Hey all, as you can see I'm lost again in this vast world of musical knowledge :o
This time my question is more gear based. Basically my band is coming out of our school induced hiatus for the summer and we are starting to bust out some of our first originals. We have the guitars, drums, bass, and amps, but we are kind of missing microphone equipment. We have some money to throw towards that so what kind of equipment would suit us as far as playing in the garage and local shows go? Any particular amps/mic setups that would be good for a progressive rock with some metal influence kind of band? What would a basic setup be for, say, 3 or 4 mics since each member plans to have some vocal duties? :)

Shure SM58 mics. Best vocal mic around. Tough, good sound and cheap. Lots of decent PA's around cheap. Will you be miking any instruments or vocals only?

Shure SM58 mics. Best vocal mic around. Tough, good sound and cheap. Lots of decent PA's around cheap. Will you be miking any instruments or vocals only?

For now just vocals, we are probably only going to do really small venues and backyard shows for awhile, thanks for the recommendation! :)

+1 for shure mics.

for small or outdoor gigs, i just run my mic into an old 15 watt yamaha amp. normally just a cheap beginner guitar amp, but the speaker is deteriorating. this causes some extra fuzz and distortion. kinda useless as a guitar amp (clean tones are horrible) but i love what it does to my voice. it's not extreme, like a distortion pedal. it's fairly subtle, and is easily controlled by the volume of my singing. the louder i get, the more it breaks up. i just love it. the only downside is that i know the speaker could blow any day now.

so my advice? experiment with the cheap stuff before you shell out a ton of cash for something like a PA system. although, if you're using 4 mics, maybe it would be a good idea to find a less expensive PA, instead of buying 4 cheap guitar amps.

anyone with more knowledge on PA systems that could give him some ballpark prices?

Get a Behringer mixer, 12 inputs $100 brand new...and a couple of powered speakers on sticks. A great start for low bucks. Sure 57's or 58 microphones. I'd look for used speakers. Bands break up, sell 'em cheap.

If you shop well, you should be able to do what you need to do for about $1,000. The mics are about $100 each and you should be able to buy a small portable PA for $600-$700. You are probably best, at this price range, to buy an all-in-one powered mixer with effects. For effects, you primarily need a delay. Reverb works but for PA use, it gets lost in the mix whereas delay with stay with you in a noisy room.

If it is an option, don't go shy on power. We aren't talking about a guitar amp here and power = clean headroom. You can't go too big with the power amp and these days, solid state power is out there at giveaway prices.

For speakers, given that you are dealing with small to medium rooms, a cabinet on each side of the stage with at least 1-12" speak and a tweeter horn will be necessary. This is also inexpensive and you can buy these NEW for $200 each. Do not use just one. Your vocals are the main part of your band unless you are an instrumental band. A single speaker creates a "point source" and you do not want this. The use of a speaker on each side of the stage is a must.

Stereo on the effects is nice but not necessary. A powered monitor is nice but not necessary with a small band. If you can resist the urge to play too loud (one of the marks of a pro) the main speakers can be placed slightly behind the vocalists, off to the sides of course and they will experience enough spillover that monitors are unnecessary.

I hope this helps and good luck!

All great suggestions, thank you all!

Get a Behringer mixer, 12 inputs $100 brand new...and a couple of powered speakers on sticks. A great start for low bucks. Sure 57's or 58 microphones. I'd look for used speakers. Bands break up, sell 'em cheap.

JBL Eons. Good little powered speakers.

Just beware. For whatever reason, Shure SM58s (and 57s as well) are being faked a lot out there on net (i.e cheap knocoff sold as real thing at real price).

So after looking around I'm thinking of going with a Behringer XENYX X1832USB mixer as I was able to find one for $200.

http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/71180_l.jpg

Our drummer informed me that we don't need to spend any money on microphones as he has a ton of em :D As for speakers, anyone know of any pair that I can get in the $200 range? I found a couple of different ones on amazon and craigslist but I'm not entirely sure about them. Could I get a second opinion or further suggestions?

http://www.amazon.com/Seismic-Audio-Speakers-Monitors-Churches/dp/B001BBTV7U/ref=sr_1_248?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1339665809&sr=1-248

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msg/3076489206.html