Prodigal Son is a 5 member Christian band. We write our own songs and cover bluegrass gospel and have just released our first CD. The members are Dickie (Guitar, flute, harmonica) Ted (guitar/ banjo) Dan (guitar/ mandolin) Joe (Bass/ Guitar) Keith (Banjo/ Guitar). All of us sing.
We use one L1 compact. Channel 1 is used with a Shure SM 58 for Keith on Banjo and guitar. We use 2 Shure SM27 condenser mics spread about 3 feet apart and slightly angled outward from one another. Ted and Dan use one and Dickie the other. We stand about 2 feet back from the mics. We run these two mics through a 4 channel Mackie mixer (to get the 48V Phantom) and use the “tape out” RCA plugs into channel 2. Joe stands behind us and centered about 4 feet away with the upright bass. The L1 compact is about 10 feet away, either to our left or right and slightly forward of the mics (feedback with condensers). We run the volume on channel 2 at about 11 o’clock and about 2 o’clock on the Shure 58 for Keith.
This set up will fill a small church or small coffee house with enough sound to be heard. We even get a little “monitor” sound with the L1 coming back to us, just enough. We are all within 6 or 7 feet of each other anyway. We do not plug any instruments in. We all have high quality acoustic instruments that project nicely. We have Taylor, Huss and Dalton, Rockbridge ( Brian and Randal, Lexington, VA), Hill mandolin (Brad Hill, Haysi, VA), Deering Banjo and Englehart Bass.
We like the ease of set up with the compact L1. We play to listening audiences, so volume is not too much of an issue. We play coffee houses, but we only have to overcome the occasional grinder. We get compliments from managers because we play to a level that the patrons can talk normally.
We have not used this L1 compact very long, but we are impressed so far. I was concerned about the bass sound from this set up, but Joe is 4 feet from the SM27s and we had to trim the bass down a bit. We all were surprised that this little system could pick the bass up so well. We play pure with no amps or pickups or monitors and the compact reproduces our sound very well.
We play about once or twice a week for small venues, so the ease of set up is a big factor for us. I carry the board, the mics and cables in a briefcase, so we have the L1, the briefcase and instruments to carry. That’s it. I can get everything in the rear of my RAV 4 without laying the seats down.
Here is another bonus. When not being used as our PA, I run my CD player into the L1 in the collapsed position for my home stereo. I would say all in all, that the L1 compact is a good buy for a group like ours. We don’t have drums to contend with (we do like drummers, no offense). We don’t play in rowdy places or this would not work at all. We are being heard clearly, not necessarily loud. This is our set up as of now. I think down the road we may try a larger Bose system.
Hi Prodigal Son,
Thanks for using The Sketcher! Here is your Sketch.
– click image to make changes to the live version –
Legend:
L1® Compact
Edit: I swapped in a Compact in the top left corner.