Novice amp and monitor questions

[dancrocker]

I have virtually no experience playing live. I'm just now starting to play with a group in my church and went to my first rehearsal this past monday. The first thing I noticed was that I was having a hard time hearing myself. I used the only amp I currently own (GK backline 112) and had it next to me. I often had to lean in a bit to hear it. I'm used to playing by myself and hearing every detail so perhaps my expectations are skewed.

I honestly don't know if the 112 is large enough for this venue. The church probably seats 500-700 people. Is it fair to assume that the best way to know if the amp is big enough is to have someone go to the back of the church and listen? If so, how will the power required be influenced by the presence of lots of people (the initial listening will probably be in an empty church). If I need something bigger, I'm going to be very concerned about physical size because my car is small (BMW 3-series).

As for hearing myself, should I be considering a monitor? Or, can I improve things by changing the location of the amp? I saw lots of threads on monitors but I have to admit I'm still confused. If I want a monitor to hear what I'm playing, do I simply need another amp+speaker pointed towards me? If so, does this amount to just sending the output of my bass to two amps? Or, are there amps that have multiple outputs, one for the main speaker and one for a monitor?

[Stumbo]

Try putting the amp up on a stand to get it up to ear level or tilting it back to aim it at your ears.

Does your church have a good P.A.? Maybe it can be miked? Is there a sound person?

A 100watt 1x12 probably won't get it done w/o it being miked. If you run it stand alone, you'll probably blow out the speaker if you have to run it with the volume high enough to be heard. The amp will probably take a beating as well. No headroom.

Get someone to go out front during a performance to hear how you sit in the mix. Then go from there.

You may want to check out some of the following TB threads to take a look at some of the high powered micro-heads/cabs that are available:

How many watts do you gig with?(poll)
30 light weight cabs,amps, combos
1 Buying a combo
2
Combos vs Head/Cab
Pre-amp/Power Amp vs Head/Cab or Combo
Micro-rigs of doom
1 Mini-rigs of doom
2

[MNAirHead]

Before going much further..

Do you have a PA system?

Churches are notorious for needing small amps (if any).. DI boxes then a good sound system.

These rooms are designed for the unamplified voice.

PM me if I can be of service.. I battled this sound in the world's worst room for 6 months.. finally figured it out.