Can I piece together a PA?

[static0verdrive]

Hi guys,

My new band is finally getting off the ground, and so far we've survived without a PA because only one of the two guitars is electric and there's no drummer yet (but coming soon). Our vocalist can be heard for now but it won't be long before the drums show up and I bust out my real 500W rig instead of my 15W.

I was wondering if you think I could create a PA using a Yamaha mixer I bought 10-15 years ago just by adding some powered speakers. The mixer has no preamps for instruments but that's OK, it would just be for vocals and maybe bass if I neglect to bring my rig (I do have a DI). It also isn't considered a "powered" mixer in that it isn't an amp / won't drive loudspeakers. I've also toyed with the idea of putting electronic drums through it if he doesn't feel like carting his full acoustic kit to shorter practices.

Is there more to PAs than that? Looking to make the most out of what we have already without having to buy too much new or wasting perfectly good old gear. Sorry if it's a silly question but if you ever heard me sing, you'd know why I know nothing about vocal gear

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[4Mal]

Sure. A couple of powered speaks for mains, 1 or a couple for monitors. A stereo EQ, 1 side for mains, the other for monitors and you are cooking. You can always upgrade the board down the road.

You can also just add a power amp and a couple of passive speaks. If you don't mind the weight I see used passive Yamaha, Yorkville and Mackie stuff on the block cheap a lot... If you put some thought into clean cabling then the setup is really no more than using powered speaks ... Some of the old heavy weight amps sound great and are built to survive a ton of abuse.

I've done many sound dates with good powered speakers, sometimes with a sub, sometimes without using a board with onboard EQ's. My own band does that almost all the time.

My larger passive system really does sound better than the powered stuff but it should based on the investment, size, weight, setup time...