To answer part of your question I'll just copy and paste one of my previous posts:

There is nothing wrong with running a microphone into a guitar amp.. in the short term that is. After a while the amp will just die. And it'll sound like it is full of sand. Give it about 6 - 8 months or so.
So. You can do it. But dont do it with your good amp.
Go to a pawn shop and buy an old POS that you dont care about if it gets wrecked. It'll do the job until you can save up for something a little more suitable.


Perhaps if you go back and read through all of this thread you may find that some of your other questions have also already been answered.

With regards to adding distortion for a more agressive sound. Guitar amp distortion can really muddy up vocals. It can make them sound quite bad.. But, if you dial in just small amounts it can add a roughness to your vocals which can give them an edge that does sound alright. What I mean is, use it in small amounts. And dont rely on it all the time.

aes, if all my bands mics currently have XLR Femal to mono Jack leads on them, is it ok to plug mono jack leads intot he line ins on the PA without a DI box? DO most PAs have mic level jack inputs?

Moaner

what you have to do if you are poor and need a p.a is imporvise. what my band did and is still doing is we found a 30 stereo reciever, got some ****y speakers from my buddy that he was gonna toss and then we bought a 12 track behringer mixer which is like 300 canadian we plug the mics into the mixer and then the mixer into the stereo and then it comes out our welfare speakers. its no piece of art but i have been playing with it for the last 3 hours and i am deaf as hell right now

Will running vocals through a bass amp make it crap out earlier or later than a guitar amp?

[QUOTE=moaner]aes, if all my bands mics currently have XLR Femal to mono Jack leads on them, is it ok to plug mono jack leads intot he line ins on the PA without a DI box? DO most PAs have mic level jack inputs?
Moaner[/QUOTE]

You proabbly wont be able to run them into the line ins on the PA, because the signal from the microphones wont be strong enough - it'll have to be preamped first (using a DI box).
But that is not to say that it wont work in your case.

It depends what type of inputs are on your PA.
Have a look at this Behringer Mixer:
[url]http://www.behringer.com/UB802/ub802_medium.jpg[/url]
See on the left hand side you've got the two mic preamps. They've got both the XLR inputs and the 1/4" inputs, you can use either input. And both will work fine for microphones.
On the right hand side you've got the four line level inputs. These are at a line level, they are not preamped, and so to run a microphone into them you'll need a preamp (or a DI) before them.

So, it depends what your PA has. if they are line level inputs then you'll need something else.. but if they are actual mic input then you'll be fine using the 1/4" connectors.

I think. Chances are, that with your PA, these would be preamped inputs. And you should be fine running a microphone into them.

[QUOTE=jcbsc]Will running vocals through a bass amp make it crap out earlier or later than a guitar amp?[/QUOTE]
In the long run it will. But i think a bass amp would proabbly be able to last longer than a guitar amp.

aaaah, curses, i haveb't seen the PA we'll be using yet, because its the house one at a venue...

I will have to find out.

Thanks aes,

Moaner

<aes for mod!!>

[QUOTE=moaner]I will have to find out.[/QUOTE]
Chances are, I think you'll be pretty safe. Most inputs on those powered mixer type setups are all preamped.
It's really only on independant mixer boards where you get combinations of the two differnt types.

my friend doest belive me that i can plug my bass into a pa and not fack it up. prove him wrong.

You'd want to either first run your bass guitar into a DI box, and then run its output into the PA.

Or mic up your bass amp, Or run a recording output of your bass amp into the PA.

would any of these PAs be good for me
 

i need a PA for two guitars a bass and lead vocals. would of these be good?

Kustom PA KPA804 PA Package
Big-time value on a compact PA package that's just right for clubs, coffee houses, or other smaller venues. Great for practice, too. Includes...

Price: $159.99
List: $429.00
Rating:

or

Audio Choice C100 Portable PA System 100W
Everything you need to play small venues: a 100W powered mixer with 4 dual input channels, master EQ, and reverb; 2 - 2-way 10" speaker cabinets with...

Price: $179.99
List: $399.90
Rating:

You got those descriptions off musiciansfriend right? They soudn kinda familiar.

I think either one of those packages would be okay. As they are both kind've similar.
Although I would personally go for the Audio Choice model.

i'd go for the squier 4 (fender) PA system..its a little expensive but WELL worth it..and to think i despise most fender products

hey aes.. would it hurt any thing to plug a guitar into a PA system using a distortion petal?

