what amp do i need

Hi all...I am new to the amp side of things and have a quick question. im not in the league of u guys but have played accoustic guitar for many years and play with an electric les paul with a little practice amp sometimes but for a home player i can handle a guitar. Now im old and my daughter has grown up and she plays accoustic and is into vocals.

My query is: I want to play accustic or a bit of lead along with her while she does vocals with a mic. I just bought a samick combo with 4 chanells (i think) with the intension of plugging in the 2 guitars and the mic. it does this but im sure the samick ive bought isnt intended for this. its got reverb and gain per plugin but no master volume and heaps of other plug ins for pedals, tapes etc.

What is it i actually need to accomplish my goal here? the amp i got is 60 watt tweeter and woofer and is a samick mixer combo PM-4v if that helps. we dont want to do anymore than play at home and mates' parties etc.

thanks for any advice in advance.

Quote from Dr. Simon:

"Dude I have edited this to avoid confusion, hope you don't mind !"

I'm just trying to help some until the gear gurus get out of bed, I'd really recommend you wait for them to reply.... :P

PS. Sorry Dr. Simon for quoting you. This just seemed relative to the question at hand.

Please ignore the above, I was to an entirely different thread with a different set of problems.

It sounds like you have all the kit you need !

Are there channel faders or volume pots at the bottom of each channel strip ?

If you can be a little more specific about the exact bits of kit you have I can probably be a little more help !

i hope this pic of the amp works but it has 2 dials for each input .. 1 is reverb and 1 is gain...there is no volume or any other settings .not even a master volume switch...would it have to be used with a preamp or something? ...thanks for the help

Im not familiar with this particular bit of kit however I can tell you that this has built in preamps controlled by the gain pots.

If this thing is an amp, not having a master volume is very strange.

You have described this thing as a combo so I'm presuming it has the mixer, speakers and amp all in one box, is my presumption true ?

Also Im thinking that if you can hook up both guitars and a vocal line and it sounds OK than it is job done !

Here's another pic of the amp:



I think that 60W would be a little small for 2 vocals and a guitar. Maybe you could work it though, since you don't seem to need huge volumes, but I just think that it'll be hard for one speaker to handle 3 inputs. I used to use a 150W (I think) keyboard amplifier for 2 vocals for band practices, and it would freak out when I plugged in a bass (don't worry Doc, there were dedicated instrument and mic inputs on each channel). The amp sounded best when there was only one mic or one keyboard plugged into it, even though there were 4 channels.

What kind of practice amp do you have for your guitar? Maybe the best setup would be to run vocals through the Samick and your guitar through your guitar amp.

Can you list off what the dials are in the pic, left to right?

Thanks for hand here ....Ive put a crappy pic of what each thing on this amp says ...i hope its understanable to you...my little practice amp is near dead anyway this was the idea of buying this amp ..it cost $500 here in Aust and as i live in the bush i bought it sight unseen and had it frieghted to me ...it was new from a music shop but they havent supplied manuals etc with it....again thanks for your help

I am the king of the triple post!!! Well, maybe the prince, second to bob-bobby. Woohooo! PRINCE!!! Purple Rain!!!

Anyways.

I assume that you're looking for a combo amp, since you want a simple piece of kit. I noticed on the Google that I did for the Samick PM-4V that it runs for about $500 USD. Is that your price range? I checked out some other PA systems in that range, and there are some really nice looking sets, but they aren't combos.

Here's an example:



Another interesting one by Fender. It's called an LTB PA Package. Runs for $399 on musiciansfriend.com. I couldn't find too much info on it, but it seems to be a 4 channel, 120W, comes with cables and a mic.

For all the above, click on the pic and it'll take you to the link.

The forum will only let me post 3 pics per post, and I don't feel like quadruple posting, so here's a link to the trusty ol' Fender Passport PA system. This is the PD-150, a 4-channel, 150W system with either 1 or 2 mics (zZounds' description is a little confusing and contradictory, I think). $639.95 USD.

Oh, and for all the above (esp. the zZounds links), be sure to shop around first, because I ran into some varying prices even on my quick search, but I just posted the first link I found, not necessarily the cheapest.

