Share your story! What was Your first PA setup? Any PA subsitutes? HELP!

crozier247 · #1 07-19-2011, 12:06 AM

Do you remember your first PA or vocals setup?

Was it a crappy setup?

Was it a guitar amp?

How's that work for your?

I'd love to hear stories!

I am looking for some insight and advice as well as ideas because...

my friend and I are looking to find something we can use for vocals for practcing. We are a 3 piece band, sorta alternative rockish kinda thing, I play bass and sing and he plays guitar and sings and we will be singing together sometimes and alone sometimes (think blink 182). We are looking to spend $200-250 each, I know this wont get us much but we are only 15 and 16 and jobless (I am the 15 year old i am looking to get a job asap when I turn 16) but our budget is low because of our situation. We aren't neccesarily looking for a PA (thought if the price was right why not), we just want something we can use for vocals, itd need to bee like 100w maybe 125w and itd be used mainly for practices. He plays a fender m80 chorus its rated at 400w's i think and its a 2x10 combo amp. He doesnt turn it up all the ways tho, our drummer is pretty agressive because of our style, he is big in to punk beats tho we arent necesarrily a punk band. I play an acoustic b100 amp its a 1x15 combo amp its 100w.

we need anything that would work for practice, we are really ambitious to start vocals. Thanks a ton!! show this to anyone you think would have a great story too

gotmule? · #2 07-19-2011, 02:27 AM

While it is not recommended by most on here, I find that Phonic Powerpods makes a decent PA system if you are shopping new. While I would not recommend them for most gigging situations, if it is just being used for practice, then it should get the job done. If you can though, definitely look used for a powered mixer and speakers or powered speakers and a passive mixer.

5StringBlues · #3 07-19-2011, 02:36 AM

Shure Vocalmaster.

I don't know when they stopped making these,but we got ours in 1981 or '82.

I'm guessing you will get ALOT of stories about this set up from the older cats on TB.

billbern · #4 07-19-2011, 05:22 AM

When we got our Shure Vocalmaster we thought we had a tour level system LOL

allexcosta · #5 07-19-2011, 05:34 AM

Try to come up with 600 bucks and get this:

Proel FLASH12A (powered) (pair) - Buy Discount DJ Equipment at Our Store

Once you start playing out and need something giggable, you won't want to have a pile of worthless trash in your garage, so if the budget is low, buy what you can, but good quality.

You can even get by with only ONE of these and using the left money for cables, mics and a small mixer.

Good luck.

john m · #6 07-19-2011, 05:40 AM

Casino columns, 100 watt. Didn't work well against a Marshall,
Acoustic 360, and a Leslie. We "rented" Ovation powered columns for big shows.

FWIW: Buddy Rich toured with a Shure Vocal Master.

john m

T-Bird · #7 07-19-2011, 12:29 PM

Hi.

Marshall Master PA 2003 with "Period Correct" Finnish made 115+tweeters Rewatt cabs + St.David vocal mic.

Bought it in 86 or so, about 1 AM on a sunday night from our "singer" in the middle of the main street of the town I was born in. We both were pretty drunk and I'd still think that I came on top in that deal. Still got 'em.

Regards
Sam

crozier247 · #8 07-19-2011, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allexcosta

Try to come up with 600 bucks and get this:

Proel FLASH12A (powered) (pair) - Buy Discount DJ Equipment at Our Store

Once you start playing out and need something giggable, you won't want to have a pile of worthless trash in your garage, so if the budget is low, buy what you can, but good quality.

You can even get by with only ONE of these and using the left money for cables, mics and a small mixer.

Good luck.

You think they'd be loud enough? and would the sound be crappy with only one speaker?

allexcosta · #9 07-19-2011, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crozier247

You think they'd be loud enough? and would the sound be crappy with only one speaker?

One sounds very good, two sounds good and louder. These are actually good speakers, not your average Behringer, JRX stuff...

Buy one at a time and a small mixer and you'll have a good PA soon.

crozier247 · #10 07-19-2011, 10:21 PM

btw, everyones story is very funyn and informative!

chuck3 · #11 07-19-2011, 10:30 PM

the Shure Vocalmaster rocks!

I honestly can't remember what PA setup my first band had. I'm sure it involved mounting the speakers as high as possible on the brontosauruses' necks.

Barisaxman · #12 08-01-2011, 06:09 AM

Shop used...look for something like an old set of Peavey SP2's or SP5's and an XR8600 powered mixer. Not ideal, but they can be had at VERY reasonable prices, and do well as beginner gigging PA's that can serve as rehearsal PA for many years.

**nutdog** · #13 08-01-2011, 06:29 AM

You could easily get a decent powered mixer and speakers for $600-750 used. Check craigslist and don't get anxious. Google whatever you think you might want.

The devil is in the details. Mics, stands, cables, monitors...

The first I owned was a peavey powered mixer and I used two peavey floor wedges for mains. Built little stands for them. This was before they started making them with stand adapters. I still use it in the basement. It's built like a tank and has an nice spring reverb. But it's not practical for gigging. In hindsight I should have bought one with 2 amps so it could power some floor monitors. Also, it has six inputs. I'd recommend 8 as a minimum.

But you guys could start out with one powered speaker. Some have 3 inputs. Or get a small mixer. You would need 3 mics, stands and cables. Then add another powered speaker as a monitor if you play out on a small gig. Keep adding powered speakers as needed and funds are available.

bryan gibson · #14 08-01-2011, 06:45 AM

Not my "first PA" by any means, but I have about $200 in my current practice setup. The board is an old/ugly/heavy Peavey XR700C (powered, 130w X 2), which cost $75 on Ebay. The two cabs are older Yamahas literally pulled from a dumpster

The drivers were blown, but I had an old Randall 2x15 box that was falling apart, so I swapped out the 15's, and removed the horns & baffled off the top openings. Add in a used Prologue 58 and some basic cables, and we're still right at two bills. No, it's not pretty or really giggable, but works great for running vocals (& sometimes DI bass) in a garage jam setting.

Stinsok · #15 08-01-2011, 06:50 AM

I saw a T. Graham Brown interview where he said that he and a guitar player started out with a guitar and mic wired into a home console stereo.

Never_grew_up · #16 08-07-2011, 10:28 AM

1st PA was the venerable Shure Vocalmaster. Then we 'upgraded' to a TAPCO 6100RB with 8 ch. expander for a whopping 14 channels in a 4' wide road case, a pair of JBL Perkins bins with the big EV midrange horns and a piezo tweeter bank on each side.
Ran it with a pair of old QSC mono amps that were probably about 150 watts each.

Ahh, those were the days...

Venom of God · #17 08-07-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5StringBlues

Shure Vocalmaster.

I don't know when they stopped making these,but we got ours in 1981 or '82.

I'm guessing you will get ALOT of stories about this set up from the older cats on TB.

I'm 23 and we still have one of those! It was our first PA also, in fact, we only just got a new one about a week ago (two Mackie 12" Thumps, yet to get a mixer). Needless to say the Mackie's are both louder and clearer, but the old Shure rig does have a charm to it and we're going to hang on to it at least until we get a film clip done for our upcoming EP (we want that to be the PA in it).