Keyboard amp for Voice and Fiddle?

[Rigormortis]

I'm new to setting up for amplification, so please bear with me.

I have an ElectroVoice Raven microphone . . .

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6499/raven1largerc4.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=raven1largerc4.jpg)

and a ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3186/preampsz2.th.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=preampsz2.jpg)

Right now, it's going into a small Crate Keyboard amp, the KBA 10.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/3742/cratekbaln3.th.jpg (http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cratekbaln3.jpg)

(Some of you might recognize that this isn't exactly the old KBA 10, but close.)

I'd like to improve this setup for voice and fiddle, since I'm not entirely pleased with the sounds coming out. It's loud enough for our small studio, but it sounds a bit harsh at times, and less full than what we want.

Does anyone here know if the Crate KB10 is made for a pre-amped signal or not? When the mic goes in direct, it lacks even more fullness.

[Steve Conner]

You probably just need a bigger amp than the free-gift-in-a-cereal-packet KBA10. ;) It'll be sounding harsh because you need to overdrive it to make the required volume.

If your band has a drummer, even a quiet jazz one, I'd be looking for something with at least 100W, and a 12" speaker with a horn tweeter.

If the KBA10 was sold as a keyboard amp, then it should be happy with a line-level (what you called "pre-amped") signal.

[Rigormortis]

You probably just need a bigger amp than the free-gift-in-a-cereal-packet KBA10. ;)

:lol:

Are there amps made especially for vocals you could recommend? We're all playing either acoustically or through small amps. I have a Traynor 20 for my guitar. The drummer has an electronic kit and an amp about the same size as the KBA 10. We're making the transition from acoustic to amped.

[Enzo]

You might look into an "acoustic amp" that most brands of guitar amp now also make.

Amps for electric guitar have a tone to them, they are not hifi. Acoustic guitars however really do want hifi - just cleanly amplify the guitar. Most makers make a model or two specifically for this use, and many these days include a microphone channel as well. In essence it is a mini PA system.

Your little Crate is really just a practice amp, not intended for stage use really. And while "keyboard amps: are also meant to be hifi amps, they are not intended as vocal amps for the most part.

If your act is like a folk act or similar, you don't need a lot of loud, but you do need enough power to move the speaker. Are the other members of the group amplified? Or are you the only singer?

[Joe Bee]

I am surprised nobody else mentioned this, but if your are looking for vocal amplification, the thing you are looking for is called PA. There are small systems, like this Yamaha http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/PressReleaseDetail/0,,CNTID%25253D48559%252526CTID%25253D325031%252526CNTYP %25253DNEWS%252526RLTID%25253D,00.html which fits with steves description of a 12" woofer and a separate tweeter. It is also rather affordable, at least by guitar amplification standards :-)

Do not, and I mean DO NOT, try to get away with a keyboard, guitar or whatever instrument amplifier, as they usually have a seriously skewed (or screwed?) frequency response and will give unacceptable coloration to vocals.

[Paleo Pete]

Joe Bee beat me to it, I would also recommend a PA instead of an instrument amp for vocals, I've tried it before and they suck for vocal amps. I've useda couple of acoustic guitar amps, they sound pretty good, but I havent used the mic input option, either didn't need a mic or had a PA available for that.

This Fender PA (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Passport-Deluxe-PD150-Portable-PA?sku=480664) does a good job for small venues or low volume needs, I've used one and it sounds good, and not too expensive. Peavey makes a similar one. Stay away from Behringer, cheap plastic and I doubt it would hold up to road use.

[Rigormortis]

Thanks guys. It's hard to find anyone with knowledge about amplification in my little town. A PA around here is the loudspeaker at the gym!

The other instruments in our group that have amplification now are the bass, the guitars, and the electronic drum set. We've just started going to the amplified sound, partly because of the addition of a drummer.

The other amps are small. I think the bass player uses a 1x10. The guitars go through a 20 amp 1x12, and the drummer has two speakers on his set. I'm not sure what size. The fiddle is usually loud enough without the mic to do well, but the vocals need help.

I'll look into a PA.

