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so perhaps the way to lean is amps for the synth and guitar, and plug in direct to the house PA for the cello, drums and vocals (btw, do house PAs usually have built in reverb?)

jimmylacy wrote:so perhaps the way to lean is amps for the synth and guitar, and plug in direct to the house PA for the cello, drums and vocals (btw, do house PAs usually have built in reverb?)

That's what I'd plan on doing, but you may still want to have something small and PA-ish, if only for monitoring the drum machine and possibly the cello, depending on how loud you play. House PAs usually have some kinda outboard reverb box to run stuff through, but they may not. They also usually have monitors, but those may suck or be mixed half-assedly. It's very hit and miss depending on what kinda places youre playing.

so if reverb was a must for the vocals, and not being able to depend on whatever place we're playing for reverb... what's the best option for getting reverb to three microphones?

just get a powered mixer, now all of them come with built in reverb and delays. some pa speakers and you're set.

jimmylacy wrote:so if reverb was a must for the vocals, and not being able to depend on whatever place we're playing for reverb... what's the best option for getting reverb to three microphones?

Almost everyone has a reverb unit, but if it's nonnegotiable, then I'd buy a reverb unit and bring it to each show. That way, on the odd occasions when a club doesnt have reverb, you can ask them to hook yours into their PA.

Understand that if you are looking for vocals dripping with tons of reverb, you are pretty much asking for feedback problems in most smaller clubs where the local mixologist is probably a) not so good and b) fighting against a horrible acoustic situation with compromised gear of every stripe. Be prepared to compromise your artistic vision.

You could just get a bunch of ACOUSTIC combos.

ubercat wrote:Hmm.

Thread paging Kerble. Kerble to the thread please.

word. I've been running a hybrid key/guitar/vocal/etc rig for a year or more now. look into the Roland KC series of amps. the 550 is themost versatile amp ever. I run other amps into it, as it'sbasicallyan 8 channel PA w/a 150 watt flat response amp with 15" and tweeter. XLR out for club sound. I've written about it alot in the tech room,so search "roland" author "kerble"and limit the search to here,and you should get some good results.


gluck.

Half on topic-

My friend in Minneapolis plays bass through one channel in a 4 channel PA head that literally is called FART which is an acronym for something. It always has a nice fuzzy tone and drives his fridge cabinet no problem.

Does the cello have a good pickup, I've found that to be important for the live show.

As other people have alluded to, I would be concerned about stage volume, as well as headroom issues you may possibly have using a PA head to run those signals through. Five inputs on a PA head, (These usually output 200-400 watts) plus loud stage volume from your other amps doesn't particularly bode too well, you'll sound like shit due to trying to get more out of the PA head than it can push, SPL wise, and also risk fucking the PA head up by running it into clipping.

For small shows, I'd look into perhaps getting another amp that would be dedicated for the drum machine, as those usually have a very compressed signal, that way you can get more headroom from the PA head for the 3 vocalists and the Cello.

If you have a relatively low stage volume, the PA head may possibly be a doable thing.

peavey musician amp. the older brown ones. can be had for like $100. will make anything great sounding. super loud.

seriously though, you can work $500 into three amps and a cab or two.