Recommend me a mixer

[franzbassist]

Hello all

The lead singer in my band is a bit of a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the following instruments at most gigs:

2 x Acoustic Guitars, 1 x Resonator and 1 Mandolin, each of which have active preamps in them
1 x Banjo, which has a passive limpet pickup on the skin

These all go direct into the PA mixer, so obviously take up a lot of channels (which are at a premium) and are a real fuss to set up given the amount of leads strewn all over the place, and especially the varying gain levels involved, so we were wondering about giving him a mini-mixer to use on stage.

So, the question is, can anyone recommend a 5 or 6 channel mixer that has 1/4" jack inputs and, ideally, mute buttons for each channel? We're not looking to spend huge money on this, maybe £150ish, but any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers

Gareth

[chrisd24]

The front man in my band uses a similar setup, acoustic guitar,tenor banjo,five string banjo,fiddle and he go's through a little behringer mixer and uses a planet waves lead for each one with the mute switch on each head of the leads so he can mute each instrument not in use, i know that some behringer kit gets a bit of a bad rap but this thing seems pretty bullet proof and the sounds he gets from the onboard effects always sound really good, and you can pick them up for about 60 quid.

[Alien]

How about one of these?

[url="http://www.dv247.com/mixers/behringer-xenyx-1002b--61693"]http://www.dv247.com/mixers/behringer-xenyx-1002b--61693[/url]

Everything you need bar the channel mutes.

I know Behringer stuff gets a bit of a bad rap, but their mixers are usually pretty solid.

A

[xgsjx]

We have one of [url="http://www.bestdigitalmarket.com/view/index/product/Alesis-iMultiMix-8-USB-Professional-Mixer-p-620/source/FROOGLE/kwd/Alesis+iMultiMix+8+USB+Professional+Mixer"]these[/url] & is handy if you want to record everything to your ipod.
They also do it without the dock [url="http://www.dv247.com/mixers/alesis-multimix-8-usb-1-1-compact-tabletop-usb-mixer--38096"]here[/url]

[franzbassist]

Thanks guys, the muting leads is a great idea!

I think we'd want input gain control on each channel too.

[cheddatom]

the mixer alien linked has input gain controls - it looks good for what you need!

[Owen]

The only issue here is that if you are plugging unbuffered piezo pick-ups into a desk they are going to sound thin and nasty. If this is not going to be an issue then please ignore this

[Happy Jack]

No argument with any of the suggestions above, but I'd also suggest that he looks at [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_rx_1202_fx.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_rx_1202_fx.htm[/url]

Stick it in a 4U Gator case, and he can stack it on his rig when playing, then leave the leads plugged in and coil them into the case for easy set up & break down.

I use one of these as my band's main on-stage mixer and I've had no problems with it at all.

The on-board FX are not great, but they're perfectly adequate to "flavour" the sound if that's needed. You get XLR and 1/4" jack for all channels, there are two pairs for stereo, etc. etc.

[dan670844]

[quote name='walbassist' post='863023' date='Jun 10 2010, 10:37 AM']Hello all

The lead singer in my band is a bit of a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the following instruments at most gigs:

2 x Acoustic Guitars, 1 x Resonator and 1 Mandolin, each of which have active preamps in them
1 x Banjo, which has a passive limpet pickup on the skin

These all go direct into the PA mixer, so obviously take up a lot of channels (which are at a premium) and are a real fuss to set up given the amount of leads strewn all over the place, and especially the varying gain levels involved, so we were wondering about giving him a mini-mixer to use on stage.

So, the question is, can anyone recommend a 5 or 6 channel mixer that has 1/4" jack inputs and, ideally, mute buttons for each channel? We're not looking to spend huge money on this, maybe £150ish, but any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers

Gareth[/quote]

Those little behringers are pretty good, but check out the soundcraft mixers, they are much better made with a metal chassis and the preamps are a million times better, for a few more beans you get a much better sound
Dan

[BassBod]

Have a look at Award/Session - the amp maker (who doesn't seem to make amps anymore??). He used to make a good little 4 input mixer/buffer box.

Edit - called a MixMatch and still on the website....

Edited June 15, 2010 by BassBod

[franzbassist]

[quote name='BassBod' post='868412' date='Jun 15 2010, 08:52 PM']Have a look at Award/Session - the amp maker (who doesn't seem to make amps anymore??). He used to make a good little 4 input mixer/buffer box.

Edit - called a MixMatch and still on the website....[/quote]

Just got the last one to be made, and it's perfect for what we what. Good call Duncan!!!!

[BassBod]

Thought it would do the job - although it seems they are making less and less as time goes on? Their acoustic preamp/DI is also a really good product, but a friend of mine tried to buy one a few weeks ago and got the impression it wasn't still in production - shame.