[Joe Bee]

What you are looking for is so small in terms of power that it can hardly be called a PA (public adress), but there are also a few very small PAs out there. Note that I have ZERO experience with this, as I play guitar myself, but what you might consider looking into is something like the "Roland Cube CM-30". It is small and cheap, but still do OK for vocal since at least it has a tweeter. The Cubes have a very good reputation as guitar amps, so I imagine the Vocal one should also be OK, and if you mail order it you may be able to return it within 30 days if you dont like it. The small Yamaha MSR-100 might also do the job.
The Fender passport might be more than you need, being stereo and having all sorts of bells and whistles.

[Enzo]

I may be confused. Is the mic for the fiddle? or is it for vocals ALONG WITH the fiddle?

Anything intended for a guitar will be terrible for vocals - tweeter or no tweeter. And really, you don't want a guitar amp for fiddle, unless you are going for some effect.

If you plan to amplify the fiddle alone and other members of the band have individual amps, then I still think an acoustic amp would be a good choice. A small portable PA as suggested would also work, but would be a little more to set up.

But now that you have defined the group a little more, you say the "vocals," which means to me more than one singer. For that you really do want a PA system. Doesn't have to be huge or large. All the major brands make one or more small portable PA. These are specifically designed for small vocal groups, spoken word, and other non-loud situations. You really dont want a stage full of performers each having his own vocal amp. Very hard to get a nice mix that way.

The Fender Passport series look funny, but to me sound reasonably good. But PV makes good stuff too. Yamaha certainly.

PAs come in all in one systems, or you can get a mixer/amplifier unit and then a pair of speakers of your choice.

Mixers come in usually four or more channels, from four up to way too many. You can mix your vocals, and if there are more channels in the mixer, some of those instruments can be run into the PA as well.

[Paul P]

Note that I have ZERO experience with this, as I play guitar myself, but what you might consider looking into is something like the "Roland Cube CM-30". It is small and cheap, but still do OK for vocal since at least it has a tweeter

I just bought one of these for my daughter for Christmas, along with an SM58S.
I don't know what it sounds like yet but it looks promising on paper. It would
have been nice if it had a few effects, especially a good reverb, but I guess
these can be added through pedals ?

Paul P

[Steve Conner]

Pedals won't work well on a microphone, the impedance is wrong and the signal level is too low.

[MWJB]

"Pedals won't work well on a microphone, the impedance is wrong and the signal level is too low." - They will if you use a Lo-Z to Hi-Z transformer & run it into the Hi-Z input on your PA amp. I've often used PA mics for vocals & odd jam, plugged into the Normal channel of a 50W-100W Fender...works well enough at moderate volumes. In fact at one jam, where the PA went down, no-one noticed that they were singing through a Fender Twin.

A pal of mine used to prefer a delay pedal to the on board delay on his PA head, so he used a SM58 into a Lo to Hi-Z transformer, into his PA...sounded killer.

But, as Steve said straight off, a 10W SS amp isn't going to give you much headroom for vocals.

[Paul P]

Well I'm glad to hear that there may be a way to add effects. The
CM-30 (which is supposed to be 30w for whatever that's worth) has
a bunch of inputs :

http://www.roland.com/products/en/CM-30/features.html

Paul P

[Rigormortis]

In our group, almost everyone sings something. This isn't a problem when we're strictly acoustic. And so far, it seems to work okay to just trade spots at the microphone when we're up for our song. I'm the only one concerned about getting enough volume and headroom on the vocals so far. But I think it's going to be evident to everyone if we ever want to perform outdoors. The fiddle player just likes the addition of the amplified/reverb sound coming through the speaker. And he sings as well.

OK. I don't want to spend a lot of money until I know what I'm doing. So I'm looking at any and all vocal PA amps that come up on eBay. For example, here's a big one--a SHURE. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110205653329

I don't mind just getting just a head, because I've got some PA speakers for a home theater that I could use for starters. But I don't want to buy junk.

[Steve Conner]

If you're new to performing, your first gigs will more than likely be on a bill with several other bands, and someone else will have arranged to hire the PA system. You don't necessarily need to own one.

Access to one is good though, so you can practice and get used to being amplified. Do you have any rehearsal rooms in your area? Our town is full of places like that: they're basically a sort-of-soundproof room with a drum kit, amps and a PA, that you can rent for a 3 hour session.

[Rigormortis]

We are from a very small place where there are few other musicians. We're going to need all our own amplification.

