Running mic through guitar amp?

Astronomer · 09-30-2010, 05:00 AM

Hey guys quick question,
My band is playing a gig at this dude's party and it's going to be a really ghetto setup in his backyard. There's no PA and we don't own any professional equipment or anything... We've got everything sorted apart from our mics (for vox), which we'll probably just run through a spare guitar amp that we have. My question is, is it possible to run two mics through a guitar amp or will it be overkill? It's not an overly powerful amp or anything (I forget how many watts!) AND if it is possible to run two mics through the one amp how do you do this, can you buy some kind of adaptor that allows you to plug two in?
Sorry for being such a dumbass but I completely suck at technical shit!

Nicofiery · 09-30-2010, 10:01 AM

ha. im no techie myself, and although ive never tried running a mic through a guitar amp, i guess in theory it could be done with an xlr to jack. which probably means using a jack splitter out of the amp and putting 2 mics (with xlr to jack cables) into the splitter would work?

I would have thought that gain on the mics might be a pain tho. defo try it out before you hit the road.

mr dave · 09-30-2010, 04:06 PM

yeah, it can be done, but it's going to suck.

like Nicofiery said you can get a pair of adapters XLR Female To 1/4-inch Male Connector and a Y splitter Y Cable - 1/4 in. M to 2 1/4 in. F

thing is - any time i've tried running multiple devices into a single amp using the Y cable one side was always VERY dominant over the other. using it to squeeze two elements into one output is actually the opposite of what it's intended to do. it might be fine for lead and backup vocals so long as there isn't much variance in what's supposed to be heard.

though it's more likely to end up sounding like a cheap homemade chorus / reverb effect and if you need distinct interplay between the voices i think you're in trouble with this plan.

it never hurts to give it a try though. at the same time it's usually not 'that' expensive to rent a PA for a weekend (the initial deposit is the most painful $ part). and you're entire band will sound way better.

Astronomer · 10-01-2010, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

yeah, it can be done, but it's going to suck.

like Nicofiery said you can get a pair of adapters XLR Female To 1/4-inch Male Connector and a Y splitter Y Cable - 1/4 in. M to 2 1/4 in. F

thing is - any time i've tried running multiple devices into a single amp using the Y cable one side was always VERY dominant over the other. using it to squeeze two elements into one output is actually the opposite of what it's intended to do. it might be fine for lead and backup vocals so long as there isn't much variance in what's supposed to be heard.

though it's more likely to end up sounding like a cheap homemade chorus / reverb effect and if you need distinct interplay between the voices i think you're in trouble with this plan.

it never hurts to give it a try though. at the same time it's usually not 'that' expensive to rent a PA for a weekend (the initial deposit is the most painful $ part). and you're entire band will sound way better.

Thanks mr dave!

It's for lead vocals and backup vocals, so it might be fine. We only need one MAIN mic for our singer, the rest is purely backups. But at the same time like you said it might end up sounding ****. We might give it a go and see how it sounds... we're not too fussed really as we're not professional musicians really. But all that info helps a lot!

Thanks!

mr dave · 10-01-2010, 12:43 PM

yeah definitely try it out before you show up for the gig hehehe it 'might' actually be sufficient, but for $100 you could also score a used mixer on craigslist / kijiji and sound infinitely better. even if it is just running through a guitar amp for now.

iefranged · 10-02-2010, 04:08 AM

Hey, i've been using mic through amp but lets say that the sound quality is decent but not impressive: /.. as mr dave said, if you can, get a mixer in between: )

motorhead8 · 11-04-2010, 01:31 PM

Radioshack has a $30 stereo mixer that mixes up to 4 mics, plus an aux stereo input -- all with individual volume controls -- into one single stereo output. You can plug your mics through the mixer, then plug the mixer into the amp. You'll probably need a Y Adapter (RCA stereo-to-1/4" plug) It should sound OK, if the room is not too large. Otherwise, you'll need a monitor pointed at you, because the sound-stage will be out of phase and you won't be able to "hear" yourselves and the sound will get a little confusing.

HKz · 11-16-2010, 04:07 AM

Yes it can be done, but it will get distorted. I have tried this myself with a friend when we were practicing for a concert. It was terrible, but luckily we were able to swap it out.

Astronomer · 11-16-2010, 08:43 PM

Good news is that I've borrowed some equipment of a slightly more 'professional' band I know, so we've got a PA and stuff now and it'll all work out fine. Thanks anyway for the advice guys!

09-30-2010, 05:00 AM	#1 (permalink)
Astronomer we are stardust Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,894	Running mic through guitar amp? Hey guys quick question, My band is playing a gig at this dude's party and it's going to be a really ghetto setup in his backyard. There's no PA and we don't own any professional equipment or anything... We've got everything sorted apart from our mics (for vox), which we'll probably just run through a spare guitar amp that we have. My question is, is it possible to run two mics through a guitar amp or will it be overkill? It's not an overly powerful amp or anything (I forget how many watts!) AND if it is possible to run two mics through the one amp how do you do this, can you buy some kind of adaptor that allows you to plug two in? Sorry for being such a dumbass but I completely suck at technical shit! __________________

11-04-2010, 01:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
motorhead8 Groupie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1	Run your mic through a cheap mixer... Radioshack has a $30 stereo mixer that mixes up to 4 mics, plus an aux stereo input -- all with individual volume controls -- into one single stereo output. You can plug your mics through the mixer, then plug the mixer into the amp. You'll probably need a Y Adapter (RCA stereo-to-1/4" plug) It should sound OK, if the room is not too large. Otherwise, you'll need a monitor pointed at you, because the sound-stage will be out of phase and you won't be able to "hear" yourselves and the sound will get a little confusing.

11-16-2010, 08:43 PM	#9 (permalink)
Astronomer we are stardust Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,894	Good news is that I've borrowed some equipment of a slightly more 'professional' band I know, so we've got a PA and stuff now and it'll all work out fine. Thanks anyway for the advice guys! __________________

09-30-2010, 10:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
Nicofiery Groupie Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Surrey UK Posts: 2	ha. im no techie myself, and although ive never tried running a mic through a guitar amp, i guess in theory it could be done with an xlr to jack. which probably means using a jack splitter out of the amp and putting 2 mics (with xlr to jack cables) into the splitter would work? I would have thought that gain on the mics might be a pain tho. defo try it out before you hit the road.

10-02-2010, 04:08 AM	#6 (permalink)
iefranged Groupie Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 4	Hey, i've been using mic through amp but lets say that the sound quality is decent but not impressive: /.. as mr dave said, if you can, get a mixer in between: )

11-16-2010, 04:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
HKz Groupie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 7	Yes it can be done, but it will get distorted. I have tried this myself with a friend when we were practicing for a concert. It was terrible, but luckily we were able to swap it out.