Portable PA?

Oridiun · #1 10-10-2009, 11:20 PM

I've been looking at the Bose L1, The fishman solo amp, and the fender passport portable PA 150-250

To me, the Fishman solo amp just didn't have enough inputs, i haven't looked to much into how many the Bose had, but it seemed to have more...

Any suggestions?

I mainly play in small to medium sized churches who either have very jerry-rigged pa systems or none-at all...

it's generally me and an acoustic, but occasionally a singer or two extra.

I have a Taylor 210E

With it's standard under saddle piezo

franchelB · #2 10-11-2009, 06:05 AM

How much are you willing to spend? Personally, I'd save up for a Bose L1.
BUT I do have an old Fender Passport 250 that I bought when it first came out. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first portable P.A. I still have it, still works great, and it's been everywhere with me: church service, festivals, and clubs.

jbryant · #3 10-12-2009, 07:48 AM

Depends on what you want to spend. The Bose will be at least twice as much as the Solo. If it's just you and your guitar it's all you need. If you want to add more musicians just use a small mixer and use it for more iputs. There's also the new Bagamp that's supposedly coming out that is even less than the Fishman Solo.

ljguitar · #4 10-12-2009, 08:23 AM

Hi O...
And don't forget the newer ''Bag Amp'' which is affordable and portable. It looks like a dynamite little package actually.

vbf · #5 10-12-2009, 08:39 AM

I have a JBL ION 15 system that's terrific. We have a contemporary church band that plays smaller venues and it works quite well.

Larry Pattis · #6 10-12-2009, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi O...
And don't forget the newer ''Bag Amp'' which is affordable and portable. It looks like a dynamite little package actually.

The BagAmp is a great piece of gear (I have one of the first released into the wild!), and if one used it with a small mixer it could handle a duo w/vocals quite well.

arthur · #7 10-12-2009, 09:09 AM

I just got a 1000w powered 8" K speaker and a small Yamaha mixer.

The mixer, cables and mics go in a soft rack case, which also holds an old Roland reverb. I'm liking the sound! The K is about 30lbs and has good handle. I consider this very portable....two trips to the car, one for the guitars and stands, one for the PA.

ljguitar · #8 10-12-2009, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

The BagAmp is a great piece of gear (I have one of the first released into the wild!), and if one used it with a small mixer it could handle a duo w/vocals quite well.

Hi Larry...
How do you rate it for guitar as opposed to small amps like the AER and UltraSound etc?

Larry Pattis · #9 10-12-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Larry...
How do you rate it for guitar as opposed to small amps like the AER and UltraSound etc?

I personally feel that the BagAmp is a vast (functional) improvement over these conventional amps in the area of gig-performance.

The fact that it's a true line-array (unlike the SoloAmp, or any of the conventional amps you mention) means that it has the same kind of projection/propagation as the Bose gear. When you've got the BagAmp behind you on-stage (acting as a monitor and also the house sound) there is no problem with the volume being too loud (on-stage) to be able to reach the audience.

...and you couldn't use a small amp like this, anyway.

For sitting at home plugged in, I also prefer the BA, but that is perhaps a matter of choice.

I guess it's somewhat apples to oranges. However, I just sold my little-but-mighty Gallien-Krueger amp because it became completely unnecessary once the BagAmp appeared.

It looks like I'm going to also sell my Bose L1 Model II, based on what the BA can do for my gigs where there is no house PA available.

Doug Michaels · #10 10-12-2009, 09:52 AM

Hi Larry...
If you are trying to make a major improvement on sound and have portability, the Bose L1 is the way to go. I use it for a lot of gigs and I have to say that the ToneMatch mixer that you get with it is the best piece of equipment that I have ever owned. It has endless possibilities but is still easy to set up and use. Once you have it dialed in to your sound, you don't have to do anything. But with a couple of knob turns you can add almost any effect you want. I have stopped using all of my footpedals. The sound is clear and loud and like I said, you can add tremelo, chorus, delays, reverbs, para eq, eq, compression, and on and on. It is so worth the money.
I have been playing solos and duets for thirty years and this is the ticket.

kramster · #11 10-12-2009, 10:31 AM

T1 (ToneMatch) is excellent indeed. I use it with a Bose L1 classic, a AAD Cub 100, a Shertler Unico and now a Bose Compact that I am trying out. The Compact is great as long as you don't need body ponding Bass.
Can't wait to get a Bag Amp to compare someday.

taropatch · #12 10-12-2009, 12:13 PM

I also have a Fender Passport 250, and it works great. I bought a small Yamaha mixer that I can use with it when I need additional inputs. I've used it indoors at a church, bars, school performances and outdoors. Sounds decent and nice that it has a built in CD. Set up and breakdown is quick. I think the speakers are made by Bose.

I wrote a review a couple years ago at http://www.taropatch.net/forum/topic...&TOPIC_ID=5879

BoB/335 · #13 10-12-2009, 05:06 PM

Hi There,

I'm new to the forum. I just bought myself a nice Collings guitar and hoping to put together a duo. I have a Yamaha powered board as part of a pretty large set-up with external amplifiers while using the powered board to power monitors. My plan was to get a good light pair of 12's for this duo. After reading here it might seem that I should even go smaller. My concern would be if it ended up a trio with a percussionist who also sings. BUT that might also never happen.

I don't expect to go solo as I am not sure of myself to cover a whole night. A duo would be great. Any suggestions?

kramster · #14 10-12-2009, 05:17 PM

Are you using your amps and mixer that you already have?

BoB/335 · #15 10-12-2009, 05:40 PM

I'll take this a little slower.

I have a Yamaha EMX5000 powered board. It has 2 internal amplifiers that can be assigned. Can be set to use both amps for the Mains OR both amps for the Monitors OR one amp for the Mains and one amp for the Monitors. It has a large patch bay for patching in amps or effects or even patching OUT the internal amps. A very versatile piece of equipment.
I originally had planned on using just the board to power a pair of Mains for a typical bar band type of group. I decided early on to get more power for the Mains and use the onboard amps for the Monitors. The system grew into a monster. I patch out of this board to a crossover (DriveRack PA) and then into TWO power amps. I have 700 watts to each top (1-15" and a horn) and 1100 watts to each 18" sub.

That's all more than you needed to know. My plan for the duo is to use this same powered board with a pair of EV SX100 speakers. 1-12" and a horn in a plastic cab. Very neutral, natural sounding speaker and will be great for vocals and an acoustic. I can either place both speakers on stands a little behind me or can even place one speaker on the florr as a wedge monitor. So, a powered board and 2 speakers on sticks. Seems pretty small to me UNTIL I ran across this thread and all of these very small compact units.

So there you have just about every detail I can think of. btw this board also has phantom power and 2 independent sets of effects to get a nice blend of delay and reverb with independent controls for each channel. (Did I mention that I love this board) It's rated at 325 watts per channel at 8ohms (but is probably more like 225 watts per channel RMS clean rating)