[Joe Bee]

OK. I don't want to spend a lot of money until I know what I'm doing. So I'm looking at any and all vocal PA amps that come up on eBay. For example, here's a big one--a SHURE. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110205653329

I don't mind just getting just a head, because I've got some PA speakers for a home theater that I could use for starters. But I don't want to buy junk.

I have no idea what it is that you dug out there, but to put it mildly, it looks like it is best enjoyed by someone with experience on what he is doing. While buying used sounds like a great idea, I would really go with something more recent. In contrast to guitar amplification, which has not changed much since the 50's, there is still a lot of development in PA's, so don't buy anything as old as that.

To give you an idea what to look for:
http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-EON15-G2-Powered-Speaker-Monitor-PA-Music-Pro-Audio_W0QQitemZ330197862495QQihZ014QQcategoryZ47093QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Nady-FWA-12-Active-Floor-Wedge-Powered-12-Monitor_W0QQitemZ170178179272QQihZ007QQcategoryZ47093QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
these might be out of your price range, but if you keep an eye open, I am sure you will eventually find something.
One is atually a stage monitor, but I am sure that for a small venue, you could just turn it around and have it beam at the audience :-)


If you just buy a head you will sooner or later kick your self and buy something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/YAMAHA-PA-SPEAKERS-S115IV-1000WATT-MAX-NICE-NR_W0QQitemZ190183181864QQihZ009QQcategoryZ47094QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Home theater and HiFi speakers are an entirely different animal from proper PA speakers, and even if you don't blow them at the first gig, you will not have a lot of fun with them.
Again I am not much of a pro in this field, but I will give you one reason why it most likely wont work: The efficiency rating of home speakers tends to be 90dB/W/m, whereas PAs are 10x more efficient at 100dB/W/m. This means you need 10x more power from the amplifier, so you are looking at an average power of, say, 10W vs. 100W. now if you hit a loud note, it wold not be unreasonable to peak at 200W with the PA speakers, so that would be 2000W (!!!) from the home theater speakers. Even if your amplifier can supply that kind of power, your speakers won't survive it for long.

[Enzo]

That Shure is 40 years old. We used stuff like that when I was on the road. Individual on/off switches for reverb at each chammel. Of course the reverb sounded like an old screen door spring.. For similar money, you can find something half as old.

A mixer that includes a power amp for the speakers is called a "powered mixer." Some are laid out like a mixer - flat like a desk top. others are in the same shape and layout as a guitar amp head. We call those "box mixers" around here, for their box-like shape. Not calling one or the other better, just pointing out the varieties. You would need your own speakers with that.

There are some that are complete systems - mixer/poweramp and speakers. Something like fender Passport is an example.

There are also now a lot of powered speakers, and some of those have a small basic mixer inside - two to four inputs. I think most everyone makes one now, but JBL's Eon was one of the first if not the first of this type.

A powered speaker is a speaker cabinet that has a power amp inside it. You can plug a mic directly into it, or supply other signals.

[Rigormortis]

Thanks. I'm learning a lot. It's hard to get the picture when there's no similar system nearby for me to look at and try out.

I was looking for a nice little PA amp separate from speakers, with controls for EQ and reverb, because if we have several microphones, it would be nice to have one controller.

But now I'm thinking for our group, a powered speaker might be best.

OK. Maybe we'd better start from scratch. If you were looking for a small performance system for vocals and perhaps to amplify a fiddle, what would you select?

Would something like this be appropriate? http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-TECHNICAL-PRO-12-POWERED-PA-SPEAKER-SYSTEM-2-MICS_W0QQitemZ280183474393QQihZ018QQcategoryZ47094QQcmdZ ViewItem

I have no idea of appropriate wattage for vocals, since all my amp experience has been with guitar amps.

I looked at the Fender Passport, and it looks like a similar product. I had ruled out those things, just because they didn't seem like something a band could use.

[Joe Bee]

Would something like this be appropriate? http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-TECHNICAL-PRO-12-POWERED-PA-SPEAKER-SYSTEM-2-MICS_W0QQitemZ280183474393QQihZ018QQcategoryZ47094QQcmdZ ViewItem

Please do yourself a favour and dont buy trash like that. I understand you dont want to spend big bucks, but if you buy that thing, you may aswell flush your money down the toilet. The 2000W rating is a plain lie, there is no way a 1.4" voice coil with a 40oz magnet can burn that kind of power. The 92dB sensitivity is marginal at best, crank this thing just a tiny bit and you will get horrible power compression or worse, have the thing burst in flames.

