Electric guitar connected to Mixer doesnt work

[cooldude_123_in]

Just wondering if someone could tell me why my setup didnt work.

I have an electric guitar and was supposed to play as part of a choir at one of the churches. I have never played at the church or for that matter in any choir before. The only guitar playing I have done before was at home connecting my electric guitar to my fender mustang I amp.

The info given to me was that the church sound system had a Leem, LMM-6S mixer. I was under the impression all I had to do was connect my guitar to the mixer using 1/4 inch connectors, and it would all would all work, but when I did some reading on the internet I found that I need to have a DI box between my guitar and a mixer. So I went a purchased a Behringer Ultra-G GI100 DI box with all the necessary cables. I tested the DI box at home by connecting my guitar to the DI box and an XLR output of the DI box to the my fender Amplifier using a XLR to TS 1/4 inch adapter. It seemed to work fine.

When I went to the church I connected my guitar to the DI box and the XLR output of the DI box to the XLR input of the mixer, hoping that now I should be able to hear the guitar on the church PA system. There was no sound at all. When I increased the gain on the mixer to a very high level I just got a very feeble sound but that wasn't enough.

I tried connecting the guitar directly to the mixer and that didn't work either. I tried different combinations for quite some time and then gave up. I ended up connecting my guitar directly to the fender AMP and playing in church, but since the vocals were being sent to all the speakers in the church whereas the guitar output was only coming out of my Fender Mustang I amp , the whole performance was nowhere near what I wanted it to be.

Could any of you tell me what I was missing. Why wasn't the mixer sending the guitar output to the church PA system ? Why was the guitar sound so feeble when connected to the mixer?

Cheers, Alex

 

[ecc83]

Hi Alex, I cannot explain why the DI box> mixer XLR did not work. Your previous test with an adaptor and the amp indicate that it should have done.
Behringer gear is rather variable (!) in both quality and reliability, the box MAY have failed twixt home and church! Pretty unlikely though since that particular DI is one that gets a good rep. Did you test it again later?

I would suggest a really cheap PASSIVE DI box as a test, really nothing to go wrong there!

Guitar into mixer line input is easier to explain. The line input is likely just 10k Ohm resistance and effectively shorted out much of the guitar's signal plus line inputs typically have low gain.

Do you or the church own a spare microphone? If so, and you cannot get to the bottom of the DI conundrum, mic up the little Fender amp. You will need the mic very close, almost or even touching the speaker cloth and beware of feedback, "ringing".

Dave.

 

[cooldude_123_in]

Thanks for your reply, Dave. Yes the church did have additional mics and we tried keeping the mic in front of the Amp, but that ended up in a loud humming sound across the whole church. So we ended up removing the mic from front of the Amp. Yes, I did test the DI box after coming home at it worked fine. I initially suspected it was the battery, but since it worked fine after coming home I ruled it out.

Anyways, playing the guitar in the church was a one off. I wont be playing there anymore, at least not in the near future.

Just asked the question since I wanted to know if there was something obvious that I had missed out, which I should have been aware of. It would have been good to know what I missed so that I get it right if I get another chance.

 

[ecc83]

Thanks for your reply, Dave. Yes the church did have additional mics and we tried keeping the mic in front of the Amp, but that ended up in a loud humming sound across the whole church. So we ended up removing the mic from front of the Amp.

Anyways, playing the guitar in the church was a one off. I wont be playing there anymore, at least not in the near future.

Just asked the question since I wanted to know if there was something obvious that I had missed out, which I should have been aware of. Its just good to know what wrong I did so that I get it right if I get another chance.

Hmm? (no pun intended!) a mic in front of a guitar amp should not generate hum if it is half decent and the mixer has proper balanced inputs. The XLR cable could stand inspection as well.

If the mixer has a borked XLR input that could explain why the DI box did not work. Can you borrow a small mixer (or even an Audio Interface) and test the whole setup at home?

There is a moral here for any performer. NEVER assume things will work first time! ALWAYS go in early/night before and test the system to near destruction. Also, carry a spare EVERYTHING and a spare, spare.
Personal Hobby Horse, get a cheap digital test meter.

Two showbiz sayings come to mind: "The Show Must go On" and "It'll be alright on the Night". One is true, the other rarely so!

Dave.

 

[Farview]

My vote would be a bad input on the board or a bad snake channel. If you couldn't get a micro0hone to work properly, there is a problem with the equipment.

Doesn't the sound guy know how to do these things? Or is it just some volunteer from the congregation ?

 

[cooldude_123_in]

Yes I do plan to buy a mixer and test the setup at home. Would like to know what went wrong (faulty cable or DI box or something else).

Just a question regarding the output of a mixer. Can I connect the mixer output to my Fender Mustang Amp or do I need to buy monitor speakers for it ?

