Vocal PA for rehearsing

C

Cuzzie

Supporting Member
Jan 1, 2016
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#1
Guys,

I'm going to playing bass and singing with my mates.

Small stuff, garage band or small gig.

I know I'll prob go for a standard SM57/58 mic.

Can anyone recommend a good PA.

It'll be a mix of rock/metal/blues/reggae and everything else in between we'll play, we just enjoy stuff with a good beat.

Cheers chaos and chapesses
 
#2
First thing you need to decide is budget!
How much you want to spend... that's the deciding factor.. because there's all kinds of "cheap" out there that will do-the-job.
For the $$, you can't beat a set of Yammy BR12 or SV12 wedges.. they work great on the floor, and be pole mounted if you need elevation.
You might even only need one in a garage?
 
#3
Hey Welcome to Talk Bass @Cuzzie !!!!

What do you want to spend?

Roughly where are you?

Knowing your budget and geographic location will keep us from advising that you check out a $2,500 Bose PA system in New York when you may be thinking more like a $200 used Behringer system in Sydney.
 
#4
Ha, oops forgot those details!

Based in the Uk and if it's OK I wouldn't mind a couple of suggestions in cheap and mid range and like a bargain, don't mind it being used/second hand.

If I think about what I have spent on guitars and other guitar gear, I have to think the same ball park, so I suppose up to £500?

Cheers
 
#5
It will be mainly garage I reckon and so not super loud as without smashing the neighbours out my 250w combo amp (TC electronic BG250-115) never gets above about 4-5 and our guitarists Friedman Pink Taco at about 2-3.

Really something simple but OK so I don't have to shout above instruments to be heard.
If we progress the. So can my equipment I reckon?!
 
#6
I like to use the main PA's monitor subsystem in rehearsals. I believe it helps to keep everything as familiar as possible, from rehearsals to gigs so that there are fewer surprises of all kinds.

For a new band, that's still learning material, this approach can help you get going & save some money (on mains) until you're ready. Set yourself up a good monitor system, learn to run it & get used to how it all works & sounds. Add more gear as needed when you start playing out.
 
#8
Cuzzie said:
Thanks for that, I'll need to sort an OK power amp as well for vocals

Guitar/bass can just run off our amps
Click to expand...

No need to do that, I would just get an active PA cab; this will have an optimised amp included with the cab and nearly all of the trapezoidal shaped cabs can be laid on their side and angled up at you, just like wedge monitors. A lot of them include some kind of mic input and rudimentary mixer with line inputs and tone controls as well, so if you just need something for a single channel of vocals this will be a 'one box' solution. For your budget you could easily get a pair of them, and when you're ready to move out of the garage you can simply pop them onto stands and there is your basic PA...if you need more flexibility by then you could add a small mixer, with effects, and maybe some monitors
 
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#10
Have a look at theaudioworksuk.com or Thomann.de to get an idea of what is available at the price - just look at active PA speakers. If you want a pair, then simply halve your budget and look at stuff around the £250 mark...for the garage you might only need one for now and add another later. I don't use them myself but I've heard good stuff about LD Systems and Alto...my brother-in-law is a sound engineer working on music videos and TV stuff, he uses Altos as they're a lot of bang for the buck and not too expensive to replace when they get abused.
 
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