Need some info on gear

[SE]

Was thinking of playing some of my songs live one day and was wondering if anyone could put me in the right direction of what gear I would need. I,m not in a band so it would only be, would it be feasable to use a mp3 player with backing tracks I,ve recorded.
The only thing I would stipulate is that everything would be small like the MBR eg speakers, amp and mixer.
                                                 
                                                       Thanks
                                                                 John

[Bro]

For a amp i would by a roland cube, a great little practice amp. Do you need any guitar advice? And if so is it a electric or a acoustic guitar you need?

[Kody]

I'm looking at the same set up...For now, I can use my Dad's PA...Just a little Yamaha 300W per side head w/ 2 -12'' Peavey speakers... For 12"s they actually sound pretty good.....Here's what I'd like to purchase in the future~ Not too expensive, and Not a whole lot of crap to carry~~ Some better brands make these ex: Mackie, JBL, etc....but these Behringers have great reviews~ You'd have to buy two, which is about the same as buying one Mackie~ There's alot of these around now~ you might want to check out the Tapco (by Mackie) or I see Harbinger makes them cheap~never heard of them though~


http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-EUROLIVE-B215A-Active-2Way-Loudspeaker?sku=600734

[SE]

Thanks for the replies guys right now I use a Squire tele custom, G10 Ibanez bass and a Tanglewood electro acoustic, Torque 30 watt combo, Samson Q7 mic and a sound lab micro mixer not the most expensive equipment but they all play well. The 12" Peavey speakers sound what I,m looking for small and portable I will have to check out Behringers.

[Kody]

I posted 15" Powered speaker with a horn. These come with a little built-in mixer. 400W.  The 12"s are quite a bit cheaper and still have good reviews..

[Davo]

I used a roland keyboard amp for a while, sounds good with acoustic, average with electric.  BUT it can do triple duty as a PA and bass amp.  I recently ran across an electric drum amp that struck me as a poor mans PA, dont know if it would work well though.

I recommend at least 30 watts and a 12 inch speaker.  This will allow you to keep up with drums if ever needed.  Craigslist is your friend.

[Ferryman]

Could you clarify by what you will be playing and where? Will it be small venues, ie clubs and bars or will it be outdoors (ie busking)? Will you need vocals or just be playing instrumentally? If you will be doing vox you will need a small PA and mixer, if you just play instrumentally then some amps these days have a CD input designed for external audio backing devices. If you need a smalll mixer, I have the Tapco Blend 6 which is built like a tank, cheap and great quality (and small) and I have used it live for my son's band. Mackie do some great little powered PA speakers - get a pair of those and you will be rocking.

Cheers,

Nigel

[SE]

Thanks Nigel for your reply, yes it would be small venues my local hotel does small gigs for local musicians and holds between  40 to 100 this is the sort of gig I would be aiming at. Ideally it would be guitar and vox and a backing track I,ve recorded on the MBR so an imput for a CD or MP3 player would very useful, I would also need a small powered mixer with 4to 6 imputs. The idea was that I could fit the gear in my and set up and break down as quickly as possible

                                              Thanks again for your advice
                                                                            John

[Ferryman]

I suggest you check out the Mackie range - the SRM150 is tiny, a pair of those might work or they have SRM350s and 450s which are more traditional portable PA activer speakers. Pair them with a Tapco mixer and you're good to go. The Blend 6 I use has six channels but four are stereo so its only four devices (ie two mono and two pairs of stereo inputs), but remember you will need a stereo input for the MBR. Mic preamps on the Blend 6 are good as well.

Cheers,

Nigel