Members GWS5987 Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Hey guys, We (the band) would appreciate suggestions/recommendations on a new or used PA system for our little band. We Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Sounds like your keyboardist should buy new keys hell nowadays keys have every dam effect and simulator imaginable and you the guitarist get a POD same thing as keyboard but made just for guitar player. Get you a powered sub Yorkie or JBL' and 2 lightweight 15/whorn on a pole and of course some good IEM and your ready to go plus you won't break your back lugging the stuff around. That's what I'm planning on once I get to old to start lugging around half stack bass stacks and double 18" subs and the list keeps going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mparsons Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 POD XT Lives for the guitars. I think they also have a Leslie effect on there, if I'm not mistaken. QUite a few bass amps nowadays have DIs, that I'm aware of. My bassists amp has an XLR out that is very handy. Sounds good for recording also. Have you considered electric drums? The Bose PAS might be what you're looking for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 I not a Bose fan myself but they are lightweight and compact. As far as electronic drums Roland is the only brand to use the rest suck compare to the Roland V drums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Originally posted by GWS5987 Hey guys, We (the band) would appreciate suggestions/recommendations on a new or used PA system for our little band. We Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 BTW,I'll just add how I keep my PA as simple as possible since we are running sound from stage as well. I use a mini Gig-Rig with my mixer mounted on top and in the 6-spaces below,I have a 2-space CD player for breaks,the PS802 monitor amp,a 2-space dual 31 band EQ for the monitors,and a single space effects unit. This stuff can all stay plugged in fulltime. Then I have a 12-space lower rack. It contains a pair of QSC PLX3002 sub amps (4 spaces) a pair of Peavey DPC1400 mid-high amps(2-spaces) a dual 31 band EQ(2 spaces) crossover (1 space) and a DOD frequency analyzer (1 space) So the only thing that needs to be connected to put the system together are the L/R patch cables between the main EQ in the bottom rack and the mixer in the top rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 I beleive Lexicon and Yamaha makes some good lesslie simulators also Alesis has some that might work as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Originally posted by GWS5987 We aren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Audioeast has a JBL MPRO package deal everything you need A&H mixwiz mixer 2 powered 2way cab on a stick and 2 powered subs w/cables also available and Yorkville flavor to. Shippings free also has monitor packages to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumstix Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Originally posted by tlbonehead BTW,I'll just add how I keep my PA as simple as possible since we are running sound from stage as well. I use a mini Gig-Rig with my mixer mounted on top and in the 6-spaces below,I have a 2-space CD player for breaks,the PS802 monitor amp,a 2-space dual 31 band EQ for the monitors,and a single space effects unit. This stuff can all stay plugged in fulltime. Then I have a 12-space lower rack. It contains a pair of QSC PLX3002 sub amps (4 spaces) a pair of Peavey DPC1400 mid-high amps(2-spaces) a dual 31 band EQ(2 spaces) crossover (1 space) and a DOD frequency analyzer (1 space) So the only thing that needs to be connected to put the system together are the L/R patch cables between the main EQ in the bottom rack and the mixer in the top rack. What mixer do you use? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Originally posted by drumstix What mixer do you use? Just curious. I was using the Peavey that I spammed in my first post. But I am now using a Soundcraft M12. 12 channels is enough because my drummer submixes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesewells Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 How does your keyboard player mount that Bassstation so that he can play it live? Mic stand? Jim WellsTallahassee, FL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Squier Fat Telecaster Posted July 31, 2006 Members Share Posted July 31, 2006 Forget about mixing FOH from the stage. Hire a good soundguy to be a part of the band. By being a member of the band, he'll do more to make it sound as pro as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Saxman7 Posted August 1, 2006 Members Share Posted August 1, 2006 I suggest you at least take a look at the Bose PAS system. For a three piece, two of them should really provide plenty of sound & volume, you'd not need extra monitors, soundman, bunches of stands and lots of bulky stuff to cart around, as well. And it may just improve your sound, to you, as well as your audience... You can use the subwoofers Bose makes especially for them, but if you are not happy, you can use a bigger, powered one(s). I use one system, with a smaller subwoofer (bought locally for $80) & for larger/outdoor gigs, a larger, more powerful one (great deal $200), as I didn't like the Bose model (no controls for vol, or eq)... I've used it for sax/flute, vocals, guitar, keys, & even bass at times, but don't like to run too many instruments at once into just the one unit, (altho it worked fine). For a good, full sound, if I was going to run all instruments into it, (& had the extra $1500 to $2000), and do it regularly, I'd get a second unit. I think a lot of bands out there today are lugging around WAY TOO MUCH stuff, which takes far too long to unload, set up, tweak, tear down, load out, and end up with not always a great sound. I initially "slimmed down" by getting rid of power amps, using powered JBL &/or EV speakers, but took the Bose plunge, and it's worked out well. When we do a big, outdoor gig, there's usually a system, with soundcrew, already provided, so we use that, at those times. But for all our other gigs, from small to bigger rooms, this really does spread the sound around, so that we don't have to blast those up close, to reach those furher back.... Just a thought..