Especially since you don't have a lot of in depth knowledge about PAs, I would suggest you to stick with some reputable company like Yamaha, JBL, Electro Voice etc. Buy used, buy something smaller with a 10" woofer and 100W (that should be plenty for your current situation) and you will have something that you can still use in 10 years if you are playing in a smaller venue or so.

[Enzo]

And while buying used can save you money, you do have to have some idea what you are looking for. You might consider looking at one of the catalog houses like Musicians Friend. These basic PA systems come in various brands, and are not really very expensive even new. Plus, new ones come with a warranty. Ebay? Nothing there to back you up.

[Rigormortis]

I guess when I see those packages like the Fender Passport, I'm thinking they are Mickey Mouse units designed for highschool gym dances and such. The Technical Pro units looked like the same kind of thing.

I don't know what size range I'm looking for. Right now we are all using smallish combo amps, with the largest guitar amp being a Fender Bassman turned down low and my amp being a Traynor YCV20WR, also turned down low.

So, for starters, I need to know what wattage is appropriate.

I'll take another look at what Yamaha has. Any other brands and units to recommend? I'd like to find something under $400.

[Rigormortis]

OK. How about this powered speaker by JBL?

http://www.music123.com/JBL-Eon15P-1-Powered-Speaker-600210-i1152796.Music123

or this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-Eon-10-Powered-Speaker_W0QQitemZ250199264149QQihZ015QQcategoryZ23785QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Wouldn't I still need some kind of cab or mixer? Or can I go straight in with a mic and my little mic preamp?

[Paleo Pete]

OK I'll try to give you an idea what will be needed. First off, for a PA handling vocals, the more wattage you have the more headroom you have, and the less chance of feedback and distortion.

That said, for what you describe, a 100-150 watt PA amp should handle it with no problems, you're not talking a heavy metal band in a football stadium...

Powered speakers or not, yes you will need a mixer. The mixer gives you the ability to adjust (mix) the volume levels and tone of each mic, so you can blend everything well. A powered mixer has a built in amp to send the signal to the speakers, a non-powered mixer sends a line signal to an amp, which then powers the speakers.

You'll also find that usually the PA speakers are out in front of the band, it's not easy to hear yourself sing, so stage monitors might be necessary, but you won't know until you try your setup onstage. It is possible to put the PA speakers further back and pointed inward a bit so you can hear, but mic placement will be important to cut down feedback.

From experience, I would go with more PA than I think I need, it never fails if you get something that will just handle the job, in 6 months you're shopping for more channels, bigger power amp or whatever. Still, something like the Passpoert or Peavey's equivalent should work, Kustom makes some smaller 4 channel PA's that are pretty good, but I would stay away from Behringer, everything I've seen so far has been cheap plastic look and feel, I don't think it would hold up to much road abuse. and it WILL get dropped on the way into a hall one night, count on it.

I don't have a problem with used equipment, as long as I can see and hear it before I shell out any money. If it has Peavey's logo on it, I know it's well built, especially their PA stuff, Peavey has been #1 in PA gear for at least 20 years. I've used lots of Peavey gear, and have 2 Peavey guitar amps now, one of them I've used in clubs without a backup for 15 years. Their head style PA amp/mixer units are very good, I've used the 4, 6 and 8 channel rigs and never had any problems with them, provided everything is set up right. But I would be hesitant to buy used equipment off ebay or other online avenues such as craigslist, simply because you don't absolutely KNOW, for sure, it works as advertised before buying.

I haven't tried the powered speakers, so I don't know how well they work, but you still need a mixer with one.

Monitors? Well, for my situation with full, loud band, monitors are mandatory, can't hear your vocals at all without them. That means a mixer with a monitor out, which most have, a separate amp to amplify the monitor signal, (100 watts or so works usually) and at least two monitor speakers pointed back toward the band. With your situation you might not need monitors, I've played a two piece acoustic show without them but it was difficult hearing myself at times, but usually no big problem. 90% of the time we could both hear ourselves well enough monitors weren't an issue. Probably won't be an issue in your case either, but I wanted you to be aware of the potential need for them.

