Singer Problems...

[Bassist_Ben]

In my band we are all fine but there's one problem, we can barely here the singer singing. We use a bad little 15 watt guitar amp for his microphone and we can't afford a bigger guitar amp (say like 50-100watts) for the singer.

Are there like singing amps that cost cheaper?
And where would you get them (IN AUSTRALIA:P)

Cheers, Ben

[hartke20g]

save up and get a PA system.

[tlwaps]

I'd hate to disagree with hartke20g.

[vindy500]

or you could steal a pa system, then you wont have to save

[WeDriveTheBus]

Agreed.
Go for a little 6 channel powered mixer, a decent vocal mic and a pair of 12" speakers that you can use as monitors or pole mount as mains. Somedays as you save a little more cash, throw a mic on the kick drum and ease it into the mix as well. You're singer won't have to tear his throat out at every rehearsal and the band will sound like a million bucks with powerful vocals riding out front in the mix, and a nice thumpy kick drum to help you lay your groove down. You won't regret it.... it's worth the investment.

[ric1312]

I've been in this exact situation as the singer, in my first band. If he can't afford a PA, buy a little 4 channel mixer for $40, then get a nice size speaker/amp to plug that into.

but, to really make it work for practice put it up on a pole at ear level. This way it won't compete for volume as much over your guitar amp and drummer.

O and the cheapo radioshack mics don't cut it for output, he'll have to bite the bullet and buy a real mic. I find the beta 58a loud as all hell, rejects feedback pretty well too.

[hartke20g]

on MF there's a few PA packages worth looking into. IME the Kustom 4 channel (about $200) is just loud enough to be heard through 2 'punkk rawk volume @ t3h maxxX!' full stacks. the only complaint i've heard is that either the PA itself, or the mics drain a bit of the bass frequencies. but i like that (i also like vocals with a bit of distortion). a 'band' at my school played for a festival in february with only 1 singer singing through a 50 watt marshall combo and, not only did it sound terrible to the people closest to it, but i didn't even know anyone was singing during that song.

edit: btw, does anyone know firsthand of a specific mic that has a decent output (when compared to your current mics) that distorts a fair amount without sounding too harsh?

[Vegiehead]

yup i agree with the bus man !

It will make your band sound a lot more managable.

Ebay or your local music shop should be able to help.