hi, my first post here.
my and a few friends have started a band, and we've already played and wrote a few songs. however we seriously need to upgrade our gear, specially in terms of sound, cause we only have a 15watt and a 10watt amps.
however, we don't have that much money.
i wanted for each guitarist to get his own regular amp. however, the drummer feels we should find a solution that will make it possible to have a singer come aboard.
so i wondered...
can we buy a amp head, connect TWO (instead of just one, like the half stacks) cabinets to it, and have the two guitars come from each cabinet? at least as a shorter-term solution, is it doable? later on we could just buy another amp head for the other cabinet and no more sharing. also, could a vocal microphone be connected to one of the cabinets?
this way both guitarists and vocals would have "sound".
It's not usually feasible to connect two guitars to one amp in a band situation, primarily because of distortion.
It can work if you have a clean, high-power amp, but problems occur when the volume is turned up.
Vocals with guitar into an amp definitely won't work, although that was the idea for the Fender Twin.
The best budget suggestion is to get a used mixing board and an old & heavy stereo. For instance, I have an old Onkyo amp from a yard sale ($25). There are a lot of home stereo amps at 50 watts, which is plenty for a band. You might need to ask an adult to find out what the high quality stereo brands are.
1 watt of pure tube tone - the Living Room Amp!
http://www.naturdoctor.com/Chapters/Amps/LivingRoomAmp.html
Paper-in-oil caps rule!
>> we only have a 15watt and a 10watt amps.
Those are fine. Guitarists are now buying low-power amps, because most venues want the volume turned down.
It turns out that a 5-watt tube amp (Champ, Valve Junior, etc) is plenty loud for clubs!
1 watt of pure tube tone - the Living Room Amp!
http://www.naturdoctor.com/Chapters/Amps/LivingRoomAmp.html
Paper-in-oil caps rule!
they're not tube amps though, and they can't keep up with the drums volume.
about your suggestion... would it be a good choice to buy the Peavey Audio Performer Pack, for both guitars and a vocalist? i can get it for 320 euros.
If you're going to spend money, buy a small PA($500 Fender http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN692005003 ). You could always find an old used Traynor PA on craigslist.You'll need 6 channels max. Two guitars, bass and vox. Use the amps you currently have and either use the line output or mic them. You don't need to mic the drums. That to me would be the most logical solution.
is there a cheaper one i can get? that one costs 700 euros here in europe...which is probably something like 900 or 1000 dollars.
Where in Europe are you?
http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTABLE-POWERED-PA-SYSTEM-200W-SPEAKERS-AMPS-MIXERS_W0QQitemZ180212423993QQihZ008QQcategoryZ47094QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/PA-SYSTEM-AMPLIFIER-SPEAKERS-PACKAGE-500-WATT-NEW_W0QQitemZ360018596504QQihZ023QQcategoryZ47094QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://www.playrecord.net/amps--pa/pa/kustom-profile-2-kpa200-300-watt-pa-system.p28551.html
>> they can't keep up with the drums volume.
You want to set an appropriate volume to play based on the venue not the drummer (or the person with the loudest amp).
This usually means the drummer is forced to play softly almost everywhere, which they hate! Many cover bands require drummers to use electronic drums because of this problem.
1 watt of pure tube tone - the Living Room Amp!
http://www.naturdoctor.com/Chapters/Amps/LivingRoomAmp.html
Paper-in-oil caps rule!
True story:
While John Bonham was just starting out (I think at that point with John Paul Jones, pre Zeppelin),during a soundcheck at some club the manager approached him and said 'you're never gonna get anywhere playing drums that loud'. Years later after Zeppelin started to skyrocket, Bonzo ran into that club manager again. His remark? "Thanks for the advice."
Morale of the story is: It's pretty tough to get a drummer to play softly. He is after all hitting a resonator with a stick.
At any rate you could try padding the drums or using dampeners. That's what the PA is for after all. You don't have to mic drums if they are in a small club or practice area. A 10-20 watt solid state amp is no where near loud enough to compete. A small 150-200 watt PA might be just enough.
