Going LIVE What to get?

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louietune

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Hi...

My recordings are done.... urgh.... now I am taking them to concert...

I need to purchase a PA system for travel and need to play my music tracks through it for performing.

I am on a pretty small budget but I want good quality.

I am also a woman and would prefer something small and easy to pack. I will be doing churches, auditoriums and some outside work as well... starting a fifteen state tour in June.

I have been looking at the fender portables... are they junk?

Don't they make a setup that plays you music tracks too? Or do I have to hook up a separate unit?

What would you suggest I get?

Thanks
 
What size halls will you be playing in? Many halls have their own PA systems. How many channels are you looking for? Are you looking for monitors as well? Separate power-amps, or mixers with built in PAs? What is your budget? I see that in some catalogues/flyers (e.g. Musicians Fiend (sic)), that they're offering packages which include speakers & stands, mics & stands, cables, powered-mixer, and cases for reasonable $$. I haven't used the Fender Portables, but my instinct tells me that you're paying over the odds for the name, and the usability/flexability would be compromised compared to getting something like Mackie, or Behringer - BTW: I've a Behringer headphone amp, and am pretty impressed by the construction, the performance and the value for money. In fact, I think I might even go with Behringer over Mackie if I was on a tight budget.

Long-winded, but I hope this helps. You've come to the right place for good information - Good Luck!

- Wil
 
Replacing Old Peavey system

Thanks for getting back Wil...

I have an old 4 channel Peavey that the reverb went out on... four channels seemed to be enough... but I could need six in the future if any quartets want to use my PA...

I could use the old speakers, but they are nasty looking.

I have two old shure mics that still work fine. I have little studio yamiha monitors I can use... but I need stands for everything.

I would like to get everything new if I can... I would really prefer wireless mics too.

But I am in a station wagon with a bunch of kids... I don't have a bus yet... so I have to keep this small.

The Fender is the smallest I have seen... but you are right about the name... I don't care what it is... as long as someone tells me it is good.

I am seeking out areas who don't usually bring in music... so I rather doubt I will run in to very many good PA systems... just feel so much more comfortable having my own.... if you know what I mean.


Thanks for the help.
 
We recently purchased the Fender Passport 250 for our Media Center.
While I haven't used it alot yet, I can tell you the following:

- the VIP (ducking) system works pretty well, if you plan or need to speak over any music. Takes some adjusting.
- the built in reverb seems okay, but not great, though I haven't used it in a performance situation yet.
- it is not as portable as I'd like...takes some lifting. I may actually build a special cart for it. The 150 may be a better size/more portable.
- the sound is better than I expected. Better bass than anticipated. Plenty of power. The 150 has fewer speakers...play your music through and see how you like it.
- the mics provided are better quality than anticipated.
- I did a bit of hunting too and the Fender is really the only truly self contained unit out there. There are some small systems you can look at.
 
OK..PA's I do so let's see...

First, It really depends on the size of the churches, halls etc. that you will be playing in as to what you need. (will you be in Cincinnati?)

The little Fender system is very portable and easy to use, but it is not very powerful. It will do well for acoustic type sets at a church/hall seating 50-100 people TOPS. And it is a big no-no for any outdoor use. I have heard it outside, and the sound just dies after a few yards. And no, you're not paying extra for the Fender name...not when it comes to PA.

Which brings me to my next suggestion. Some of the most affordable PA speakers out there are made my Fender. They make PA mains as well as floor monitors. I still even have a couple of the monitors lying around with my stuff. You will also want speaker stands. The speakers being up high will help to project the sound.

Look into the self contained PA box. These will have a mixer section along with a power amp built in. You can buy based on how many channels you will need. Fender and Yamaha make pretty affordable versions of these.

When putting the cost together, remember that cabling will cost you too. Many people leave this out in their calculations.

I ventured out about 3 summers ago and did a summer playing at churches with no house systems, so I'm pretty familiar with what you're doing I think. If you have any more specifics, let me know.

H2H
 
Fender makes 2

Hi H@H,

Thanks for replying... I appreciate the help.

Fender makes two of the little portable PA systems... are you saying neither of them will handle an outdoor gig?

Thanks
 
The only one I heard was the original, but the newer one is just a smaller version of the first. So no, I would think outside would be a bad idea.
UNLESS- you are playing in someone's backyard or something. :)

The little speakers have lots of volume in small spaces, but in the open they wash out very fast. Maybe you could compliment the system with a power amp and a couple mains with 12" speakers in them...that is if you insisted on using the Passport.

