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Hey guys, my mate has the PA system below, a bass amp, two guitar amps and an electronic drumkit. The electronic drumkit is already hooked up to the system.I have a few questions1) Can the 3 amps (bass and 2 guitar) be hooked up to the PA using standard guitar cables?2) Is there shielding issues? Possible electrocution, etc.3) Is it better to hook up microphones and put them next to the amplifiers.Any other comments for a PA newb like me?Thanks,Bee
Hey guys, my mate has the PA system above, a bass amp, two guitar amps and an electronic drumkit. The electronic drumkit is already hooked up to the system.

I have a few questions

1) Can the 3 amps (bass and 2 guitar) be hooked up to the PA using standard guitar cables?

2) Is there shielding issues? Possible electrocution, etc.

3) Is it better to hook up microphones and put them next to the amplifiers.

Any other comments for a PA newb like me?

Thanks,
Bee

it depends on the application ... for just rehearsals, i'd say that only the electronic drums and vocals need go through the PA and the band should regulate overall volume so that everyone can hear everything evenly enough to rehearse ...

for a gig, i would recommend putting the bass into the PA via a direct box and micing the guitar amps ... yamaha makes nice stuff, but i am not sure those cabs (even if they are 15quot; ) are big enough to carry drums and bass and guitars and vocals for anything other than a smallish room ... when i was in a band with an electronic drum kit, we had big subs and dedicated power amp to make them (and the bass) sound good .. vocals, keys, and guitars in the mains ...

if the guitar amps have a line out, they can be used to feed the PA's 1/4quot; quot;Hi Zquot; inputs ... standard guitar cables are fine if the length isnt too far ... but it usually doesnt sound as good as micing the guitar cab (SM-57, straight in, a few inches off the grill, slightly off center) and feeding the mic into to quot;lo zquot; xlr input ... do NOT use an extension SPEAKER OUTPUT from the amp to feed the PA input as you will fry things quickly ...hope this helps
good luck
t4d

Great info, thanks t4d!!

Best to use direct boxes for hooking up amps with direct outs - this will eliminate any hum (which always seems to happen) when you use unbalanced cables (1/4 inch), the direct boxes will take the unbalanced signal and balance it - the output out of the direct box will be a XLR connector (like a microphone) and won't have issues with hum. Most direct boxes will have a ground pad lift so you can optomize the balanced output (kind of like what a phase switch did for old amplifiers with two prong plugs). It sounds confusing but it isn't - direct boxes can be had for about $30.00.

those little yamaha PA's work pretty well.

doh! yea, what was i thinkin' ... riffraff is right .. i even USE one of these DI boxes to go 1/4quot; to XLR for my synth ... definitely cuts noise ...

mic'ing is still the best tone producer ...

cheers
t4d