Mic and amp separate from main PA system

[Cochiti Don]

Hi...... I know this is a newbie question but I play in an informal band and the guy who owns and sets up the PA doesn’t have enough mics for both my voice and the mando.
Rather than buy a pickup system for my mando, I’d like to buy a mic and small amp to put on stage. Also I’d have the freedom to use it elsewhere.
Is there a good mic and amp combo that would do the trick?
Don

[almeriastrings]

Why not just get a mic of your choice (or two, one for vocals and one for your instrument) plus a small sub-mixer? Output of the sub-mixer into one of the spare line inputs of his PA? You really don't want to have just your voice through the PA and your mandolin from a totally separate source.... this way, you continue to be heard through the main PA without using up extra inputs? Something like this would do it perfectly:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZED6FX

You can EQ each mic, and add reverbs if necessary...... phantom power available for condenser mics...

[gspiess]

Is it that he doesn't have enough mics, or he doesn't have enough channels in his PA? If it's a matter of mics, go ahead with your plans, but also get either a splitter box that will send a signal to the PA, and you can use the amp as a stage monitor. Or, make sure your amp has a low impedance output that can be run to the system.
If he doesn't have enough channels, a sub-mixer is a possible solution, but it can limit flexibility with monitor sends, if that's even an issue with a small system.

[Cochiti Don]

Why not just get a mic of your choice (or two, one for vocals and one for your instrument) plus a small sub-mixer? Output of the sub-mixer into one of the spare line inputs of his PA? You really don't want to have just your voice through the PA and your mandolin from a totally separate source.... this way, you continue to be heard through the main PA without using up extra inputs? Something like this would do it perfectly:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZED6FX

You can EQ each mic, and add reverbs if necessary...... phantom power available for condenser mics...
Hmmmmm. So the output of both mics goes into one input on the PA?
So even if I buy a separate amp for my own use, this system will work.

[Cochiti Don]

Is it that he doesn't have enough mics, or he doesn't have enough channels in his PA? If it's a matter of mics, go ahead with your plans, but also get either a splitter box that will send a signal to the PA, and you can use the amp as a stage monitor. Or, make sure your amp has a low impedance output that can be run to the system.
If he doesn't have enough channels, a sub-mixer is a possible solution, but it can limit flexibility with monitor sends, if that's even an issue with a small system.
I actually don’t know the full capabilities of his mixer. I think I need to talk techno with him for a while.

[almeriastrings]

Find out exactly what the problem is. Not enough mic channels? Or just lacking a suitable mic? There are various approaches to this depending upon what he says. As noted above by gspless, a submixer can create issues with monitor mixes, but then, if you are using a mixer for a small band and it only has a few inputs, you are probably not using much (or anything) in the way of monitors anyway...

[foldedpath]

I like the submixer approach, although as noted above, it can mess with monitor sends from the house PA unless you can handle hearing everything from your submixer through one monitor send.

Another thing to consider, is that technically, and practically speaking, you really should use a transformer-based line isolator box between your personal submixer and any house PA system. Something like the Radial Twin Iso (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TwinIso?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnuDTBRDUARIsAL41eDr_KcppBH9c W6aM64CZ2gnKoJFd-V4JOxDvlLbzIQkkabf_K1RZzVUaAuYEEALw_wcB). There are less expensive options, but that's a good one. This is to protect your personal submixer from any funky wiring issues in the house PA mixer, ground loops, or more severe problems with the house AC power.

If you always use the same house PA system and you know the wiring is good, then you won't need it. It's more a safety backup when you're traveling around and using the kind of very funky and out-of-spec PA systems you might find in various bars and non-professional situations.

[Beanzy]

It might be a good time to get something like this and use it to cover a whole range of possibilities.
164674
it does mic and instrument and you can then offer up the DI to their desk, so you only use one line input on their mixer.
Because it’s designed as a kick-back shape you can use it as a monitor for your position if you end up in a bigger PA system later.
I use one as my work horse amp as I don’t have to know what I’m going to encounter ahead of time so it’s good for just turning up at places and coping with most situations. I mostly use it with just the mic for mando, fiddle & voice, unless using the cheap mandolin which has a JJB twin pickup.

You can get very flexible about what you put in & how you manage your set up.
I sometimes put an Alice mic pre and a monopak to put the fiddle and mando lavalliers in then use that into the instrument side which means hot-swapping fiddle to mando, or cello mandoloncello can be done mid-tune or song while leaving a dedicated vocal input. You can even put your phone or mp3 player in to the aux and play along or use it as the fill music source between sets.

[Willie Poole]

Don, I have sent you a private message. please respond via e mail......

Willie