I have a friend who is a great singer/songwriter that I get to play guitar for every once in awhile - Valerie McQueen Music, if you want to check out her tracks. The shows are usually a microphone and a guitar, maybe two mics/two guitars at most. It's always tricky to figure out a PA system for this kind of thing, especially since we've sort of pieced it together the last few times.
So I thought I'd put together a quick list of PA system solutions that work for this type of setup: One or two mics, and one or two acoustic guitars. It will include some pro audio gear that we've used and a few things I plan to buy.
Hopefully this is helpful to folks in a similar situation.
System | NAME | Shop |
|---|---|---|
 | Bose S1 Pro Plus | |
 | Fender Passport Venue | |
 | Mackie ShowBox |
Dead Simple Solution: Bose S1 Pro Plus
This is what I use at my home office/studio and have used at small venues as well. I've done a full review, which you can checkout here if it's helpful. This is basically a powered speaker with two inputs that can each handle an instrument or microphone. The PLUS version even has a wireless guitar connection that you can buy separately.
The Bose S1 Pro Plus is one of the most portable and simplest solutions for a singer and guitar.
And here are the controls and features to be aware of: You have two inputs that can be either instrument or microphone (TRS or XLR cables) and the two controls for each channel that double as volume and EQ. One sidenote feature: It can be charged and run off battery power, which works great.
Two inputs that can be mic or instrument, then a volume and EQ control for both channels.
While it would be nice to have two of these (which is still fairly affordable), you can easily get away with one in a small venue. It's pretty loud.
More Instruments/Mics: Fender Passport Venue
This setup is a lot more comprehensive than the Bose speaker, but doesn't have quite the same "quality feel" which I guess is hard to quantify. But I'd recommend the Passport if you need more channels and more flexibility, since this actually has two speakers and its own powered mixer. It's all powered and you have 5 mic/instrument inputs with 2 extra instrument inputs.
If you don't need the extra channels, going with something like this isn't necessary. Granted, the pricing is pretty decent and cheaper than buying two Bose S1s.
The Fender Passport Venue bundles everything and gives you more channels to work with, along with a more comprehensive mixing interface. It's a good option if you think you might need to expand or use extra channels, maybe for two guitars and two mics.
Simple with More Control: Mackie ShowBox
This is my favorite of the three and one that I plan on buying. It has a small control board that can actually be mounted to a mic stand, with four total channels: Two mics and two instrument inputs.
Nice balance between portability and flexibility. It's definitely my favorite from this list.
I really like how you can control this, including channel levels, a three-band EQ, chorus, reverb, and compression with an external controller. It even includes fuzz, delay, and distortion. You might not need these for an acoustic guitar, but having a small mixer/controller that you can attach to your mic stand is worth it.
Questions?
If you've got questions about these setups, I'll do my best to help out. I also have a couple buddies that are really good with pro audio that I can send to the comments section for more technical stuff that I might not be as informed on. Hopefully you've found this helpful and you can get all set up for some great sounding live sets. Thanks for trusting our content.
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Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pro Audio & Roundups
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pro Audio & Roundups
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