Equipment Advice

collegegal

Hi there, I need some advice on some equipment that I need to buy for some up coming gigs. I will be preforming with an acoustic guitar and want to know what the best options are. Should I run vocals through a P.A. or is it a good idea to run both the guitar and vocals through a single amp. Is there any other equipment I would need? What are my options? I obviously want to get the best possible sound but without spending a fortune. Thanks

CianRyan

Vocals through the PA, you could put the guitar through the PA too but if you already have an amp and you like your sound then I guess you can just go through that.

Grolschevik

Your vocals will go through the PA.

In my opinion, the best acoustic sounds don't come from either plugging the guitar directly into the PA, or through a dedicated acoustic amp. Rather, it's down to a good mike next to your soundhole. That's what I'd call "best sound".

But that may not be practical if the guitar doesn't sound great unamplified, or if you're not used to controlling/positioning an acoustic in a consistent constant position. Plus, you'll need to have available a good mike and someone managing the PA who knows how to deal with a miked acoustic.

Outside of that, the best option is probably a decent acoustic amp.

I've never heard a DI'd acoustic that I liked...

68 lost souls

There are a few options depending on you budget and the size of the gigs.

1. Mic the guitar and vocals and us a P.A.
2. DI the guitar and use PA for that and vocals
3. Use a guitar amp (this could be on its own or micd or D.I.d) and a PA Vocals
4. Use a good acoustic amp with a vocal channel. A few examples are the marshall as100D, most AER amps and some fishman amps.

Doc_Savage

if you're going to be going to and from the gig on your own then keeping gear to a minimum would be recommended, if your acoustic has a built in mic/preamp/piezo/transducer/whatever then a simple and easy to use acoustic amp as 68 lost souls said above or a small easy to transport pa would be best.

i personally would favor something like this;http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0694401000

it packs up so you can carry and store it easily... depending on the scale of the gig an acoustic amp would more than cope, all of these have microphone inputs;http://www.thomann.de/ie/search.html?gk=giaaaa&bn=&pr=&kf=on&oa=pra&wgfid1=11997&wgfid2=11998&wgfid3=11999&wgfid4=12000&wgfid5=12001&wgfid6=12002&wgfid7=12003&wgf12003=Yes&wgfid8=12004&wgfid9=12008&wgfid10=12005&wgfid11=12006

68 lost souls

I would probably look at the yamaha stage pass series if you looking for a small pa like the fender one linked to above.