Setup for a solo acoustic act?

[PSM]

I'm gonna be doing a solo acoustic act (acoustic guitar and vocal) starting in the next few weeks and I'm looking to get tips and advice on throwing together a simple, appropriately sized PA - "appropriately sized" meaning small enough to be easily loaded in, setup, and taken down, but powerful enough for larger bars if I end up playing a few. I'd rather go a little larger than a little smaller.

 

Just running a 58 vocal mic and acoustic with a pickup, so I only NEED two channels, although four would be nice in case I had someone come up to jam with me. Simple effects such as a delay or reverb would be great, especially if built-in to the mixer, otherwise that's just more gear to lug around and setup. Two speakers or even just one if it sounds fine (maybe one monitor).

 

Any recommendations or experience with an inexpensive, simple setup like this (reliability and at least decent sound quality being key)? I'm getting very mixed reviews on most of the equipment I'm reading about.

[Chip Stewart]

I small, somewhat inexpensive rig would be a Yamaha MSR100 for your monitor/mixer and an EV SXa360 on a stand for your front of house. The MSR100 has three channels (one mic, two line), EQ, master volume, and line out. Put the MSR100 at the base of your mic stand, run your mic and guitar into it, and then run a line from the MSR100 line out to the SXa360 input. The only disadvantage is you wouldn't have reverb or effects.

[agedhorse]

How about a nice acoustic amp?

[phoniclab]

I know an acoustic duo that uses a Yamaha Stagepass 500. It works out very nice for them and provides good sound. I've seen them use it on an outdoor patio covering a fairly large area easily. It's very portable with the mixer tucking away into the back of one of the speakers giving just 2 pieces to carry. Yamaha sells a roller bag for it as well if you want even more portability. They don't use a monitor, but a small powered monitor could be added if needed.

 

A T.C. Helicon Harmony G is a nice pedal to have for your vocals and guitar. It provides effects, vocal harmonies, & a built in tuner for your guitar. You could even use in place of a mixer if you wanted. Both your vocals and guitar go into it, then go to powered speakers. No mixer needed if you don't have anything else to plug in.

[glepko]

acoustic amp is made for this application....

[dk123123dk]

I have had good results with a Keyboard amp for small gigs. But if you are playing some larger rooms, you will likely need some decent PA equipment.

 

 

dk

[rwhealey]

I think an EV ZxA1 and a little board like a Soundcraft EMP6 or A&H Zed-10 would work nicely.

 

I regularly use a pair of Zx1s powered with an Xti2000 in a room that I would consider to be the size of a largeish bar (considering bars around here). They work wonderfully for acoustic guitar and vocals- I've always had plenty of volume!

[agedhorse]

The reason why I mentioned an acoustic amp is that the high impedance inputs are more pickup friendly than a typical line input on a powered speaker or mixer.

[Bobby1Note]

 

I'm gonna be doing a solo acoustic act (acoustic guitar and vocal) starting in the next few weeks and I'm looking to get tips and advice on throwing together a simple, appropriately sized PA - "appropriately sized" meaning small enough to be easily loaded in, setup, and taken down, but powerful enough for larger bars if I end up playing a few. I'd rather go a little larger than a little smaller. Just running a 58 vocal mic and acoustic with a pickup, so I only NEED two channels, although four would be nice in case I had someone come up to jam with me. Simple effects such as a delay or reverb would be great, especially if built-in to the mixer, otherwise that's just more gear to lug around and setup. Two speakers or even just one if it sounds fine (maybe one monitor). Any recommendations or experience with an inexpensive, simple setup like this (reliability and at least decent sound quality being key)? I'm getting very mixed reviews on most of the equipment I'm reading about.

 

 

You're basically looking to do exactly what I'm doing. (Acoustic solo/duo). I have an AER Compact 60/2, which is a superb piece of German craftsmanship. Just a great sounding amp.

 

When I need "more", I can plug into one of my Yorkville NX55p's for FOH, and use either my AER as a monitor, or, another NX55p. What's really nice about the NX55p, is that it has a very pronounced bottom-end to it, negating any need for a sub. In fact, even with the low-frequency roll-off engaged, I'll still knock off another 3dB off the bottom-end.

 

I've got a selection of mixers, ranging from a 16-channel Allen & Heath MixWix, to a SoundCraft EFX-8, to a SoundCraft Compact 4, depending on the need at that moment, and another mixer to add shortly (either A&H Zed 10FX or SoundCraft Notepad 124FX).

 

(I tend to prefer the sound of my acoustic guitars "mic'd", and when playing solo, I'll often use just one mic for both vocals and guitar, but then, I usually play "seated" when playing solo, so it's easy to find a proper mic placement. Depends on the gig.

[banddad]

+2 on the acoustic guitar amp. It's simple, made for this as already noted, and a good one will sound great for less $$ than almost any other approach. (and a cheap one will sound, well...)

[J.]

I used my Genz Benz Shenandoah JR for the the very same application and it worked admirably. It's very inexpensive but don't let the price and the seemingly modest power specs fool you. It's perfect for running a single vocal and acoustic guitar.