Starting to Play Live Gigs

[deerslayer757]

Hey guys, I am relatively new to the acoustic/electric world and am wanting to get serious and start playing live gigs. I have played a couple with just my old acoustic, but I have had a Taylor 314 now for a year and am looking to buy amps and such. I have looked into the Fishman Loudbox Artist, but found the bose compact L1 appealing. I play a lot of country/dmb/dispatch/ a lot of other stuff along those lines (no hard rock or so) and am just planning on solo gigs but might have an accompanying lead electric with me as well as a cajon or so. I like quality equipment for the money so any help on what I should buy to get great sound would be awesome! like amp wise, microphone wise, should i get a mixer, etc...

[Goat Mick]

I play country, folk and old rock solo and prefer to to go through my BOSE L1 Compact. That thing is so clear and just does an amazing job of filling the entire room with sound. I've got a buddy that uses a Fishman Loudbox for similar sized gigs and it sounds great, but I still prefer my BOSE because the sound isn't directional and it just fills the room. I'm purely solo so I don't use a mixer, I just run the guitar and vocals through a Digitec Vocalist Live 3 and it handles all the mixing and effects. Good luck...playing solo is an amazing ride!

[kydave]

I'm fond of a PA rather than running voice and guitar through guitar amps.

A small powered mixer or passive mixer and powered speakers would be my preference. Depending on the size venues you plan playing you can either figure monitoring from the ambient sound from the mains (which I did in small restaurant settings for years) or having a dedicated monitor (which adds a slight layer of complexity).

For decades the Shure SM58 was the workhorse of the industry for vocals and the SM57 for instruments. Lots of other good choices out there now, too.

Have fun in a new world!

[midwinter]

• Mackie with fx
• SM58s
• 10" powered speaker
• Speaker stands
• Mic and Instrument cables
• Mic stands

Originally Posted by deerslayer757

Hey guys, I am relatively new to the acoustic/electric world and am wanting to get serious and start playing live gigs. I have played a couple with just my old acoustic, but I have had a Taylor 314 now for a year and am looking to buy amps and such. I have looked into the Fishman Loudbox Artist, but found the bose compact L1 appealing. I play a lot of country/dmb/dispatch/ a lot of other stuff along those lines (no hard rock or so) and am just planning on solo gigs but might have an accompanying lead electric with me as well as a cajon or so. I like quality equipment for the money so any help on what I should buy to get great sound would be awesome! like amp wise, microphone wise, should i get a mixer, etc...

[slewis]

Best bang for the buck, IMO, is either the Fishman SA220 or the Bose Compact, both for small- to mid-size rooms, and you'll find a very good comparison of the two in another thread here. I'm a fan of the SA, personally, and as I pointed out there, the main advantages with these systems is that they are super portable, get the sound up over seated-head level, and ALSO serve as a very good monitor system. You want to haul around PA components or amps to put on chairs, etc., all for a simple solo show, that's your choice, but overkill, I think, and I think these are, well, unbeatable. They are also two different animals with very different sounds to them and different features, so read up and know what you're looking for, and you should be good to go. A small mixer would be all you need to add some other inputs to either of these. Good luck!

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by slewis

Best bang for the buck, IMO, is either the Fishman SA220 or the Bose Compact, both for small- to mid-size rooms, and you'll find a very good comparison of the two in another thread here. I'm a fan of the SA, personally, and as I pointed out there, the main advantages with these systems is that they are super portable, get the sound up over seated-head level, and ALSO serve as a very good monitor system. You want to haul around PA components or amps to put on chairs, etc., all for a simple solo show, that's your choice, but overkill, I think, and I think these are, well, unbeatable. They are also two different animals with very different sounds to them and different features, so read up and know what you're looking for, and you should be good to go. A small mixer would be all you need to add some other inputs to either of these. Good luck!

Good advice here. Think long and hard before you decide that a traditional PA is right for you.

[The Bard Rocks]

Wanting to get a system that was lighter in weight, I A/Bed the Fishman and the Compact for a couple of weeks. Did a huge report on it here somewhere in the archieves. Both were very good and, yes, there were differences. I went with the Bose as I felt it suited my voice better. Either will do a good job for a soloist in a smaller venue (say <100 folks, seated together) and will not break the back or the budget. I even use it for my duo and my trio, with a mixing board added to gain the inputs.

Another way to go is to get one lightweight speaker, say a 8-10" QSC, and add a second later if you need it. Having made my purchase, this does not tempt me - but it might have.

[deerslayer757]

Awesome..thanks for the help yall! Looks like I will be getting the SM58 mic...and I am definitely gonna try out the fishman and bose pa, but I have read a lot of reviews and am leaning towards the bose (I am a big fan of bose stuff as well). I think I will go with a mixer it seems for the extra inputs, but what are some good mixers to use? I was reading about the T1 for the bose but seems like it won't really go with the compact...Really appreciate the help!

[deerslayer757]

I ended up trying out the Bose L1 Model 1s system with T1 Tonematch and loved it...so I got that and the SM58 beta mic...Thanks for all the help!

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by deerslayer757

I ended up trying out the Bose L1 Model 1s system with T1 Tonematch and loved it...so I got that and the SM58 beta mic...Thanks for all the help!

Good job! Now you're all ready to go. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by deerslayer757

I ended up trying out the Bose L1 Model 1s system with T1 Tonematch and loved it...so I got that and the SM58 beta mic...Thanks for all the help!

You've got GOOD stuff! Enjoy your musical journey!