PA speakers. Acoustic guitars can use sans-amps. The advantage over 1 is that a roadie can mix the instruments before the show but also tweak things as you play - as the club fills up the overall PA volume can be raised to match.
PAs can be hired for the night but watch that you don't get stuck with a ratty one. If you can find a firm who can keep you with gear you trust great otherwise you might think about group purchases for crucial parts of the gear like the soundboard.
Some clubs have their own PA and these can be very professional but they can also be a tannoy also used for calling out food orders.
Saw The Glitterband once and they really proved that a group's sound can be made by a good PA. Their system was small but perfectly suited to that glam pop fuzz guitar sound. Unfortunately they had this awful leader singer who just bellowed for the whole gig...
Plummer,
I play music as a profession down the way in sunny FLA, USA. I too play acoustic music. My set-up is quite simple and practical but sounds really good.(or so I'm told by most) I use 2 Marshall 50watt Soloist amps with a unpowered 12 channel Mackie mixer. I set the amps behind me approximatly 2 meters, one off my left shoulder and one off my right shoulder. The cool thing about the soloist is that is has a "filter " knob on it that adjusts the internal freqencies that cause feedback.If youre experiencing low-end feed back, turn it to the left, high- end feedback, turn it to the right. Pretty nice feature that enables you to stay consistent with your overall sound. Just a little musical food for thought.
<font color="blue"></font>I've got a Carvin (www.carvin.com) PA 620 portable sound system that I've used for about 10 years now...it's light, easy to set up, powerful, and sounds great...we've never had any problems with it. We were doing mostly praise and worship stuff in churches with two guitars, mandolin, and vocalists. If you have vocalists then might look at the 8 or 12 channel versions...seems that you can always find use for and extral channel. We could argue pros and cons but it always worked for us because once we got everything figured out, we could pretty much use the same settings and could set up in just a few minutes... 200 watts is plenty for what we've done...both indoors and outdoors...Carvin has several models and ready to use kits. Crate and Peavey also make good PA/Sound systems...Hope this helps...jg
Thanks for all your input, it's very helpful to someone just getting started...
I think that the Bose L1 system, is the best system on the planet for a small group, or solo artist playing small to mid sized venues, from 2 to 500 people.
I had a great outdoor gig this last weekend.
Saturday, I played at the Island Park show in Fargo, ND. It is a yearly festival event with many booths, and a stage with new acts every hour.
The festival encompasses a large part of Island Park which is a large park in the center of downtown Fargo. There are small tent booths covering an area of about 1200 yards by 800 yards, and the stage is in the center width wise and on the north end of the festival area.
The performance area is about 60 yards by 80 yards with picnic tables.
The stage was about 20 feet wide, and only 6 feet deep with a full triple system setup and a sound man to run it.
When you apply for a spot on the docket, you are asked what you need for the show. I said simply "a well grounded 120v power source".
I was first to play, and when I arrived, the sound man was looking over my request sheet and came to ask me again what I needed.
I again said all I needed was some good power. I checked the 4 socket box on the stage and found out that the hot and ground were switched. Luckily, the electrician had not left yet, and he started to switch the wires to the box.
In the mean time, I started setting up my L1/2-B1 system. I finished setting up, was ready to sound check, and waiting for the electrician...
The sound guy couldn't believe that I was set up and ready to go in less than 15 minutes.
When the power was ready to go, and double checked, I started my sound check. The narrowness of the stage was a problem. The optimal distance for the system to be behind the performer in this setting is about 8-10 feet back and about 4 feet to the side. I ended up moving to the side, and moving again, till I was about 10 feet to the side of the L1 and the full six feet in front of it, before I could get the volume that I wanted without feedback, but it still only took 10 minutes.
I was now set up, sound checked and ready to go with over 40 minutes left to go before I was to start playing.
In the mean time, the sound man started to sound check the second act. He was also a soloist, and played guitar and sang to backing tracks through a small mixer to the main system. It took them over 1/2 hour to do their sound check, with the second act asking for more guitar, less vocals, more bass in the backing track, less drums, and all the while fighting feedback from his headset mic.
I also noticed that the crowd, which had filled in the tables in front of the big speakers when I was sound checking, had begun to stick their fingers in their ears, and clear a path near each speaker and sit farther back from the stage while the second act was checking.
When they were finally done with their sound check, I asked if I could start early, and began to play at 10 to the hour.
As I got through my first song, people started to fill back into the front tables, and respond to the music. I talk some between songs, and the people started to have a conversation with me and interact to the music.
It was a great gig, and I played for 55 minutes. When I was done, I shifted all my gear to the back of the stage and started to pack up. I was done before the other performer started to play, and while I was loading out, I noticed that the people had again cleared a path on either side of the speakers and moved back from the stage.
I walked around the park, had lunch and was approached several times by patrons saying that was the best anyone had sounded in their rememberence, and that they could finally hear the music at their booths at the other end of the park. Several had come over from their booths to see what was different, and asked about the L1. I also talked to both the second and third acts, and they all wanted to know more about the system.
Needless to say, I will likely be back again next year.
Sorry for the long post, but I thank Bose, every time I play, for making my life easier, and for allowing me to share my gifts with so many people.
It really has changed the way I make music.
Gordy ( o)==:::
Gordy,
Fellow Bose L1 owner here. I love mine too. I use it only for my bigger gigs. I've found that the sound quality at low volume with the Bose is poor. Medium to high volume, fantastic. I love the easy set-up and breakdown. No moe monitors, speaker stands, heavy cabs, massive bundles of cables. I'll often play 2 gigs a day with less than an hour in between sometimes and the quick and easy set-up of the Bose L1 is perfect for this. "Once you go Bose, you'll never go back!" It's worth the money, period.
How is this system for a full band with bass, rhythm, lead and vocals on up to 5 people? Does it take more than 1 of these systems? Thanks.
Presently, I do dj'ing/karaoking and use a component system with separate mixer and power amp. Speakers jbl and very heavy. But have gone back and forth with a band environment and that is even more of a headache to set up. All of the above and them some with the sound checks.
How is this system for a full band with bass, rhythm, lead and vocals on up to 5 people? Does it take more than 1 of these systems? Thanks.
Presently, I do dj'ing/karaoking and use a component system with separate mixer and power amp. Speakers jbl and very heavy. But have gone back and forth with a band environment and that is even more of a headache to set up. All of the above and them some with the sound checks.
One per person is ideal. But , a duo with 2 acoustic guitars and 2 vocals is cool as well. The advantage of one BoseL1 per person is the individual control over volume, tone, and overall mix.
Thanks SouthPaw. I'm reading lots of rave reviews. Not sure everyone in the band I'm associated with can afford their own set up.....lol.
we are a small acoustic group. 4 voices, banjo, 2 guitars. We use the Alto AEX-400...cheap, easy to pack around and works fine for small rooms,50 or less. We have ordered an AEX 900 and will keep the 400 also. We have had zero problems with their stuff
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → sound system
