Looking for a small yet versatile setup for church

[Gtrjunior]

I bought a couple more floor wedges the other day -so everyone at rehearsals had a personal wedge -not just those singing.

Anyways -they were cheap Kustom PA4s powered wedges. and they were the worst wedges I've ever heard -and it's not close... also terrible 60 cycle hum -returned them after one day

Don't considered using these ------EVER

I did the same thing several years ago. I figured I just needed a small wedge so I could hear everything. They are the worst.
I still have it but I basically use it at my computer desk/guitar playing station for things like running a click through it or something like that. So yeah, pretty useless.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Ok...
After a couple days of watching YouTube vids and tweaking tones with the AF12, I’ve got to say...this thing sounds amazing!

I have watched a few of Leon Todd’s tone walk throughs and I’ve dialed in a nice AC30 tone and a good Friedman tone.
The thing tripping me up now is getting the volume of each individual patch to be the the same.
I found a Gear Page thread where someone explains their method. Basically he starts off with a clean patch and adjusts the main and aux output so that the patch won’t clip even with the AF12’s level knob maxed.
It gets used as a reference to dial in your other patches. That’s as far as I’ve gotten with it. I have my reference patch and the 2 mentioned above and neither one clips. The problem is the Vox patch is considerably quieter...I’ll need to look at that tomorrow.

If any modeler users have suggestions....I’m all ears.
Thanks!

 

[devastone]

Glad you got it working and are getting good results. The Amplifires are supposed to sound great, but are also probably one of the hardest ones to figure out (or maybe it's just because I've been using the Boss interface for year). For FRFRs I personally have a set of - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EON610--jbl-eon610-1000w-10-inch-powered-speaker I bought them when they were on sale for $250 each, so the set was just a little more than one at regular price. The Headrush is also supposed to be good for guitar setups, they have an 8" one - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...108-2000-watt-1x8-inch-powered-guitar-cabinet and a 12" one - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...12-2000-watt-1x12-inch-powered-guitar-cabinet

But, yeah, there aren't any really "cheap" solutions that you'll be happy with, but again, if you are using IEMs in church, you don't need an FRFR except for at home or if you are using the Amplifire for gigs (again, probably not if there are decent monitors). I mostly play through my M-Audio interface and Kali monitors, I rarely pull out the JBLs unless I need to use them playing with a choir or something where I'm not plugged into the PA. Here's the Kalis I use - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LP6pr--kali-audio-lp-6-6.5-inch-powered-studio-monitor-pair

 

[Gtrjunior]

Glad you got it working and are getting good results. The Amplifires are supposed to sound great, but are also probably one of the hardest ones to figure out (or maybe it's just because I've been using the Boss interface for year). For FRFRs I personally have a set of - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EON610--jbl-eon610-1000w-10-inch-powered-speaker I bought them when they were on sale for $250 each, so the set was just a little more than one at regular price. The Headrush is also supposed to be good for guitar setups, they have an 8" one - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...108-2000-watt-1x8-inch-powered-guitar-cabinet and a 12" one - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...12-2000-watt-1x12-inch-powered-guitar-cabinet

But, yeah, there aren't any really "cheap" solutions that you'll be happy with, but again, if you are using IEMs in church, you don't need an FRFR except for at home or if you are using the Amplifire for gigs (again, probably not if there are decent monitors). I mostly play through my M-Audio interface and Kali monitors, I rarely pull out the JBLs unless I need to use them playing with a choir or something where I'm not plugged into the PA. Here's the Kalis I use - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LP6pr--kali-audio-lp-6-6.5-inch-powered-studio-monitor-pair

What do you think of these? My drummer has 2 still in the box he offered to sell me.
Are these FRFR? How would I know if they are or not?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-flashline-series-2-way-stage-monitor-12-inch

 

[Gtrjunior]

https://youtu.be/iMtitHf8f5M

 

[devastone]

Sounds like a good idea, I don't have any experience with them. This is becoming a major investment for you. Again, when you play in church, you probably don't need them, everything will be in your IEMs, you don't need a separate speaker for your guitar. But, yeah, those would rock your house, and you might like using if for the band too.

 

[Mincer]

For anyone looking for something like this, I know Line 6 is coming out with a new (cheaper) floor processor with a built in transmitter.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Sounds like a good idea, I don't have any experience with them. This is becoming a major investment for you. Again, when you play in church, you probably don't need them, everything will be in your IEMs, you don't need a separate speaker for your guitar. But, yeah, those would rock your house, and you might like using if for the band too.

Ha!
So far I’m in at $400. I haven’t bought anything else yet.
I’ve been thinking that if this unit works out ok, I might consider using it with the regular rock band and stop lugging an amp altogether.
But for the church band I do still need IEMs and that represents the entry level investment (Amplifire and IEMs).
And who knows, if I can afford a good enough set of IEMs I could did without the floor wedge as well....
Just thinking out loud.
I appreciate all of your input here, I know I’m a PITA.

