Scored our 1st PA today...many questions

DRPool

DRPool

Multimeh
Just a cheapie but it should do the trick.

Now the questions...

I plugged my guitar straight in through my Crunch Box and got a lot of crunch but can't say the tone was great. I'm thinking now it might be best to mic my Classic 30 and run that through the system??

Are you running your bass and guitar into the PA or playing live and adjusting to the drummer?

Micing drums?

We're just a backyard cover band playing some small casual get together type events. Nothing real serious or large.

Any general tips or trick to getting the best out of this thing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all. :thu:
 
Congrats on the PA...it should help you score some gigs, and you can also make some side money by renting it out when you're not using it...

It is very difficult to answer some of your questions without knowing what model it is and it's system specs, but here are some general small PA small gig tips...

In gnereal the only instrument that sounds good plugged directly into the PA is a bass (and keyboard, of course)...the guitar amp is responsible for most of a guitar's voice and should be mic'd if it doesn't have a direct out...also, unless your PA includes some decent monitors all of the instruments should be amped simply for stage monitoring if nothing else...if your system is really small it's usually best to use it just for vocals, balancing your levels with amps and drums...

drum mic'ing can add alot of complexity to a mix, but I have succesfully used a 3-mic technique for years...place one mic pointing at the gap between the snare and hi-hat, the second at the top of the kick to get the bass and mounted toms, and the third by the floor toms and ride cymbal...adding a fourth mic will allow you to properly capture the crash cymbal...

the single biggest mistake I see amateurs make with their small PA system is to try and use the main speakers as monitors by placing them behind or angled toward the mic's...then they wonder why the system feed back constantly...make sure the mains are placed in front of the mic line so the mic's aren't picking them up, and, if you don't already have monitors, invest in a couple of small hot-spot monitors or self-powered wedges...

enjoy your system...:Wave:
 
Thanks Jello, we picked up a very lightly used Phonic 740+ with a pair of upgraded 15" mains.

I figured micing the amp would be the way to go but had to try direct to see how it would sound. I use a boss me-50 and there is an option there to run direct to PA but there is a special cable required and I think that's going to be a bit clumsy in the end.

My Classic 30 sounds great so I don't want to cut it out of the loop. I used to run a basic sound board for our church so the basics are coming back to me about mic/speaker positioning, no issues there. I'm just looking to maximize what we've got.

We'll be firing it up outdoors for the 1st time today. beavis0
 
Do you have a model or wattage that you can post?

To bo completely honest, on most gigs the only thing I run through the PA are vocals.....your classic 30 is loud enough to be heard un-miced next to a drummer and the more stuff you run through the PA the muddier the mix is going to be unless you have a bigger system with subs. Also, everything Jelo said :tongue:
 
oops. I didn't read your second post....I would definitely make it a "vocal only" system at that size....also, go easy on the digital effects. My Mackie 808m has all of that stuff and I usually run it dry. Reverb is simulating a room sound and you are usually going to be in a room already...the more stuff you pile through the PA the worse the intelligibility gets for these smaller systems...
 
Phonic 740+...what you got there is one of them "in between" systems...enough inputs to tempt you to play around, and not enough power to make it work...Like mark I'd limit it to just a vocal system, light on the fx...
 
Thanks guys, you've confirmed our original plans. We're going to set up today and experiment but we just want to be sure to balance vocals vs a drummer who is up and down, mostly up 3/4 through each song.

The plan is to just add a touch of the built in reverb but nothing else. I've got what I need on guitar, vocals are going through a digitech vocalist. He's got more options than he can use with that thing. Never have played outdoors so today will be something new for myself and vocals.

Thanks again, I'll report back.
 
Hey fellas, your advice was dead on.

Hard to see any need to mic my C30. That thing sounds great cranked up outdoors. The PA did really help with vocals though, maybe a bit of overkill but we've got a lot of experimenting to do.

Thanks for guidance, can't wait 'til next weekend to do it again.
 
DRPool said:
Hey fellas, your advice was dead on.

Hard to see any need to mic my C30. That thing sounds great cranked up outdoors. The PA did really help with vocals though, maybe a bit of overkill but we've got a lot of experimenting to do.

Thanks for guidance, can't wait 'til next weekend to do it again.
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Is this now a weekly gig? The more you play out like this the more you can experiment with the sound and the better it gets.

I'm always afraid for guys when they play out for the first time and think that everything needs to go through the PA at super human volumes. It usually turns out to be a pretty bad experience...I'm glad this worked out so well for you!
 
I went ahead an bought a mic prior to Saturday night. Didn't use the thing but probably should try it. Or...perhaps just get a full return from GC since it hasn't been opened or touched in any way. It's still in the bag with the receipt.

Just found out our bass player is moving to Vegas in a couple months. Back to Craigslist for another one I suppose.
 
jelloman said:
AWESOME DR...glad it worked out so well for you...

...what kind of mic?
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Thanks Jello, it's Digital Reference of some sort and a 20' monster mic cable.

Thanks for you help. We'll be at it again Friday night, a few more folks this time for a bbq.
 
Mark Wein said:
Is this now a weekly gig? The more you play out like this the more you can experiment with the sound and the better it gets.

I'm always afraid for guys when they play out for the first time and think that everything needs to go through the PA at super human volumes. It usually turns out to be a pretty bad experience...I'm glad this worked out so well for you!
Click to expand...

haha...how about the second and third time?? :lol:
 
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