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PA system for wedding band!
- Thread starter jacobrownoly
- Start date
If your doing a higher pay wedding gig then you may want to just rent a local pro sound company. Here in SoCal I can probably rent a pro system for a 350 to 500USD a night with sound man / DJ. Biamped FOH 16 to 24 ch with multiple monitor mixes. If your charging 1500 to 2000 usd then it would make sense. If your going to be playing high dollar weddings every weekend then it would be better to buy your own system. I own my own decent system which I provide to my band for free but have rented my services to other bands from time to time.
I think a lot really depends on how long-term an investment this PA rig is for. Do you actually have any of these 200-500 people gigs booked? Is this a band that's aiming to be together, gigging as a business as often as possible, or is this just for kicks and a little extra money on the weekend? One guy I used to play with would talk about his cover band from the 90s that gigged constantly for a year without paying any band members just to pay off their investment in a PA (I think it was a $10,000 system or so).
If you're just going to play a couple of these big gigs and don't have long-term plans, go ahead and just hire a sound guy and use his gear, or rent a system.
If you think you're going to be playing weddings and corporate parties and things regularly for the next ten years (and it's realistic to expect you can get those bookings), then as others have said, raise your budget, and plan on using the bulk of your gig pay for the first year or so to pay for it.
If you're going to be more of a bars-and-clubs weekend band, probably still raise your budget, but probably more in the $1500-2000 range (that's, what, 1000-1500 pounds?).
If you're just going to play a couple of these big gigs and don't have long-term plans, go ahead and just hire a sound guy and use his gear, or rent a system.
If you think you're going to be playing weddings and corporate parties and things regularly for the next ten years (and it's realistic to expect you can get those bookings), then as others have said, raise your budget, and plan on using the bulk of your gig pay for the first year or so to pay for it.
If you're going to be more of a bars-and-clubs weekend band, probably still raise your budget, but probably more in the $1500-2000 range (that's, what, 1000-1500 pounds?).
Your budget is not realistic, I am not able to spend much cash on gear either and don't want to come across as "you are to poor for this" I just want you to recognize that what you ask is not realistic. My present pop rock cover band has powered Behringer tops and monitor wedges (they suck... very distorted compared to my last bands JBL's). I also have experience with JBL, Yamaha, and Peavey PA speakers. Save your money and spend more you will not regret it. The success of your band is partially due to your sound. Don't skimp and buy cheap gear you will learn why soon enough. I am a DIY nut and really love physics, etc. and have built good PA speakers myself but starting out I made several costly mistakes. If you are considering this route I recommend using a confirmed design and employ woodworkers if necessary you can still save money but you won't have them tomorrow. In my opinion the best way to go is a sub-woofer/satellite type system with a single sub for indoors or smaller rooms and 2 or more for outdoors. The top boxes must be stout to cover the size crowd expected. Powered speakers are easier to set-up and a bit harder to break than non-powered cabs so I might recommend powered cabs if you are novices to PA equipment. More experience is needed to set-up and run a system with separate amps and cabs as compared to setting up and running a powered cab system. Powered cabs also cost more however...
I tend to agree with posters that recommend hiring a sound guy with a sound system for FOH in the short term but do your homework and save your $$$ you need to re-evaluate your needs/budget.
I tend to agree with posters that recommend hiring a sound guy with a sound system for FOH in the short term but do your homework and save your $$$ you need to re-evaluate your needs/budget.
I guess different folks have different experiences with Behringer gear. As I mentioned previously, we use a PMP6000 powered mixer. Zero issues. We use 2 B215XL's for mains and among other monitors (Kustom powered 2x10.....yes Kustom, JBL & Yamaha)....2 B212XL's. Zero issues. 2 Euro 1x18 subs. Zero issues. Loud and clean! All going on 2 years now. During this time we had 2 dual 15 JBL's go bad, a JBL powered sub go bad. Having said this, if your budget is low, you have to get what you can afford. But please make up your own mind regarding brands. If my band had the money, sure I'd go for a higher quality brand but not all 'name' brands are true quality.
Not sure if you can get [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] where you are but I HIGHLY recommend their stuff. My blues band has a 24 ch. system from them. Never had a problem. Very affordable.
Our band just switched from a Mackie 16 ch mixer to a Presonus 16 ch mixer and the difference is very noticeable. Plus we now have 6 aux sends so each can have his preferred monitor mix in the IEMs. Running QSC amps for FOH, thru Klipsch mains and JBL subs. So far we're really liking the PResonus mixer.
Does it matter? Aren't they supposed to be better than Behringer? Or Samson? Mackie? Alto? Gemini? Harbinger? Nady?
powered subs are probably the operative phrase here! My band has that same mixer powering 1x15 JBL's, and it definitely would not have the power to handle a block party. Our lead vocal fader is always near the top -- it's at a good volume and audible over the rest of us but there's no headroom to turn it up any higher (drums usually not mic'ed except kick).
That's odd. Our faders are nowhere near the top. Are you running your system in stereo? Probably running it at 8ohms per channel so you not getting the full power. Try using 1 channel or bridging.
JRX are cheap POS designed to compete with blowinger. They are junk at a low price point for people who don't care about what they sound like.
that's kinda harsh. maybe there are people that use jrx, etc that care a lot but are doing the best they can w/what they have to work with.
i have played with groups that went on and on about "p.a. this" and "p.a. that" that didn't really sound that great, and i've played with groups using small budget p.a's that did.
i think that statement is equal to "if you can't afford a cadillac/lexus/whatever you shouldn't even bother trying to drive to work in your ford, let alone in a hyundai".
It's all good. I just LOL'd! While they may be 'cheap', we always sounded good. The Main's just had a jack issue and the sub was just overworked not by us but by the DJ who just cranked it past what it could endure. Worked fine for the band. We just bought the passive Behringer Euro 18" Subs. Just waiting to pick up an amp to run them with.
Problem is the folks here have to realize not everyone has the cash to drop $5k on top of the line equipment. Some spend on overkill. We don't do outdoor events so we don't need multiple arrays of mains/monitors and subs. I laugh sometimes at bands who bring so much crap to a bar/restaurant or wedding gig and still sound like crap! In fact, I did a gig in my backyard this summer using a Kustom 8 channel 400w powered mixer, 2 Kustom 15" Mains and 2 Kustom 10" monitors. Sounded fantastic. A little kick and bass & keys along with 3 vocals.
Problem is the folks here have to realize not everyone has the cash to drop $5k on top of the line equipment. Some spend on overkill. We don't do outdoor events so we don't need multiple arrays of mains/monitors and subs. I laugh sometimes at bands who bring so much crap to a bar/restaurant or wedding gig and still sound like crap! In fact, I did a gig in my backyard this summer using a Kustom 8 channel 400w powered mixer, 2 Kustom 15" Mains and 2 Kustom 10" monitors. Sounded fantastic. A little kick and bass & keys along with 3 vocals.
good lord, gigging constantly and it took them a year to pay off a 10k PA????? yeeeouch. My band could have purchased a 40k PA in that timeframe. times is hard, times is hard
good lord, gigging constantly and it took them a year to pay off a 10k PA????? yeeeouch. My band could have purchased a 40k PA in that timeframe. times is hard, times is hard
I'm not sure what the actual dollar value on that PA was, just that he would talk about gigging all year for no payout to band members so that they could pay the thing off. I don't know what they were getting per gig.
