Anyone gigging WITHOUT an Amp? (PA System and Mics)

constantine

I am a guitarist and have regular gigs both unplugged and plugged. The unplugged gigs sound amazing. I find that I lose so much when I plug in.

Anyone out there just using mics through a PA successfully with no amp?

I remember seeing a clip on youtube a while back with this configuration, it sounded great.

Thanks

Ken Bloom

I do it all the time. I have an old Audio Technica condenser mic that I use for the guitar. I control my volume by either moving in and out of the mic or just playing lighter or heavier. I don't mic the guitar at the soundhole. I usually place the mic below the bridge on the treble side. It's out of the way and I get a nice balanced response most of the time.

constantine

thanks Ken!!

My electric gigs require a decent amount of volume. We do a bar gig thats well attended and pretty much a party every time. Like a brawl scene on a pirate ship maybe.

Do you get pretty good volume out of your PA system?
What about feedback, not a problem?
Can you hear yourself well?

Thanks again - Con

Tom Landman

I've been playing a regular gig unplugged (no amp, no PA) for several months now. I find it is a great way to develop sound, projection and endurance. Plus, its so easy to just carry a guitar to the gig!

Ken Bloom

So far I've been able to position myself and the others so that we can hear each other and not have to push the sound system too much. We elevate the speakers as much as we can and stay back of them as much as we can. We don't use monitors. Most of the time, they just add to the feedback problems.
When I solo, I move my picking hand closer to the bridge and take advantage of the extra power that gives me. Last November, I played a dance with a seven piece band and this approach worked just fine. It helps a lot to have bandmates who really listen.

Stackabones

Tom Landman wrote:

I've been playing a regular gig unplugged (no amp, no PA) for several months now. I find it is a great way to develop sound, projection and endurance. Plus, its so easy to just carry a guitar to the gig!

What size room? Is the crowd loud or attentative?

That is a sweet thing, though ... walk in with your guitar, your pick, and a head full of tunes (I sing as well). 8)

Riviera

I use an oval hole Dupont and have a shure Beta 98/s (mini condenser) that i clip into the hole so that it is actually inside the guitar, it is phantom powered and plugs straight into the PA, combined with a bit of the Bigtone sound it gives a great acoustic sound with plenty of cutting power and no chance of going off mic.
Leigh Jackson

constantine

Hey Stackabones

We play in a loud room sized about 30x30.
Its a crazy room, with a tiled floor and the acoustics are variable
relative to the amount of people in there. The crowd is attentive
but also loud, they are partying, talking and swingin their arses
to gypsy jazz. We would like to mic ourselves to get a better sound, but worry that we wont have enough volume and/or run into feedback issues.
I use a fishman loudbox and its loud, but when its packed in there I have to drive it too much and the sound is colored even more at the higher volumes.

tx

Tom Landman

The room is about 30 x 60 ft. Its a French restaurant, and the patrons are not unusually loud, although they do get louder as the evening progresses. The ones that want to talk usually sit at the back of the restaurant, and the ones that want to listen sit closer to the band.
We play in a trio of either 2 guitars and bass, or 1 guitar, bass and either clarinet, accordion, or violin. The acoustic sound carries well and seems to be just the right volume for this gig.
- Tom

Stackabones wrote:

What size room? Is the crowd loud or attentative?

That is a sweet thing, though ... walk in with your guitar, your pick, and a head full of tunes (I sing as well). 8)

Campusfive

I do all of my gigs with my own PA. I have two JBL eons, a couple of 57 copies for the horns, one of those shure elvis mic's for vocals, and then a Rode NT-3 on my guitar. The NT-3 sounds fantastic. It also comes in handy in a pinch. I played a wedding the other day, and at the last minute, they tell me the bride has her guitar and she wants to sing a song for the groom. I just put the NT-3 in front of her and her Taylor dreadnaught, and it sounded fantastic. There was enough of her coming back on stage, so she could tell how loud she was, and there was no need to mix anything. Just one mic. I went out from to hear it, and I gotta say it sounded really good.

For gigs with other bands, or smaller gigs, I'm thinking about buying a Mackie SRM150 - which looks like a mini Eon, but with a three channel mixer. I could use it as a small powered monitor, or as an amp for my mic, or as a small PA.

Stackabones

Campusfive wrote:

For gigs with other bands, or smaller gigs, I'm thinking about buying a Mackie SRM150

I've got one of those and I really like it. Great for hotspot monitoring, and I've even used it in small cafe settings as the main (prolly would have been better with two, but the one did the job at a couple of places). Great for small parties or things like that. Also ... I've used it for my computer!

Perfect "micro PA" imo.

Don't expect much in terms of bass response (not bad considering its size) and there are no effects -- fine by me, I like a dry mix.