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GWS5987 Posted August 1, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2006 Good morning, Thanks to those who've taken the time to post. A special thanks to tlbonehead - that was very informative and useful. Much appreciated. Saxman7, I'm going to go look those up right now. I'll probably come back with a question or two (the keyboard player just recently mentioned those). jameswells, I'll have the keyboard player respond. It's some kind of holder that he had fabricated and welded onto his key rack. It was done professionally and looks good. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madjack Posted August 1, 2006 Members Share Posted August 1, 2006 I have been in a similar position, only with 4 old farts; drums, keys, bass and guitar. Following is the pa I put together for it. Mixer: Allen/Heath GL2. This mixer only has ten mic inputs and two stereo channels, but by submixing the drums (in a Mackie 1202) and keys (in a Kawai rackmount mixer) that is plenty. The mixer also has 4 groups for submixing, which makes mixing from stage quite easy, as well as 6 aux sends, so I can have 4 separate monitor mixes and still have two sends for effects. Tops: Ev SX200 x 4. I started with one pair of these, driven by a Soundtech PS1300. The tops weigh 39lbs each, handle 300 watts rms, and have a very smooth, balanced sound. One pair worked fine for clubs of up to ~250 capacity, but were a little light for outdoor stuff. I added a second pair as we hit some of the larger venues, still powered by the same Soundtech amp. The 4 tops handle outdoor venues of 300-500 people in a 75x150' area. The second pair I bought used on ebay for under $600/pair. The Soundtech amp puts out 600 rms/4ohms, takes two rack spaces, and weighs 16lbs. Subs: 2xYorkville PS200P active subs. These are the Pulse series predecessor to the current Elite series LS700P subs. Each sub uses 2x10" speakers with a 600watt amp and weighs about 70lbs. Subs have no problem keeping up with the tops in most places, although they are a little light for DI-ing bass through at the outdoor venues. For that, I added 2xPeavey SP118 subs driven with a QSC RMX1450 amp. This combination gives great sound and handles DI-ed bass in the above-mentioned outdoor venue. Processing: The system is controlled by a Driverack PA. This serves as the crossover, eq, and feedback controller. I make certain to arrange with each new venue time to pink noise the venue and then store the venue setting in memory. This gives a very smooth response to the system in every place we play. At the outdoor venue, with the extra subs, I use a 2nd small crossover and run the Peavey subs aux-fed to add in whatever bottom end from the bass and kick are lacking. Mixer, processor and all amps are mounted in one mixer top rack and pre-wired. Setup involves placing cabinets and rack, running speaker and line cables to cabs, plugging mic in, and calling up patch on Driverack. Altogether takes about 25-30 minutes to have basic mix ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members molehunter Posted August 1, 2006 Members Share Posted August 1, 2006 I took an old "x" stand that had curved outriggers for the 2nd board, cut one of the outriggers in half and had them welded to form a "y". I went to the local secondhand store and found an old pair of stilts that had large crutch tips on them.....cut off the last 6 or so inches and had them welded to the back ends of the horizontal key stand pointing up. so now I set up the stand, set on the XB-2, put the roland on top of that (back side held up with the stilt crutch tips) and set the novation bass station on the left, up on the "y". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted August 2, 2006 Members Share Posted August 2, 2006 My opinion on this matter is that you'd be better off with a decent PA and Monitors so you can leave all those bulky instrument cabs home.... really. I would remember get a board that has plenty of channels (even 16 would be a nice improvement to 8) there are plenty of great powered speaker options (most are less than back-breaking weight-wise) Direct boxes can make connecting everything to your PA easier (I've even seen DI's with RCA inputs, not sure what cabling your keyboard/bass guy is using, but there should be a DI option that will work) Decent monitors will give a full mix on stage without all those heavy cabs. My band gets away with relatively small amps onstage, and a good PA and monitors... Nobody needs to be blasting that much sound onstgae, it just makes monitoring louder, and will mess with your house mix, so we run everything through the PA and set our stage volumes so that every member is comfortable and can hear each other, but we can control the mix out front. this also means that we can set up and do our soundcheck and if it needs to be louder or quieter, one adjustment can bring it all up or down and keep the blend (mix) the same. My guess is that you've been mixing with your stage volume, which is do-able, but putting the control at your fingertips is a lot easier than having to yell to the other band mates to make mix adjustments "Hey Franky, you need to come down a bit!!!!" never makes for a good show, right?!..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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