It shouldnt hurt anything at all.
But i dont think it'll sound all that good.

One night, while at band practise, my poweramp **** itself so I had to plug my preamp straight into the PA so the rest of my band could hear me.

It doesnt sound all that good. The clean sounds are good. but the distortion sounds very weak. Very unimpressive. But you are welcome to give it a try.
Just watch your levels of course.

there is a thread on the above subject.

redrum666: go with the Audio Choice, i have it and you can hear over drums and guitars and everything.

I got a question. If you get a 2X400 watt powered mixer, would you have to get speakers that are 400 watts or could you get speakers that are over 400?

If the powered mixer is 2x400 watts at 4 ohms.
You will need to get 4 ohm speakers that are rated at 400 watts or more.

alright so its ok if they are more than 400 watts, thanks.

Right now my band doesn't have a singer and we don't play shows yet (parties sometimes, have people over, that kind of stuff) but we're starting to plan ahead for when we DO need to be ready for shows.

My bassist is currently running a 300 watt head with a 400 watt amp (Behringer/Peavey respectively)
My guitarist is currently running a 200 watt Randall combo amp.

I'm the drummer and by that time I'll have my new drumset (6 piece).

Would this work for me?
> Get a small 8 to 10 input mixer
> drum mics on: snare, 4 toms, 1 in bass drum
> condensor (2 or more) above cymbals

run all of those into the little mixer
run an output from the mixer into the full mixer/soundboard


would that work so that I don't take up 8 or 9 or so spots on one mixer making us get a gigantic one?

Yes. That would work.
you could run the outputs of the first little mixer into the inputs of another one. To save the use of too many channels.
But with the extra mixers and extra combinations of possible settings, you do introduce the problem of too many places where things can go wrong. You should be right tho. As long as take your time whilst setting up. And always watch your settings. An incorrect gain structure can be noisy. And excessing clipping can sound horrible and can also burn out speakers in extreme cases.
So keep an eye out.

But something else that I might add. You dont always need to mic up the drums.
Often you can get away playing gigs without micing up the drums. But it depends on the venue; how crowded it is, how loud you are playing, and the acoustics of the room.

With Condensor mics you will need a mixer that has a phantom power feature. Keep that in mind.

ok cool, thanks.

I'm still looking a lot into specifically what to get and everything.

Could you recomend a small 10 or so channel mixer with phantom power? Doesn't have to be the cheapest but nothing too expensive.

Also could you recomend a PA pack for my band to use in general?
For most live situations around here I could probably get away without micing the drums (would NEED the bass miced though, and most of the clubs here provide mics, cause I've been to shows there and they'll use the same bass drum mic for each band)

The guitar/bass have pretty powerful amps but that something more would be nice, and the vocals would need something.

Either 4 or 6 or 8 channel, something around a few hundred bucks.

From a sound point of view.
I only think you'll need the one overhead mic for the cymbols. If at all (as cymbols do quite easilly bleed into the snare and tom mics as they are - not to mention that cymbols can quite easilly be heard even when they are not miced).

Check out this:
[url]http://www.behringer.com/UB1222FX-PRO/index.cfm?lang=ENG[/url]

6 mic inputs. Plus the line inputs, the FX, and everything else.

Use it in conjuntion with this:
[url]http://www.behringer.com/UB1202/index.cfm?lang=ENG[/url]
For the vocals + the instruments if needs be.

And run them both into a poweramp + speaker setup.

Check out ebay for cheap poweramps. And speaker cabinets.
Something 2x300 or 2x400 watts, should be plenty.

ah, that (with a poweramp and speakers) would be perfect.
After I get this new drumset (which'll take a few weeks, but not too long) I'll talk to the rest of the band and look at these, discuss the full situation of what we'd need and start going in on it.
The 3 of us going on that would be really cheap.

Thanks. :D
Now, off to ebay for poweramp/speaker cabs. lol

No worries. Happy shopping.

ok um what about guitar amps that have a mike in? do those get wrecked?

[QUOTE=KissMeIamSh*tFaced]ok um what about guitar amps that have a mike in? do those get wrecked?[/QUOTE]
I think the input headroom on those amps with a dedicated mic input are better suited to microphones. So, No. they should be right.

ok i guess i'll take that route... o and does tube or solidstate change all that much for mikes?

no, don't think so

Aes, surely, a mic input is for a mic? it couldn't possibly be a problem