What gear for vocals - need help

steamthief · #1 02-04-2007, 01:26 PM

I finally hooked up with some guys on craigslist to jam with, and I'm asking myself, why didn't I do it sooner? Currently, we are a guitarist with a 100w ss combo, a fairly loud drummer, and myself with a NA-650/GS112 rig. We're looking to add a true vocalist, keys, and perhaps a second guitar, to do rock covers.

In lieu of having any true vocals gear, we plugged a mic into my B100-R combo, but it was clipping badly at any audible levels, so for the sake of better sound, I'm now in the market for some vocal gear.

What exactly would the good folks here at TB recommend, based on what would be needed for practice sessions? A guy I used to play with has a vocal processor, but is that a necessary piece of gear? I'd assume we'd need at least some sort of power source and dedicated cab, but I'm clueless as to how many watts would work best. I'd prefer to pay a little more and get stuff that has some headroom rather than spending the bare minimum to get gear that barely has enough juice.

All advice is appreciated, and if I've failed to address any pertinent info needed to make a better informed decision, let me know. Thanks-a-bunch!

steamthief · #2 02-04-2007, 09:19 PM

Anybody?

Munjibunga · #3 02-04-2007, 09:28 PM

I'd get a box mixer and a couple speakers, maybe with 12-inch drivers. Lots of people make these, like Yamaha, Mackie and Carvin, and they usually have 300 to 600 watts perside of amplification built in. Most of them have built-in effects and a few bands of graphic EQ. This type of rig is great for rehearsals, and a lot of bands use them for thier main rig for smaller venues. We used to use one side of a 600 + 600 Fender for the mains and the other side for monitors. They're actually pretty versatile. Here's a pic of the Carvin version of one of these. BTW, I'd try to get one with 500 or 600 watts a side.

Here's a Mackie unit.

Jazzdogg · #4 02-04-2007, 09:30 PM

We feed our microphones into a small 12-channel mixer that feeds self-powered speakers. It's simple, reliable, portable, and provides good sound for rehearsals and small gigs. For larger gigs, we rent as needed.

I'd like to upgrade some of our gear, so I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

Munjibunga · #5 02-04-2007, 09:33 PM

Some folks make non-powered mixers with effects like the one below. You'd need some powered speakers like Mackie SRM 450s, but that would work really well.

ihateusernames · #6 02-05-2007, 08:11 AM

For a single vocalist in practice use only I'd recommend a powered speaker, with mixer built in. Simple, and very expandable when the future calls for it.

10" or 12" is all you need. I'd suggest one from Yorkville or Peavey. The Peavey PR series sound very good for the money, much better than JBL Eon's IMHO. Yorkville's powered tops sound great, and come with a bit higher price than the Peavey's.

Forgot to mention adding a decent EQ (31 band preferrably, 15 can work). The vocal processor will cause more problems than it's worth if you aren't familiar with basic PA setup and how processing works. Stash it away for now!

Bard2dbone · #7 02-05-2007, 10:01 AM

For just-getting-started purposes, you could also consider a keyboard amp. They are designed to take mic inputs, and have better full spectrum reproduction than most imstrumental amps. Don't try to use a guitar amp. It'll be horrible. A bass amp will sound better. A keyboard amp will sound better than that.

But getting real PA gear is obviously the best choice.

In my old band, the keyboardists rig was a full PA. He used the first six channels for his keys. We used the nest three for vocals, then one each for guitar and bass, and the other five for drums. That ran into two power amps, one for monitors, one for mains.

That kind of rig isn't cheap, or even reasonably inexpensive.

The cheapest thing that will sort of work is the keyboard combo amp that I mentioned.

Next is one of the box mixer with built in amp and small speakers that Munji mentioned.

Then is a better unpowered mixer into powered cabs, like jazzdogg, Munji, and ihateusernames mentioned next.

Then a full system like I mentioned above.

So how much can you spend on this?

steamthief · #8 02-05-2007, 05:24 PM

Thanks for your input, guys. Based on the experience runnings vocals through my bass combo, I think going dedicated PA is the best way to go.

Honestly, I'm not sure on how much I'd like to spend, the lesser the better! Realistically, I'd like to get good enough stuff that's worth hanging on to and can be built upon if need be.

What I think will suffice for now is a rig that will handle 2-3 mics, dedicated strictly to vocals. Is 500 watts X 2 the minimum power you all would suggest? I'd also prefer to go used to get more bang for the buck. Is $500 a lowball on how much decent gear would go for used? Any brands to stay away from?

SteveC · #9 02-05-2007, 05:38 PM

+1 on the powered box mixer and a couple cabs. We use a Yamaha with only 300 watts per side for our small - medium gigs. We run stereo keys, guitar, bass, 2 vocals into a pair of 2-way 15" on sticks. Works great. We use a little Peavey powered wedge as a monitor.

Inexpensive, easy to haul and pretty versitile for all kinds of occasions.