Hey everyone. I'm looking for an affordable lower end PA system. Nothing fancy, just enough to use for practice in a rock / metal band. We're playing at the drummer's house in a residential area. Not sure if this helps.

Any recommendations?

if its just for practice i actually just plug my mic into a guitar amp. you just have to find the right adaptor and your local music store should have it. a lot of places where youll gig will have their own system. being a musician is an expensive hobby

Well I don't know what price range you're going for but I just bought a P/A set up for 1400 bucks that I can play a small club with. I was always renting P/A's for shows... and playing a pathetic set=up at home with crappy 1970's speakers and an 800 watt crown amplifier (which isn't bad but the speakers really blew). I was so sick of not being able to hear myself I just went crazy and bought 2 Electro-Voice Force i 25 Dual 15" 600 watt cabs for $449 US each and a Behringer Europower 2500 watt amplifier for 349.99 US. It may be a bit pricey for what you are looking for but shit...it's SO loud. Drowns out Mesa Boogie Triple Rec and 6505 guitar amps, drums and bass no problem! You need power for roch and metal because the instruments always drown out vocals...even at professional shows!!

heh one band i tried out for told me they woudl provide my equipment for me. when i plugged my mic in it was barely louder then my singing voice and they were playing at full volume. im actually glad they never called back cuz they refused to turn their instruments down.

Hey thanks for the replies. Last week I actually plugged into a Fender guitar amp in the classical "garage band" setting, where I was standing 2-3 feet from the guitar and just slightly further from the drummer.

Looking back now, I was having to raise my voice over the instruments and ended up sounding pretty bad. I also found that I couldn't access anything upper range at that volume. Plus they put me on the spot and made me sing some songs that I've never even tried to practice (some Silverchair, Weezer, and Seven Marry Three).

A pretty embarrassing showing, but oh well. Wasn't a total loss.

Any tips for how to work around any of this vocally?

was it a tryout? that happened to me once and never got a call back. didn't care cuz i don't really want to work with a band that isn't going to bend a little bit to work with me. i know where im strong and where im not.

also if you want to hear yourself better try putting in earplugs to drown out the "outside" you'll be able to hear yourself better

Thanks mossman. I actually brought earplugs along and ended up not using them--pretty dumb in retrospect, it probably would've helped a bit.

These are guys that I work with. They play one real show in the spring / summer for a big work bash (they play 12 songs or so). The lead vocal spot is pretty much mine by virtue of them not having anyone else. Which is cool, because even if I suck somewhat now, I've got plenty of time to practice for anything more serious later. I think I'll run out today and pick a Shure SM58 mic, which might help out as well.

The drummer is actually in a real band that plays pretty regularly in town.

thats the spirit. its like i say i may not be great now but i work pretty hard at it and one day (hopefully sooner then later) i will be.

Just for a suggestion - rather than buying a "PA" buy a pair of Monitor wedges, and the biggest powered mixer/head that you can find.

That way you'll at least have your own monitor rig, and that tends to work better in a bandroom situation anyway, because it is more like what you will hear on stage.



Tim