[jimbomonkeypie]

Hey guys, long time no speak!

Long story short, I played my first live show in forever last night. Been about 18 months. Woohoo, felt great, and learning curve is HUGE. As soon as I got there I realised one thing: I need my own equipment.

I have a very unique sound/setup; I play a sort've hard acoustic funk (solo) and sing. I try to use my guitar as a) guitar, bass and c) percussion. On my beautiful Taylor, this sounds amazing (to me, anyway, and that's all that really matters ), but last night I ran into a problem - the venue only had one mic, and I needed to use that for vocals (my guitar doesn't have a pickup). So luckily the bar manager let me use his electric/acousitc, which was ok, but I hate the sound of an acoustic pickup, it doesn't work with my style and I need a much more genuine acoustic sound (it was running directly into the PA, which might have had something to do with it). Similarly (and this is completely my fault) I let some other guy sort out the vocal/guitar levels, both of which I think were way too loud. I've gotta get used to performing into a mic, tough when you live in a small apartment, but that's a whole other story.

So here I am. I need some equipment, I want to be able to bring it all to a venue so that I don't have to ###### around with other people's gear trying to get the best sound out of foreign equipment.

I currenlty have access to:

1. A Shure SM-57
2. A Rode NT-1a
3. A 100w Marshall Valvestate (don't remember the model number, it's about 7 years old though)
4. A Roland Cube 30
5. A Boss EQ-7 Equalizer pedal

I don't really know the best way to use this equipment in a live setting, nor the additional equipment that I'll need. I definitely need a microphone for vocals and one for my guitar, is an NT-1a suitable for live use or will it just be a feedback machine? And if so, do you think it'd be better to use it with my guitar and sing into the SM-57, or should I ditch the 57 and buy an SM-58 or something similar?


I'm at a bit of a loss here, this stuff is new to me. This section doesn't seem to be too active, but I'd really appreciate some advice guys.

Cheers
James

[_brad_]

for live you wont need a mic thats too over the top, most venues have their own mics and they are usually an sm58 ad a few 57s, you could get away with using the 57 on ur gtr, for vox i have a sennheise 865e which is condesor but is a great live mic, being new to the live scene im pretty sure u wont be playing huge shows so u only need basic gear

also if ur levels arent right tell the sound person, during the song if u dont want to make a scene about it just point to ur mic and point up or down and the soundie will understand that

it is difficult to get used to singing with a mic and with a foldback, its just practice really it comes to u very easily after a few gigs


good luck

[Crawdaddy]

I know that you said you hate the sound of an acoustic pickup, but being that you live in Melbourne I wonder if you might have considered the possibility of using a Maton Apmic pickup system. It is a blend sytem that uses both a pickup and mic in the guitar. I believe that is the setup that Tommy Emmanuel uses in his guitars. Even though you have a Taylor it might be possible if this is the kind of thing suited you to ring Maton (or even Cole Clark) and see if they would fit one. I believe that Fishman also make a similar blend system pickup. Might be worth looking into, at least you'd wind up having a fairly consistant sound gig to gig.

[dadfad]

Ideally I'd suggest you get a small PA system and another 57 or 58. Fender makes a series of compact PAs (Passport series) that come in different sizes from smallish to a bit bigger. Not the best PAs but very functional for small to medium venues. And all the components completely fold-up/clip-up into a single unit for easy carrying. (I bought my daughter one a couple of years ago for small gigs and liked it enough to buy my self one as well even though I already had two other (bigger more cumbersome) PA systems. (I think it was the smallest size Passport 150. It also came with a pair of cheap-but-functional mics, cables, etc.)The price wasn't bad at all in the US, but I know in Australia some stuff is much more expensive than here and harder to get.

Looking at what you have now, you might want to try the Rode for your guitar, with a foam-rubber feed-back/pop protector over it. (If you want to bother trying to improvise a bit more, you might also be able to sort of cone around the diaphram end with plastic or posterboard, reducing the size of its pattern which might help feedback too, pointed at just below the bridge or at an upper bout (not the soundhole). If at all possible place its amp (the cube might be the easiest choice, being smallish) in front of the mic instead of behind it.

Anyway, just a couple of ideas to try.


(I also much prefer to play guitar-to-mic when at all possible.)

[JesUripsevied]

looking at 225/40/18... any suggestions would be appreciated..

am looking at the Nittos too, was at evolve this AM and will be back there later today if I can’t get anything better...

Also spotted a nice set of BBS rims there Wink, wink , nudge nudge “shadow”

[Ayaura]

ahhhahaha, for a minute I thought this was about JMP, the statistical software....

Hey guys, long time no speak!

Long story short, I played my first live show in forever last night. Been about 18 months. Woohoo, felt great, and learning curve is HUGE. As soon as I got there I realised one thing: I need my own equipment.

I have a very unique sound/setup; I play a sort've hard acoustic funk (solo) and sing. I try to use my guitar as a) guitar, bass and c) percussion. On my beautiful Taylor, this sounds amazing (to me, anyway, and that's all that really matters ), but last night I ran into a problem - the venue only had one mic, and I needed to use that for vocals (my guitar doesn't have a pickup). So luckily the bar manager let me use his electric/acousitc, which was ok, but I hate the sound of an acoustic pickup, it doesn't work with my style and I need a much more genuine acoustic sound (it was running directly into the PA, which might have had something to do with it). Similarly (and this is completely my fault) I let some other guy sort out the vocal/guitar levels, both of which I think were way too loud. I've gotta get used to performing into a mic, tough when you live in a small apartment, but that's a whole other story.

So here I am. I need some equipment, I want to be able to bring it all to a venue so that I don't have to ###### around with other people's gear trying to get the best sound out of foreign equipment.

I currenlty have access to:

1. A Shure SM-57
2. A Rode NT-1a
3. A 100w Marshall Valvestate (don't remember the model number, it's about 7 years old though)
4. A Roland Cube 30
5. A Boss EQ-7 Equalizer pedal

I don't really know the best way to use this equipment in a live setting, nor the additional equipment that I'll need. I definitely need a microphone for vocals and one for my guitar, is an NT-1a suitable for live use or will it just be a feedback machine? And if so, do you think it'd be better to use it with my guitar and sing into the SM-57, or should I ditch the 57 and buy an SM-58 or something similar?


I'm at a bit of a loss here, this stuff is new to me. This section doesn't seem to be too active, but I'd really appreciate some advice guys.

Cheers
James

Hey, I play a similar style, I would love to hear your stuff, do you use a pick?