 

[cooldude_123_in]

I am an absolute beginner. I didn't know what a DI box is till a couple of weeks ago. Just been reading and trying to learn.

No we didn't have any sound engineers with us and neither did we have anyone who knew how to operate the mixer in a correct way. Its a very small rural congregation that we went to.

 

[JDOD]

I am an absolute beginner. I didn't know what a DI box is till a couple of weeks ago. Just been reading and trying to learn.

No we didn't have any sound engineers with us and neither did we have anyone who knew how to operate the mixer in a correct way. Its a very small rural congregation that we went to.

mate, I've been posting here nearly 2 years and I don't know what a DI Box is.

 

[ecc83]

What is a borked XLR input ?

Yes I do plan to buy a mixer and test the setup at home. Would like to know what went wrong (faulty cable or DI box or something else).

Just a question regarding the output of a mixer. Can I connect the mixer output to my Fender Mustang Amp or do I need to buy monitor speakers for it ?

Sorry! "Borked" aka buggered, faulty, a deceased parrot, i.e. not working properly.

Yes, you could buy a mixer but what then are your intentions with it? If you would like to get into home recording you need instead an Audio Interface. The cost is little greater (unless you go for a REALLY cheap mixer and don't!) The Alesis i02 AI is very good and runs out about $100 US.

Yes again you could connect either mixer or AI to the Mustang, it has an aux input for just that eventuality. Both mixer and AI will likely chuck out a bit more signal level than the amp expects* but careful knob tweaking should get things in the Ball Park, certainly excess level/overload can SOUND alarming but there is no danger of damage (except perhaps nerves!).

Yes, yes! Monitor speakers would be an excellent idea. Not sure how you would use them with just mixer and amp but certainly if you get into recording, very useful.

*This is a perennial problem when odd bits of audio gear need signal transfer (the other is hum/earth/ground loops) but is an easy one to solve by making up an "attenuator". This involves some VERY basic electronics and some soldering but these are skills that will stand you in very good stead if you continue an interest in audio recording and reproduction/PA.

And if I might venture an opinion? You do not come across as a typical, total noob! You seem to have a fair grasp of a systematic and enquiring approach to problems?

Be safe,

Dave.

 

[ecc83]

mate, I've been posting here nearly 2 years and I don't know what a DI Box is.

Then you should be DEEPLY ashamed as I am that we share the same land mass!

Heh! BUT! There are many thing CALLED Direct Injection Boxes but strictly speaking they are not so.

To me a guitar DI box simply takes the middling, crap, all over the shop impedance source of the guitar and transforms it to a microphone level signal at a much lower impedance. This output is balanced and exits on an XLR connector. There should also be a "ground lift switch" tho' at least one manufacturer avoids ground loops in another, rather clever way in their active DI box.

The various line level/highlevel. one to one isolator boxes are extremely useful but should not IMHO be lumped in with guitar DI boxes. This audio game is confusing enough!

Last thought. Do NOT, regardless of what you might get told, look upon DI/Isolator boxes as ANY KIND of mains shock protection device. Many do have 2kV isolating traffs in them but in practice other factors can compromise safety.

Dave.

 

[JDOD]

Then you should be DEEPLY ashamed as I am that we share the same land mass!

Heh! BUT! There are many thing CALLED Direct Injection Boxes but strictly speaking they are not so.

To me a guitar DI box simply takes the middling, crap, all over the shop impedance source of the guitar and transforms it to a microphone level signal at a much lower impedance. This output is balanced and exits on an XLR connector. There should also be a "ground lift switch" tho' at least one manufacturer avoids ground loops in another, rather clever way in their active DI box.

The various line level/highlevel. one to one isolator boxes are extremely useful but should not IMHO be lumped in with guitar DI boxes. This audio game is confusing enough!

Last thought. Do NOT, regardless of what you might get told, look upon DI/Isolator boxes as ANY KIND of mains shock protection device. Many do have 2kV isolating traffs in them but in practice other factors can compromise safety.

Dave.

Cheers, Dave. I think I know what you mean by a DI box now. I'm still not looking for one and can't see a use for one in my situation though.

 

[ecc83]

Cheers, Dave. I think I know what you mean by a DI box now. I'm still not looking for one and can't see a use for one in my situation though.

Hah! Fairynuff. One day the situation might arise. One day I might also bore the breeches off everyone and get into "Re-Amp" boxes! LOT of crap and misconceptions about those.

Dave.

---------- Update ----------

Cheers, Dave. I think I know what you mean by a DI box now. I'm still not looking for one and can't see a use for one in my situation though.

Hah! Fairynuff. One day the situation might arise. One day I might also bore the breeches off everyone and get into "Re-Amp" boxes! LOT of crap and misconceptions about those.

Dave. Don't know why that happened.