[Dixielandjazz] Light weight sound gear!

Thu Jul 6 10:09:42 PDT 2006

www.GuitarCenter.com has the gigrack 1000 powered mixer for $499 and the 600 
for $399.  The 1000 is the one that has the dual EQ's.  You should be able 
to put a system together for less than $1000.

go on line and check out the equipment and check out the user reviews. 
Google Musicians Friend.  They have a spin off company too that carries lots 
of stuff.  I don't remember what the name was but it was an Italian sounding 
name like Ghirardelli or something.

You can also check out www.ZZounds.com they don't have the Gig rack but they 
have a lot of others you might be interested in,

One of the guys that uses the Fender liked it but I think they are OK if you 
keep low sounds out of them.  I noted that they used a separate unit for the 
bass.  The fender isn't all that light.  The singer that I mentioned is now 
asking if I will provide a PA if she sings so she doesn't want to move it 
either.  Her husband goes on all jobs and rehearsals to set up the stuff.  I 
think the Fender would work OK but there are other systems for about the 
same money out there that I think are better.  There are several other 
companies (like Peavy and Yamaha) that have compact systems.  Best thing is 
to go hear them somewhere.

This brings up another thread about bringing wives/girlfriends to gigs. 
That goes for husbands too.  At a rehearsal of a local big band he band 
needed a piano player and I made a comment about the situation which had 
nothing to do with the singer.  The singer's husband thought I was making a 
comment about his wife and wanted me to go out in the parking lot and fight. 
This guy is about 65-70 years old and he would probably died of a heart 
attack taking his first punch.  If the guy wasn't so serious it would have 
been the silliest thing to happen..

Do you have a Guitar Center near you?  I have one and while I refer to them 
as musician Hell they do have good prices.  I call them musician Hell 
because there is always some nut pounding on drums while another is pumping 
sound on a keyboard while several others are twanging power chords through 
distortion boxes and out of tune I might add.  That goes on all day.  I 
don't know how a musician could work there and not go completely insane. 
Join the din and try out the system.

I would bet if you called a Guitar Center they would tell you how much one 
of the Gig Rack Powered mixers weigh.  You could ask them the shipping 
weight which is a little more than the unit weighs.

Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randy Fendrick" <jfendrick at bak.rr.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Light weight sound gear!

>I like the idea of Musicians Friend, I will check it out, now what did I do 
>with that catalogue?
> On Jul 6, 2006, at 1:24 AM, Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis wrote:
>
>> Bose makes great sounding equipment but they are expensive.  The 
>> improvement in quality is small and will be lost on a crowded room of 
>> people talking etc.
>>
>> A few weeks ago I stopped by the Guitar Center here in  St. Louis looking 
>> at sound systems.   I came across one that might fit the bill. I own a 
>> 300 watt powered mixer that is really cool sound wise but it would make a 
>> great boat anchor too.   It's now my computer system amplifier with two 
>> other boat anchors, a pair of peavy columns.  Hell of a computer system 
>> but I just can't lug that mess around anymore.
>>
>> The system I came across is equal in every way to my powered mixer except 
>> it weighs a fraction and actually has a shoulder strap.  The case is 
>> fiberglass and has a lid to cover all the knobs etc.  It had dual EQ's 
>> one for each channel and all the other bells and whistles like 8 mike 
>> channels..  As I recall there are three models.  The cheapest does not 
>> have the dual EQ's but almost everything else.
>>
>> The name of the system is the Gig Rack 300 watt powered mixer with two 
>> JBL JRX115 speakers, 2 mikes, cables and stands are $940.  They have the 
>> 600 watt system for $1150 with 4 mikes and all the other stuff.. As I 
>> said the Gig Rack powered mixer comes in other models than this.  I think 
>> the dual EQ unit - (probably two separate amps for mains and monitors ) 
>> in the 300 watt by its self is around $900.  They are more expensive than 
>> the same thing in other brands but they are very light weight.  I liked 
>> the idea that the case protected the front panel.
>>
>> The Musicians Friend has reviews of the systems on line so you should 
>> look up the user reviews.
>>
>> They don't list them separately in my catalog but if you went with the 
>> Gig Rack Amp  the I would suggest a pair of 10 or 12" EON speakers which 
>> are fairly light and have a pretty good punch.  As long as you aren't 
>> trying to run a bass through them they should do well.  I'm seriously 
>> thinking about going to something like this.  One problem with the Eon's 
>> is they don't stack very well.  Unless you go to something like the EON 
>> speakers they tend to be very heavy and bulky.  We use a pair of them for 
>> monitors.  If you need to put your speakers on stands the smaller eon's 
>> are great.
>>
>> You didn't tell us about how many people or size of room you were wanting 
>> to cover or whether you wanted some sound reinforcement or to blow the 
>> wall paper off.  There isn't any compact, light system that will do the 
>> latter.
>>
>> Another choice is powered monitors.  I use a pair of 15" JBL Eon's.  They 
>> have quite a few bells and whistles like 4 band EQ's and if you use a 
>> mixer you can use multiple mikes.  They have dual amps inside for woofer 
>> and horn. Great sound but a bit heavy.  They aren't as bad as other 
>> cabinets that have equal capacity and quality of sound.  They don't stack 
>> very well on a cart because of the odd shape.  With these you don't need 
>> the powered mixer.  All together they are lighter than the separate 
>> pieces but individually kind of heavy.  About 45 lbs each.  They can sit 
>> on stands but I don't use them. Schlepping these around is getting 
>> tiresome.
>>
>> You should be able to do better than $2K  there are some other compact 
>> systems that come with speakers/amp all latched together such as the 
>> Fender Passport series.  The amps look nice with lots of bells and 
>> whistles but the speakers ( 4 - 4" speakers in each cabinet ) are only OK 
>> for a  singer in  a small to medium room..  One of the local singers uses 
>> one.  I'm not impressed with them.
>>
>> You might take a look at Peavey and Yamaha systems.  Both are pretty good 
>> but nothing is as light as the Gig Rack systems.
>> Larry
>> St. Louis
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Fendrick" 
>> <jfendrick at bak.rr.com>
>> To: <Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 6:19 PM
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Light weight sound gear!
>>
>>
>>> For years I have been using a Pevy sound system for my 7 piece band.  It 
>>> has worked well but, as I get older this system is getting heavier to 
>>> set up.  I am not really interested in hiring a roady to handle the 
>>> sound gear as this really takes from the musicians pockets, but am 
>>> looking for a lighter, more efficient system.  I have seen and heard the 
>>> Bose system with our band, and like the results.  It is much lighter 
>>> and, after one gets through the learning curve, I think I would like it, 
>>> but the cost is a little dear, $2000.00 per tower and for proper results 
>>> would probably need two towers. Does anyone have any ideas?  How have 
>>> others solved this problem?  I might add, that recently, one of the 
>>> California jazz clubs that we play for asked that we bring a sound 
>>> system when we return to play for their group.  I almost balked on 
>>> returning, but see it as a problem that others will need to face.
>>> later.
>>> rf
>>> Randy Fendrick,
>>> Southside Chicago Seven
>>> Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>
>>
> Randy Fendrick,
> Southside Chicago Seven
> Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra
> 