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My grand-daughter sings and plays keys and wants a small light powerful system she can easily set up to busk or do cafe style gigs etc.

She is inheriting two J110s of mine.

So she needs an amp and mixer. There'd be about 4 inputs max - keys, mic, guitar and room for another mic.

My dilemma is should I go for a separate amp and a little 4 channel mixer, or should I go for one of those amp/mixers in a cube sized box? And then what brand/type would be suitable. I'm not wanting to invest in Rolls Royce equipment, but I don't want crap either*.

Suggestions please

* yes I realise there's the obvious oxymoron staring me in the face with the RR/Airbus engines

Yamaha powered mixer.

for myself, I prefer separate mixer and amp but that's just me.

For simplicities sake as well as portability I'd advise one of those powered mixers you are referring to! I don't know what specific brand to recommend, but in general the good stuff is more expensive than the mediocre stuff ::thumbs up:: I'd be inclined to check the local craigslist, people are always selling this kind of thing and todays market means you can probably get something for a darn good price.

LEVLHED wrote:I'd be inclined to check the local craigslist, people are always selling this kind of thing and todays market .

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately we don't have Craig's list here and the local equivalent of eBay which is called TradeMe NZ is just a rip-off joke.

Well it's good to know there is at least one disadvantage to living in such a spectacular and beautiful country.

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Yamaha powered mixer.

+1, This is a favorite of mine as running a small powered mixer makes everything MUCH simpler whether it is running a show, practicing, or just music playback. I've used a behringer for over year and a half it, seriously, it is the piece of gear that gets the MOST use by far.

PS. Just make sure it's one of the new yamaha's with the built in compressor; VERY handy.

Keep it cheap, keep it simple.

Each band needs to learn what they need from equipment. I had a Yamaha emx2000 for many years, was my first mixer and amp. Worked really well for me but didn't know how to use it at the time.

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Yamaha powered mixer.

+1 or a Peavey.

Much easier to teach her to use an all-in-one instead of components. No cabling issues and they are making them lighter all the time. Stay away from the Altos, Behringers, and the other cheap junk out there. Buy a used Yamaha or Peavey before buying new junk.

Bruce Weldy wrote:

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Yamaha powered mixer.

+1 or a Peavey.

Much easier to teach her to use an all-in-one instead of components. No cabling issues and they are making them lighter all the time. Stay away from the Altos, Behringers, and the other cheap junk out there. Buy a used Yamaha or Peavey before buying new junk.

I've had my hands on a couple of ancient Peavey powered mixers for about 5 nights of use. Boat anchor heavy, but easy to use.

My suggestion is to stay as far away as possible from that "effects" dial. Too easy to goof it up.

Yamaha or Peavey are most predictable and likely available. Were you in North America, I might suggest Yorkville Sound stuff which has real reliable gear that can be beat upon and still function. Yes, you can get something that might sound better than Peavey, but you will be hard pressed to find something that reliable without paying an absurd multiple.

I love Yamaha gear and own some and use some at the church where I work. But, I have a 20+ year old Peavey XR600 that never fails to power up. When I'm doing a quickie duo or something like that - the Peavey and a couple of speakers on poles sounds just fine. I think I paid $125 for it used 15 years ago. That was one of the better purchase decisions I've ever made.

And I can teach a newbie how to run it in about 10 minutes.....this switch makes it GO and this knob makes it LOUD.

Bruce Weldy wrote:
And I can teach a newbie how to run it in about 10 minutes.....this switch makes it GO and this knob makes it LOUD.

If only mic'ing everything and running my subs and tops were this easy, I could actually rent my damn gear

SeisTres wrote:

Bruce Weldy wrote:
And I can teach a newbie how to run it in about 10 minutes.....this switch makes it GO and this knob makes it LOUD.

If only mic'ing everything and running my subs and tops were this easy, I could actually rent my damn gear

Ha! I get all nervous when the guys in the band touch the gear....couldn't imagine renting it out!

Thanks everyone - Yamaha or Peavey powered mixer, preferably second hand and in good nick seems the way to go.

Bruce Weldy wrote:I love Yamaha gear and own some and use some at the church where I work. But, I have a 20+ year old Peavey XR600 that never fails to power up.

They keep breaking the damn knobs off the faders on mine. But it's made me a pile of money in rental. But they yanked the tape loop rca inputs one too many times, and broke the board where they mount one too many times. I may have to retire mine.