Need help with equipment for Mic-ing my voice?

Question

Alright heres what I need to do, Playing guitar and singing in a band. I run my guitar to an amp, however I have no experience in Micing any vocals.

I have ordered Peavey6 Mixer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/p... and Shure58 Mic (with stand). I know nothing about pre-amps or anything that I'll need. I obviously need to be heard over the drums (which will not be miced) and in the future, I'd like to be heard in small or medium sized gig area (no larger than 150 people). So what else do I need, just a pre-amp and some speakers? Do I even need a pre-amp? Do I have to run the Mic to the mixer than a pre-amp then a speaker, how does the process work? I'd like to spend less than $300.


Also my friend has some large (about 4 feet tall) speakers from his home entertainment system, would it be possible to use these to save cash?

Thank-you

Answer 1

First, let me compliment you on your choice of equipment. The SM-58 is an industry standard, and Peavey equipment, while not sonically the best, is rugged and road worthy.

Now you need to amplify and send the sigal to a speaker, and you can do this in one of two ways.

1) a separate amp and speaker
2) a powered speaker which contains an amp.

The second approach offers some advantages in your situation, in that you can add additional sound by adding powered speakers. Musicians friend lists many of these from $300 up.
If you can scrounge up the extra cash, I would go with the JBL Eon at $450. Otherwise, and especially if your band is punk or thrash, or hardcore, etc, the Nady at $300 will do.

Answer 2

Alright You have a mixer, and you have a decent mic.
You will need a power amp, and some speakers.

The power amp will be connected with your board, and is what powers the sound coming out of the speakers. You will have to have one of these, unless your mixer has a built in power amp, and I don't think it does. Typically this works by plugging your guitar/vocals or whatever else you want to run into the mixer, then the mixer has a section of "sends" to send the signal to a power amp, and from the power amp to your speakers.

A pre-amp isn't necessary for your mic at this point, it is something that is added between the mic and the mixer to give you a clearer/stronger sound, but not a necessity.

As far as your friends speaker, those are not built to handle live music applications, and most likely have different connections, I would stay away from that hate for you to ruin some good stereo speakers.

So bottom line taken you have a mixer, and a mic you still need a power amp, and the appropriate speakers, along with applicable cables to connect it all(Mic cable, a couple of short speaker cables maybe 3-6ft to hook up the power amp, and a couple of long speaker cables to run from you amp to your speakers). This will get you a bare bones sound system that should meet the needs listed above.