GAH! You interrupted my perfectly good triple post attempt!!! Well, I'll have to make up for it with TWO DOUBLE POSTS in the same thread!!! I guess that's like doing two double axels in a figure skating routine when you botch a triple salchow.

Anyways.

Well, since you're in Oz, you probably don't want to go buying all kinds of new gear, since from what I've heard on this site, musical equipment is pretty expensive to acquire. Unless you're independently wealthy.

The "gain" knob is your "volume" knob. Doc will kill me over this, since gain and volume aren't the same thing, but basically, turning up that knob will increase your volume. So, you have a "gain" knob for each channel, and one "master gain" knob which will control all 4 channels out. That seems to be what you're looking for.

yep the gain does raise the volume but ever so slightly...the reverb knobs can be wound full up or down and get absolutly no noticeable difference....what is the 3 pin plugs next to the normal inputs for?? is this just a different type of lead or are they for a microphone? why would this not have a volume knob per chanel or at least a master volume? ...this amp with 1 guitar pluged in is very quiet and nothing can raise the volume...my crappy 12 watt practice amp is louder much louder....how do i go about getting treble and bass etc ...is this amp meant to run with some other gadget plugged in to get these controls....sorry for all the questions but my small brain dont know much about this subject.... thanks

Humm, sounds like you may want to have a look at the passport PAs !

The Gains should act as volume controls and if they are not cutting it, either I) the amp is bust or II) the amp is not bust and is just not loud enough.

A 60 w amp should blow the balls of a 12 w guitar amp and give you more than enough volume to play parties etc so you might want to consider having a friend who knows about amps / service guy have a look at it. Id get a quote before having any work done as it may cost more to fix than to get a new one !

Originally Posted by: iamthe_eggman



$495 USD @ zZounds. That's a Yamaha EMX62M PA Package (EMX62M Powered Mixer, 2 AS108 Speakers). 135 watts/8 ohms & 200 watts/4 ohms. No speaker stands, though. 6 channels, 2 band EQ on each channel, 7-band master EQ, 8 digital effects. This looks pretty sweeeeeet.

I have that Yamaha PA head. unless it's a newer version, it only has 3 types of revers for effects. It's pretty good for the price, and fairly versatile. Running 2 10" PA speakers with it would be plenty loud for what you want to do with it. Just make sure they're not very high powered speakers. That's the only place I see where the head lacks....power. But, it's enough for small usage.

The three pin plugs are called XLR sockets they are for microphones.

How have you been plugging in your mics and what sort of mic are you using ?

This is another potential problem if you are plugging your mics into a guitar socket which may be why they sound nasty and quiet however the guitar should sound OK. Have you tried plugging in an electric or have you just been running acoustics through it and if so, how have you been hooking up the acoustics ?

thanks very much for your help ... I have only plugged in accoustics and have been plugging the mic into the single pin plug not the xls socket as this is what came with the mic so i assumed it pluged into the matching socket on the amp....the mic is a Shure sm48 and was told its of reasonable quality...all this gear was only purchased new last weekvia a phone order and came delivered with no manuals etc. The accuostic and mic have brand new gold leads and the pickup in the guitar itself is in good working order when tried in a little practice amp.... again thanks for listening to my lame questions

The Manual for the SM48 shows it with a 3 pin XLR connecter. I think one of the problems you are having is actually impedance matching. Either buy or borrow an XLR male to XLR female cable and try plugging the mic into the 3 pin input. It will probably make a huge difference.

Another thing to try is running and electric guitar with a distortion pedal stomp box into one of the inputs and seeing how that compares volume wise with your 12 w practice amp. At worst it should be easily loud and at best it will be much louder. If it is not the amp is probably in need of a service.

No worries, i will try that this weekend and let you know how i go...thanks heaps for your help and advice... it makes a change to see a forum not bagging **** out of each other and offer genuine help

ANy time mate, glad we could be of some help. There is a tutorial you might find helpful on my instructors page all about hooking things up called "build your own project studio".

Oh yes and best of luck !!