H2H
 
OF COURSE-

This is totally dependant on the style of music you are doing. I have thought that they might work outdoors for bluegrass, because the banjo will cut through anything and that music is not very low-end dependant. But rock, definately..no.
 
Thanks H2H

I get the idea...

I will only be using music tracks and vocals... no live band as yet.

I do coutry Gospel.

Talk at ya later...

Thanks again!
 
Check out the JBL 'Eons', they are self powered (about 250 watts each for the original and 400 watts each for the new G2) so you wont need an amp, they are pretty flat so you can do without an eq and get a fair amount of gain before feedback, they are made of a touch polypropylene (I think) plastic so they are much lighter than wooden boxes, You can even plug a mic straight into them without a mixer if you ever only need to run one or two channels, they have a built in socket so that you can stand mount them. I love the little suckers.

http://www.jblpro.com/eong2/index.htm

I also like the small Mackie boards, durable, great sounding, very small and easy to handle.

http://www.mackie.com/Products/VLZ_PRO_Series/1202VLZPRO.asp

http://www.mackie.com/Products/VLZ_PRO_Series/1402VLZPRO.asp

I haven't used any of the new 'CFX' boards so I can't recommend them from personal experience, but since they have built in eq and effects I think they might be worth considering.

http://www.mackie.com/Products/CFX_Series/CFX12.asp


You can even get bags for the mixers


http://www.mackiegear.com/shop/Items_List.asp?ST=193


I dont think the Fender passport would work for anything much bigger than a large livingroom, with maybe 20 people, or maybe a 'Friends' (TV show) type coffee house gig.
 
Thanks for the Links!

Thanks Vox

I will check all these links out.

Yup,.. I think ya'll have pretty much convinced me the fender portable is not the thing for good all around use.

Thanks again.

louietune
 
Re: Replacing Old Peavey system

louietune said:
...<snip> I would really prefer wireless mics too<snip>...
Click to expand...

If you're on a budget, I would keep away from wireless mics - the cheaper ones tend to be flakey, and the really good systems are quite expensive, and to be honest I don't think they're worth the money - I think I'd rather put the $$ into something else. Just my opinion, and as I said before there's lots of great advice here...

- Wil
 
Thanks to everyone...

Thanks to all of you for the help...

Those JBLs are really cool!!! I don't see any price yet though... I guess I need to look further into the website.

The Fender 250 will still probably not help me outdoors.
and I agree Major,... it is pretty heavy for a portable.

Wireless mics are still only a wish item at this point. I agree that the most expensive would probably be the best...

I really should get a nice PA that I can ad nice features to as I go along, instead of one that will be obsolete in a year or two as we grow.

Now... what about the best way to run your background music through the PA... do most of you use an MD hookup?
 
Re: Thanks to everyone...

louietune said:
...<snip>
Now... what about the best way to run your background music through the PA... do most of you use an MD hookup?
Click to expand...

Bring a line-level signal from your boom-box (or whatever) in on an unused (stereo) channel (or two unused mono channels panned hard left and right) on your mixer. Some mixers (e.g. Mackie 808S have a couple of special inputs (RCA phono) to do just that. Those on the 808S come in after the "break" switch (mutes anything before the switch which is useful to mute the pre-amplier stage without changing any input gain-settings), but before the gain control of the power-amp, so you still have control over the output level. This is just one of many ways -

- Wil
 
PA

I use the Fender Passport for practice in my house and it sounds really well. For going out, I use some Yamaha pa speakers, a Mackie 1402 VLZ mixer and a Alesis RA-100 amp. I keep it simple. You might be better off getting a powered mixer. Yamaha makes some great PA stuff. Look at www.musiciansfriend.com for some package deals. They usually throw in some mics, mic stands, and cables too.
 
Re: Thanks to everyone...

louietune said:


Those JBLs are really cool!!! I don't see any price yet though... I guess I need to look further into the website.
Click to expand...

You won't find the retail price on the JBL site, but lots of stores and distributers have them, I found this among others

http://www.marsmusic.com/store/product_new.jhtml?catid=126&prodid=11658&skuid=0

louietune said:


Now... what about the best way to run your background music through the PA... do most of you use an MD hookup?
Click to expand...

MD should work fine, I like the fact that you can name songs, very handy for finding stuff in a live situation, the discs are also a lot easier to handle.
 
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