For what you need, somehting like the Passport linked above, the Peavey equivalent, or this Squier (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-4Channel-PA-System?sku=608003) 4 channel should be enough. 80 watts might be a bit on the light side, but for just vocals if you don't intend to get really loud, it should handle it. For the above mentioned acoustic duo we used a 100 watt 4 channel Peavey PA amp and it had power to spare for mid sized clubs.

Shop around, see what you can find, and if you see something online post a link here, myself and some of the other guys here may have used it at one time and might be able to offer opinions as to quality and usability for your purposes.

[Rigormortis]

Thanks for these good replies. I'm going into some unfamiliar territory with few local resources. None of us in the group really know much about vocal amplification, but we're learning.

We played last night at an open mic in a restaurant/pub that has its own PA--two Mackie 10" powered speakers on stands and a mixer by some other brand. I think we had it turned up too high because I saw the people flinch a little when I started singing. Not good! But I thought the system was a little large unless you had people dancing and talking loud.

I can see why you would want a stage monitor for vocals.

[Enzo]

I might not be so hot on the Squire, that is Fender's throw away line, and they are pretty cheap. They don't let us even fix them under warranty - "replace only."

The JBL Eons work well and sound good to me. I have repaired them, but overall I'd say they are reliable. To use one for yourself, you can plug a mic right into it. But to run more than one voice through it, you'd need a mixer. Nothing fancy, but a mixer nonetheless. SOme Eons and other similar products have a small mixer as part of it - three or four inputs on the thing. So a folk duo could use it with two mics perhaps. But that would be minimal for a group. ANd three or four voices would need a small mixer to feed it.

Funny looking PAs like th Passport sound a lot better than they look. Even the Eon puts out a lot more and better sounding sound that it looks like it would. Now everyone makes something like the Eon - molded plastic speaker with amp inside.

And what Paleo said, I'd always feel confident with a Peavey system on the road. Nothing taken away from other brands, but PV works.

[Enzo]

If the house flinches when you sing, it COULD be too loud, or maybe...

Just kidding.

SOmetimes tone matters more than volume. A shrill piercing sound will annoy the ear at a lot lower volume than a smooth even sound. And some speakers tend to beam their sound, so if someone is sitting right inth e middle of that beam, it is LOUD, but a few feet to either side and it is fine. That is why they sell beam blockers to guitar players.

[Paleo Pete]

Enzo

Thanks for the feedback on the Squier, I know the guitars quite well, some are decent, some are trash, but don't know a thing about the Squier line of PA stuff, didn't even know it existed till I started looking up something that would work for this thread. That's my Squier strat in my avatar, I found one of the good ones. I do know the Passport sounds pretty good, I've used one before but only once or twice. Peavey makes one just like it but I've only seen it not heard it. Ad for it Here (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-Messenger-Portable-Sound-System?sku=601060). I would go Peavey every time, but other people sometimes look to spend a bit less, so I also looked for lower priced alternatives.

Nothing taken away from other brands, but PV works.

That's why they've ruled the live sound business for 30 years. I've rarely played through a PA that was not a Peavey. I've seen them dropped, rained on, carried miles and miles over rough roads, beer dumped in and on them, speakers knocked offstage, you name it and the only time I've seen a Peavey PA fail is when it's wired wrong and blows a fuse or something similar. Some dummy sends a speaker signal to an input, that kind of thing...user stupidity...I'm finding Soundcraft and Mackie are gaining good reputations these days, at least for good mixers, but it's only been very recently.

[Rigormortis]

Based on our experience the other night, and on the advice of the guy who sets up their sound system, we decided to start with our own monitor that we could use in practice. He recommended the Mackie SRM150 (http://www.music123.com/Mackie-SRM150-Compact-Active-PA-System-601064-i1175382.Music123). My only problem with this is that sooner or later, I'm saying we're going to need our own real PA, and the money could go toward that.

What do you guys think?

The band likes the Fender Passport or the Peavy Audio Performer package also, partly because we need more mics.

I'm leaning more toward getting our own ElectroVoice SXA100, or JBL PRX512M, or Peavy PR10, or Mackie SRM. But if we get these, I'm going to have to pay most of it myself, because I'm the only one who thinks we might need something that big.

[Rigormortis]

OK. I ordered the little Mackie SRM150 for rehearsal and a stage monitor. We'll see where we go from here.

