Singers and their equipment

OK fair enough. I still feel a little put out because you know, money I could spend on cymbals but if it's the only way to get a singer then I guess we will have to do it. Think we will have to rent one for a while though because we have all just spent all our money on various bits of equipment for our own instruments.

Still a bit fathomed that we have to spend so much on a PA when all we use it for is to make the singer sound a bit better with some backing. Never thought being in a band would be so expensive. We are going to have to gig for years just to break even (not that I'm in it for the money, would be nice to have my petrol covered though...)

No, the PA is potentially for all of the instruments as well as vocals, depending on the size of the venue. If it is a little hole in the wall place and all you need to do is reinforce is the vocals, then that's one thing, but as soon as you play larger clubs you will sound much better with a quieter stage volume and everything run through the PA.

The guitar amps on stage are for the guitarists/basses to hear themselves, not to blast out into the audience (although a lot of guitarists don't understand that!). I've been on both sides of the issue (drummer as well as sound engineer), and for most clubs I'd rather see a guitarist show up with a single 1x12 or 2x10 combo amp (with a stand to angle it up to point to his ears instead of his knees) than a monster stack of speakers. Having a loud stage volume just isn't necessary and it actually makes it harder to get a good overall sound out of a band.

If you choose to avoid the costs/hassles of renting a PA, then the PA is usually a shared expense or is owned by one person. I own the PA for my band because I'm the gear-head who likes to deal with that sort of thing. I have everything labelled, pre-wired, and preset so we can get everything set up quickly. On our last gig, the singer/acoustic guitarist and I had the PA and monitors completely set up in about 10 minutes (not including mic cables, each band member runs their own).
 
I have everything labelled, pre-wired, and preset so we can get everything set up quickly. On our last gig, the singer/acoustic guitarist and I had the PA and monitors completely set up in about 10 minutes (not including mic cables, each band member runs their own).

that's pretty impressive!
 
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