 

[devastone]

...
And who knows, if I can afford a good enough set of IEMs I could did without the floor wedge as well....
Just thinking out loud.
I appreciate all of your input here, I know I’m a PITA.

No, you're not a PITA, just seems that you are missing something. You have to have the IEMs to hear the rest of the band, the monitor will most likely just be in the way there. If you just use the Amplifire through the monitor, you won't be hearing the rest of the band, they are all in the little IEM mixer thingy and you are most likely behind the mains, so you can't count on hearing those, what you hear will be bouncing off the back wall so there will be "real analog" latency.

I use these IEMs, I actually like them better than the Westones I paid a lot more for - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Of course, if you have some headphones, you can just use those, but you need something to plug into your monitor mixer.

 

[Mincer]

I will say that good IEMs are absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, they cost as much as an amp. I paid about $700 for mine from Alien Ears (a local company).

 

[Gtrjunior]

No, you're not a PITA, just seems that you are missing something. You have to have the IEMs to hear the rest of the band, the monitor will most likely just be in the way there. If you just use the Amplifire through the monitor, you won't be hearing the rest of the band, they are all in the little IEM mixer thingy and you are most likely behind the mains, so you can't count on hearing those, what you hear will be bouncing off the back wall so there will be "real analog" latency.

I use these IEMs, I actually like them better than the Westones I paid a lot more for - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Of course, if you have some headphones, you can just use those, but you need something to plug into your monitor mixer.

Yes, I understand that I need the IEMs to hear the band. For the church project I would not use the monitor at all...it will all go through the IEMs.

The monitor comes into play with the regular rock band. Although I could also use the IEMs there too but I’d likely need something wireless.
I thought the monitor would be handy for rehearsal and also for my own personal home use. My rehearsal PA uses the larger Thump 15’s and I suspect they probably won’t sound much better than the 12” version.

 

[Gtrjunior]

I will say that good IEMs are absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, they cost as much as an amp. I paid about $700 for mine from Alien Ears (a local company).

I looked at those a while back. Really nice product but yes, very expensive.

Do you feel that they give an accurate representation of your guitar tone?

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I'd say it gives an accurate representation of what the guitar sounds like mixed in with the other instruments...what the crowd hears, essentially. It isn't the same as playing next to an actual amp.

 

[devastone]

Yes, I understand that I need the IEMs to hear the band. For the church project I would not use the monitor at all...it will all go through the IEMs.

The monitor comes into play with the regular rock band. Although I could also use the IEMs there too but I’d likely need something wireless.
I thought the monitor would be handy for rehearsal and also for my own personal home use. My rehearsal PA uses the larger Thump 15’s and I suspect they probably won’t sound much better than the 12” version.

Then yeah, those monitors look great, again, haven't heard them in person though.

FWIW, for just playing in church, I have trouble coughing up that much on some IEMs, well, I did buy some Westones a few years ago when they were on sale for ~$200 (I think they were normally ~$400, but been a few years). Sadly, I like the ~$60 ones I linked to in the earlier post better. And no, IEMs will never sound/feel like playing a real amp, more like listening to music on your iPod, phone, whatever, through good earbuds (of course, this also depends on the quality of the signal you are getting to your personal mixer).

 

[Gtrjunior]

If I could get it to sound close to listening to an mp3, I could live with that.
My 1st experience with them was bad. I had a low end Shure set (215?) and although the vocals sounded good everything else sounded like it was playing out of a tin can.
I was completely turned off to IEMs after that.

 

[Mincer]

Me too, until I used the current set. I used low end Shures. My current set has 6 drivers in each ear. It is like playing along to a CD, really.

 

[devastone]

You must get good clean signals to mix (assuming you are mixing your own?), we're talking about playing in church. Not trying to be negative, and I've worked with total pros in churches and others that are just volunteers whose only background was running sound at that particular church. So, the quality of the signals going into the IEM mixer can vary, the mix, well, that's up to you, but it's not going to be the same as what is coming out the mains, it takes some getting used to. And, you have to just say "it's up to the soundguy" regarding the mains.

 

[DKSEARS]

Glad you found something you’re happy with.

For IEM’s, several in our team are using these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G33XTW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GQRLFb6VBZ0VK and seem to really like them, especially for the price.

I was using an older version of those, which are pretty good, until I ran into a half price deal on some Sennheiser’s that I like even more.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Glad you found something you’re happy with.

For IEM’s, several in our team are using these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G33XTW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GQRLFb6VBZ0VK and seem to really like them, especially for the price.

I was using an older version of those, which are pretty good, until I ran into a half price deal on some Sennheiser’s that I like even more.

I have a pair of KZ that I use with my iPhone and I will say that for the price they are excellent.

 

[NegativeEase]

Man, gotta say last night I ran a stereo rig,

-Origin Revival Pedal into 68 Fender Deluxe (Custom Bassman Tone Stack Channel) and into an Iridium IR modeler pedal on Marshall Plexi V30 Cabinet Settings into the PA and it was other worldly sounding together.