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Posted by: Jim S. Jun 8 2015, 02:29 AM

Now that I'm actually doing it and playing regularly in a band setting I'm finding trouble with Volume. My amp is not 100% and not reliable for a show. So I need a new one. Also now that I'm singing my voice which goes through my 4x12 & 4x10 cabs are breaking up and killing the guitar tone. I have to scream into the mic when everybody is playing with energy. So a PA sounds like a good choice and I could mix some of the bass and some of my guitar through it too.

Since I have a pedal board for tone couldn't I just have say

MACKIE 2600 Watt Power Amp + 4 Spc SKB Wheel Case $350
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/msg/5051270871.html

And it power my 4x12 cab and a sub and 2 loudspeakers?

My band mates are going to pitch in and I'd like to get the most out of this.


I'm also selling 16 pieces of gear.
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/msg/5062748689.html

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 8 2015, 04:48 PM

Hi mate, that's a great idea. I think that having a PA is great for musicians, however, in the long term you'll need a guitar amp again since it's better the tone that you'll get from it. However, mixing guitar and voice on a guitar amp is not a good idea, that's why the PA option sounds good to me...

You'll also need a mixer, do you have one?

Posted by: Jim S. Jun 8 2015, 08:32 PM

Yes I do have a FireWire 8 ch mixer. So when I do get it operational I can record the whole band. I kinda figured I couldn't escape without an actual guitar amp. I also think about people that use axe fx and a power amp as a setup. Obviously axe fx is in another league compared to my pedalboard but still the same principle.

I feel lucky enough to have saved enough gear to sell and consolidate and upgrade.

After looking on Craigslist I found some amazing deals. Like people selling their entire setup for a fraction of the cost because the need money. I'm seriously considering making this more like a hobby.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 9 2015, 12:24 AM

EGAD? Are you saying you are running your vocals through your guitar cabs? If so, stop They are NOT designed for that at all. It's time for a PA However, it looks like you have picked a 2 channel pa amp? Just to break things down you need to power

2 guitar cabs
2 pa cabs
2 subs?

Is that right? If so, you need a 6 channel amp to be honest. You could run your PA cabs and subs on just 2 channels if you run crossovers on your subs and go AMP>SUBS>PA cabs.

Of course you could run your pedal board (assuming you have some sort of amp sim in your board like a line 6 pod or something, cause if it's just pedals it will sound sorta awful and terrible. ) and SKIP the guitar cabs entirely. They are for guitar, not vocals So if you go this route, you could us that mackie amp but you need a MIXER of some kind no matter what. You feed all your signals in to separate channels on a mixer. You shouldnt just run everything in to your power amp Gives you zero control over levels and such.

Can you shoot a quick cell phone pic of your setup?

Ideally you should have your own amp for your rig separate from the house rig. However, if this is just not gonna work for you, then you need a multi channel amp.

P.S. you are using a mixing board of some kind I assume?

Posted by: Jim S. Jun 9 2015, 12:56 PM

Last night I lucked out. I drove 3 hours and met a pro musician who was selling 2 subwoofers. He wanted to trade me for my small Traynor tube amp and an Ibanez tube screamer. When I get out there, he had 2 Concert size Subs!!!! Giant. He also had all the rest of my PA pieces for super cheap. Nice cabinet rack, 2 amps, crossover, loudspeakers, mixers all for $300!

I have somebody buying my peavey head for $180 today and I still have more stuff to sell. Looks like I'm going to hit my goal and in a very small amount of time.

Posted by: Jim S. Jun 9 2015, 08:51 PM

So I picked up s Mackie 2600 watt power amp today for a couple pedals and a sonic maximizer...

I have spent $0 and gained 2 concert subs and a monster amp....

I'm meeting a guy for 2 2x15 eminence horns and 2 amps and a crossover...

Getting real pumped!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 11 2015, 05:35 AM

Is that a GNX3 on your floor? That's my fave processor EVER!! You can run that thing direct in to your mixer>PA skipping the guitar cab. I think you mentioned having an 11 rack too? You can plug that right in to the mixer>pa as well and just skip guitar cabs entirely if you like

Is that thing on top of your amp your mixer or your crossover? You REALLY need some type of mixer for control over your sources

Glad your rig is coming together!

Todd

Posted by: Jim S. Jun 11 2015, 12:47 PM

Hey thanks Todd! The guys I'm playing with told me I was crazy for selling everything, but it's been only a week and I nearly replaced and upgraded everything. There is still more things to sell too.

That's my Gnx4 and I love it. It's taken me 7 years but I now see how valuable it is.

I sold my peavey tube amp yesterday and I had a real heart ache about it. It was sad because we have been through so much and when that amp was cranked even under high gain it was quiet as a mouse without any gate. Just silent. Then it dared to blow your speakers out. I needed to sell it to buy the rest of my PA system.

I have 2 18" subs powered my the 2600 watt Mackie.
A vintage peavey 400 which will power my 2 2x15" eminence loudspeakers.
Another smaller amp to power the horns, which the guy tells me are $200 ea. I did not fact check but he is Loaded and seems eager to help me.
There is no guitar amp ATM, I'm hoping the gnx4 will handle all my biz.

What do I do with my 4x12 and 4x10 cabs? Can they be powered my any of the 3 amps I have?

We'll have a good Thursday man!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 12 2015, 01:18 AM

Honestly at this point, I'd use your power amps for your PA. You really need to have a power amp just for guitar but honestly you can just run the GNX4 direct in to the PA and skip the guitar cabs entirely. If you get another power amp, you can run your gnx4 in to that and power the cabs but if you are already running it through the PA there isn't much point imho. You can use the cabs at home for practice if you pair it with a small amp even the micro amp from HOTONE will work. For practice, I"m using the HEART ATTACK NANO to power a Randal 4x12! These micro amps cost about $150 new.