Solo act gear/set-up questions

[dcopper]

Vermonter has a point - that a board and powered speaker is a great combo.
My experience with the LB Artist is that it will cover a noisy bar, medium size venue. You don’t have the advantage of putting it up on a speaker stand which would help with coverage.

I have played in a medium size hotel bar at the beach with an Artist during happy hour when it was packed. The amp was only about one third up and it was loud and clear with no problem. I had it sitting on a high top table next to me.

I have a LB Performer that is even sweeter with the 3 way speaker system and 180 watts. That would cover anyplace I could play- either solo or with my 3 piece group (lead, bass and me on acoustic).

I have to say though that both Fishman amps are sitting idle and have For Sale signs- I really like the BOSE S1 and may get another or the L1C.

No criticism at all for the Fishman amps- I really like them and think they are a bargain.
Davidc

[The Kid!]

Way more flexibility with a small format mixer and a powered speaker.
If I need that type of setup, its an EFX8 and a Line 6 L2M. YMMV.

[billyboy1962]

My ideal set up for small - medium size bars etc is to use my AER 60 Slope as a monitor just behind me to one side. My guitar and pedalboard go into the AER using Neutrik cables. The AER is then XLR’d into our PA. Always sounds great and never have a problem not being able to hear myself

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by billyboy1962

My ideal set up for small - medium size bars etc is to use my AER 60 Slope as a monitor just behind me to one side. My guitar and pedalboard go into the AER using Neutrik cables. The AER is then XLR’d into our PA. Always sounds great and never have a problem not being able to hear myself

Monitoring is so important. I always bring one, and it usually stays as a floor monitor.

Last night, I played the 2nd anniversary of a really cool bar in my city. I had my line 6 L3T for FOH, and my L2M for my monitor. As the night got busier, and I was sure the mix and EQ were good, I redirected the L2M for FOH along with my other speaker. It got crowded enough in there where I needed to.

It's a great looking and sounding room too. Lots of cool repurposed wood.

[billyboy1962]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

Monitoring is so important. I always bring one, and it usually stays as a floor monitor.

Last night, I played the 2nd anniversary of a really cool bar in my city. I had my line 6 L3T for FOH, and my L2M for my monitor. As the night got busier, and I was sure the mix and EQ were good, I redirected the L2M for FOH along with my other speaker. It got crowded enough in there where I needed to.

It's a great looking and sounding room too. Lots of cool repurposed wood.

Sounds great fella! Would like to have seen / heard that

[zhunter]

Originally Posted by Sichting81

Hello all, longtime lurker with a few questions.

I'm getting into booking some shows as a solo singer/guitarist, currently have a Fishman Loudbox Artist which I very much like the sound and function of but to date have only used as a practice amp. Most of my gigs have been with bands going through house PA's or a bandmates PA so I don't have a lot of experience using my fishman in any live rooms yet.

Any tips/ideas or questions are much appreciated. This is basically the last step between me booking a bunch of gigs so I want to make sure I get it right before launching into it, thanks

Since you are already booking with bands, a simple and safe alternative is bring along the Fishman and test it for house sound while not turning on the PA mains. You can DI from the Fishman to the PA in advance. In case the amp doesn't cut it, all you have to do is fire up the PA. Then you'll know how well it works before investing a bunch of cash.

hunter

[Rumblefish]

I would track down a Fishman SA220, the predecessor to the SA330. They can be found for close to $500 these days. You can always run an XLR from that to you’re amp but most of the time you won’t need to. The advantages to a tower system is more even coverage. While smaller amps can get loud enough most of the time they project in a cone and some frequencies drop off quickly. This means everyone in the room is hearing a different sound which is less than ideal in parts of a venue. The towers tend to distribute more evenly instead of loud and full for the first few feet and thinner as you get away from the sweet spots. It’s something you won’t hear at home.

If you go for a powered speaker, dive into the specs. They’ll show you how wide the dispersment cone is and how far the throw is. Most people don’t pay attention to this and it can be problematic flying a single speaker over your head. Again loud enough is a concern but even coverage gets overlooked too off in favor of “good enough” or “it can be heard”

I think the towers are the best option for a solo act unless you go full PA. There’s a reason PA’s generally use at least two speakers to cover even a small room.

[Guitaurman]

There's a reason most solo acts use modular type units for sound. They are light, easy to set up and tear down, don't require a separate monitor, and deliver the goods for sound! Bose, Fishman SA series, Maui, EV, JBL, and so on, make great units that work for most venues a solo artist plays. While I do have QSC K10.2s and a decent mixer for some of the larger outdoor gigs I get, I use my Fishman SA330 most of the time when playing solo, and it is amazing. Plenty of power and with the integrated mixer, set up is simple and it sounds great. Part of getting gigs and getting booked again, is looking professional as well as sounding professional. These units look like you mean business when set up and provide the sound you need to deliver in small to medium sized venues. While that Loudbox is a fantastic unit (I own one), it really isn't, nor does it look like a professional PA system.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by billyboy1962

Sounds great fella! Would like to have seen / heard that

Come sit in if you're ever in Buffalo, NY!

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by zhunter

Since you are already booking with bands, a simple and safe alternative is bring along the Fishman and test it for house sound while not turning on the PA mains. You can DI from the Fishman to the PA in advance. In case the amp doesn't cut it, all you have to do is fire up the PA. Then you'll know how well it works before investing a bunch of cash.

hunter

That's a great idea. Depending on the room, you could be good.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Rumblefish

I would track down a Fishman SA220, the predecessor to the SA330. They can be found for close to $500 these days. You can always run an XLR from that to you’re amp but most of the time you won’t need to. The advantages to a tower system is more even coverage. While smaller amps can get loud enough most of the time they project in a cone and some frequencies drop off quickly. This means everyone in the room is hearing a different sound which is less than ideal in parts of a venue. The towers tend to distribute more evenly instead of loud and full for the first few feet and thinner as you get away from the sweet spots. It’s something you won’t hear at home.

If you go for a powered speaker, dive into the specs. They’ll show you how wide the dispersment cone is and how far the throw is. Most people don’t pay attention to this and it can be problematic flying a single speaker over your head. Again loud enough is a concern but even coverage gets overlooked too off in favor of “good enough” or “it can be heard”

I think the towers are the best option for a solo act unless you go full PA. There’s a reason PA’s generally use at least two speakers to cover even a small room.

I mention this all the time. A wide dispersement isn't always ideal. Some rooms are shaped oddly, and honestly I don't feel the need to cover every inch of a venue with direct sound.

For instance: I try to set up where my mains are pointed away from the bar if possible so that the bartenders can hear drink orders, and they appreciate it.

I like the SA220/330's but I stopped through my buddys gig in a noisy bar where the H/M/L EQ adjustments weren't enough to compete with high ceilings, windows stage right and a ton of bar chatter.

Sounded good for about 10' and then turned to mush. There was nothing he could do. He needed mid sweeps at a minimum in there. I agree, they are pretty looking.

The Bose and other types of column array towers look very sleek, and can sound good in the right scenarios, but they lack punch in the lower mids, and don't sound right to me for that reason.

It is an unobtrusive sound that a lot of people seem to like, so that they can talk over the band however, that can be achieved with a modular PA as long as you have mid sweeps and keep your volume down.

Not against the column arrays. I played an RCF Evox once that I thought sounded really good in the situation that I used it in, however, I could see it not being enough for some rooms.

[billyboy1962]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

Come sit in if you're ever in Buffalo, NY!