partywithbill

Originally Posted by DaBender I'm a 50 year old computer programmer who has been gigging for most of the last 15 years or so. I have a blues band consisting of two guitarist/vocalists, harmonica, bass & drums. Typical gigs are playing to 100 people or less, though we occasionally play a festival with sound provided by a "real" sound company (or a reasonable fascimile thereof). The only thing we run through the PA is vocals and a mic on the harmonica amp, so I'm much lighter on equipment than all the posts so far. I have an EV 457 and a 457a for the vocals, and I used to mic the harp amp with a Shure SM57 but recently started using a Sennheiser E609 that I use on my Pro Jr. for another gig. I have a Soundtech Megamix powered mixer that supposedly puts out a bit over 400 watts at 4 ohms, and a Soundtech PL602M monitor amp with 9 band eq that puts out slightly more. The mains are Yamaha Club IV 112s and the monitors are PV TLM 112s. PROS: Not much money invested, easy to setup and breakdown, and people tell us we sound "awesome". CONS: - I can hear a bit of harshness when we have to push and would love to upgrade speakers sometime, but I would prefer not to have any items heavier than 45 lbs, which is the case with my current gear. I also am intrigued by the thought of a powered sub and micing the bass drum, but we seem to get plenty of dancers with the current setup. I recently took a live sound engineering class at a local community college, and met a great sound guy(instructor) that has been doing live sound for over twenty years. I ended up buying a pair of Wharfedale Titans(British) that are 12 inch with a horn from him. They retail for about $250 each. These are awesome speakers in a plastic enclosure and they only weigh 26 lbs. I also have a pair of JBL MPRO 415's (45 lbs) That I would highly reccomend. I don't really like the sound of subs, so I use Peavy Black Widow 18 inch full range speakers in some aftermarket boxes (Subzero). They have a more natural sound and plenty of punch. The raw speakers are only about $150 each and they have replaceable baskets if you ever blow one (you won't). This sound guy won't use any other mic than Audix, wich is local to our area. He is also very fond of British Soundboards Allen & Heath or Soundcraft.