mark555's Blog

That's too bad, Mark. Mostly the loss of time invested and that you're back to searching for a singer again. If it hasn't unraveled totally and if your mates are open to it, maybe a compromise could be worked where the singer buys part of the pa?... He gets the speakers, someone else (or even the band splits) the board or something. Just a thought. Could be that financially your singer just can't swing it at the moment regardless of his intentions to do so. I understand your view of the investment instrumentalists make vs vocalists, although it's unusual (in my limited experience) for the singer to own the whole pa unless a band leader that's hiring side players. Instrumentalists can gig with a small investment like a squire classic vibe and blues jr... even thos we'll gravitate to the best gear we can afford.

 

Other thought is to look to clubs that have their own pa - most around where I live have their own system now, which of course makes it a lot easier. Anyway, hope this bump in the band road works out for you.

Thanks Ron, as we are not loud, a huge pa is not needed, but our target market place is the british pub, a totally different gig to the American club scene, they don't have pa's at all. Also, he would have needed one for rehearsals. Thanks for the good wishes though, I really appreciate them.

Vocalists, eh? In my experience you're lucky if they have a decent mic of their own. Here's a thought - do you know anyone who has a small PA you could hire, possibly another local band? When we (the Pete Donaldson Blues Band) gig, we use a mate of our drummer to provide a PA for a fifth of what we make on the gig. If he can't do it, we use my PA, which is a modest affair I've put together from a mix of second hand and new bits. I got a Studiomaster Powerhouse 300 8-channel mixer-amp (300W per channel, built in digital FX) for a couple of hundred quid via the local paper and a pair of RCF cabs (12" plus horn) for about the same from a local shop. Pete has his own Shure SM58 plus stand and a Peavey powered monitor. I bought an SM58 and powered monitor for myself. This setup is more than adequate for pub gigs. I suppose my point is that it's possible to assemble a usable PA for significantly less than £1200. Anyway, best of luck and I hope you get it sorted so you can use that 555 in front of an audience!