[Steve Conner]

Yay, the SRM150 is pretty good, enjoy! :cool:

[Enzo]

Welcome to the world of bands and PAs. A saga that never ends. Believe me.

I have a Squire strat myself. Says Fender on the headstock, but it is a Squire. It is a Wayne's World commemorative strat. Like any other low end Fender strat but the neck bolt plate has a large overlapping WW engraved into it. It is white, well, cream.

[Rigormortis]

I got the little Mackie in the mail today, but I plugged it in and set it up and it didn't work. No pilot light, no noise, no nothing.

I tested all the microphone cables through another amp, and ruled that out.

At first I thought it must be something simple, like a switch I missed; so I read the entire manual, looking for a solution.

Then I tested the power cord, and it was okay. Then I opened it up and checked to make sure the juice was getting through the fuse and the switch and into the amp itself. And it was.

Then I just boxed it up and sent it back. I'll get another one and try again.

[Joe Bee]

Woah, that sure sucks! I had the impression that the Mackie was quite a good little PA from the specs, but aparently quality control is lacking at Mackies. Do give it another try though, I think IF it works, it would be ideally suited to your application.

[Rigormortis]

I think the Mackie is pretty good--at least it has some very nice features, like high-quality jacks that take either 1/4" or XLR. The overall design seems pretty good. It does pretty much everything, from amplifying microphones, to monitoring the main mixer output, to playing from an iPod, to mixing two incoming channels, and more stuff having to do with lines out.

Giving Mackie the benefit of the doubt, the one I ordered from Musician's Friend was marked as a "blemished" item. I didn't see any blemishes on the PA itself, except the merchandise box was scuffed up and looked as if it had been opened previously. Musicians Friend exchanged me a new one at the same discount; so those guys are fine.

I'm hoping the one I got was just a weird one. It seems to me if power is getting into it and nothing lights up or works, then it's probably a single fault somewhere in or near the power supply, and probably all the other stuff was good.

That one's history. The Mackie tech people will probably use it for scrap parts. Too bad I can't keep it to fix up myself, if it's just going to get tossed.

[Joe Bee]

You wouldn't have had much fun fixing THAT anyway. A very small package with a lot of functionality and power; I bet the guts look just like those of a mobile phone with SMD components all over the place.
It probably wont have a power transformer but rather a switch mode power supply, and the class D power amp is basically also a high frequency switch mode converter.

As to what might have been wrong with the box, I think the fault could have been pretty much anywhere, tripping a crowbar or some power good error amplifier, and therefore switching off the main power supply. Debugging would be virtually impossible without a lot of equipment and experience.

[Enzo]

I would not be so fast to label this a MAckie QC issue. This is one unit that was shipped to Alaska - about as far as it can go. WHo knows what it went through getting there. I am not going to assume all Mackies are going to fail because one does. Even the Rolls Royce dealer has a service department.

items marked BLEM generally refer to cosmetics. It it had an electronic problem that was repaired, it would be tagged refurbished. Doesn't matter, it is warranted either way.

DEAD units are usuaslly the easiest to repair. It is mostly simple stuff. Yours may be anything, but I'd be beting on a broken connrection, loose wire, that sort of thing.

[Rigormortis]

Wow!

Well, I guess it's a far cry from the amp kit I put together in 8th Grade!

(I inherited that kit and just started soldering it together one day out of curiosity, not knowing even what it would come to. I had so much fun doing it--really heavy transfomer and big tubes--but I somehow lost a capacitor and couldn't find one in my little town. Everything else was complete, but the missing cap made it unusable. Lots of fun though, and I got really good at soldering. I've wanted another kit like that, but now anything of that quality is going to come from Weber or someone and cost $.)


I went into the Mackie as far as I felt comfortable, feeling it was just as Enzo said, a loose connection or something I could spot. But alas!

The new one should be here soon. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Rigormortis]

The new Mackie finally came.

They sent it about three times before they actually got it right. Long story. I guess they had a hard time understanding what I meant when I told them "No trucks come here."

Anyway, the little Mackie is pretty good. It's not very loud, but the voice and fiddle come through really cleanly and bright.

Thanks for all your advice, guys!

And I'm getting this live amplified sound thing down now. Not so much flinching from the audience any more.

[Enzo]

And experience is the best teacher. Once you get the hang of it and get used to using it, then you wil come to know better just what you need and don't need, and will be much better equipped for any future gear purchases.