Members kadrocker Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Can you plug instruments directly into a PA? Or should an amp be mic'd into a PA? Such as this for example.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-4Channel-PA-System?sku=608003 Like, could I just plug my guitar and bass right into that and play? (I'm not a big tone fanatic, as long as I could use a stomp box I'd be fine with the sound) Would it hurt anything? I don't know this kinda stuff. My friend has an old Peavey PA he wants to just give me, and I don't have a bass amp, so I was wondering it I could use it to play bass through. (Plus buddies come over now and then, so it'd be easy to hook up to that and play) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 dang- i thought I posted this in amp.....crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cardude6987 Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Well I now you can plug a guitar(not bass) with passive pickups into a pa. I have done it. It sounds ok. Sounds ultra clean. No dirt what so ever. But for a bass I don't think not being dirty is an issue. Never tried bass and I don't know if active with pickups would affect anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brother_Budro Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 i have plugged many a bass directly into a sound system it was a cheap sound system but it sounded ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members recordingtrack1 Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Buy a cheap processor and plug into that then into the PA. Even a cheapo Zoom will do the job if that's what you want. You could pick one up on ebay for $25 easy. It would at least give you some options. RT1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 You can but electric guitars will sound crappy. Bass, acoustic, keys, etc can sound very good. However, nothing with sound even remotely decent through that Mattel thing you posted a link to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fmw Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Can you plug instruments directly into a PA? Or should an amp be mic'd into a PA? Such as this for example.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-4Channel-PA-System?sku=608003 Like, could I just plug my guitar and bass right into that and play? (I'm not a big tone fanatic, as long as I could use a stomp box I'd be fine with the sound) Would it hurt anything? I don't know this kinda stuff. My friend has an old Peavey PA he wants to just give me, and I don't have a bass amp, so I was wondering it I could use it to play bass through. (Plus buddies come over now and then, so it'd be easy to hook up to that and play) The advantage of using PA is that it can handle mics, backing tracks and other instruments if you like. You can put a processor in front of it if you want it to sound like a guitar amp. The mixer in the image below actually has a pretty good selection of effects built into it. Chorus, Reverb, Wah wah, phaser, distortion etc. etc. The blue box below it is an amplifier modeling appliance. It makes the guitar sound like it is plugged into a guitar amp - actually about 32 different kinds of guitar amps. It also has a bunch of effects. Think of it as a high powered solid state modeling amp with a lot of flexibility and additional inputs and controls. The bad thing about the rig below is that it costs more than most guitar amps. But you can do it simpler if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Bass, drums, keys, acoustic, vocals all sound good direct. An electric guitar needs a processor to emulate an amp to sound good. FWIW, I wouldn't plug anything into the PA you linked to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 The PA you posted would probably work for a speaking engagement, with no instruments. PROBABLY - it would probably sound like cr*p. A real PA: you could plug your guitar through it, but would want something like a tonelab in front of it to get decent sound/tone. Bass, OK, vocals, etc... OK as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 I wouldn't use the Squier one either, haha! My friend is giving me an old Peavey mixer from the 90's and 2 1x12 speaker cabs. He's graduated college and said he doesn't want it anymore. I want it to jam with friends, provided I don't have to buy a bunch of mics to use it! Since I can plug everything directly into the PA, I'm gonna take it off his hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kadrocker Posted July 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Buy a cheap processor and plug into that then into the PA. Even a cheapo Zoom will do the job if that's what you want. You could pick one up on ebay for $25 easy. It would at least give you some options.RT1 I just might do that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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