In theaters and outdoor gigs a new system took over when the initial P.A idea of “the bigger speakers the better” fell on it’s face, it is called line array.

The basics of this technology is that many small speakers in a row spread the sound more evenly than a few big speakers.

Since this technology mainly is needed to control the sound hitting thousands of people, few thought this had anything to do with the small P.A market. Enter HK Audio Elements.

HK Audio Elements

Elements take that huge line array concept and size it down to cover between 50-500 people.

It is lightweight, discrete, fantastic sounding and yes, unfortunately it is expensive.

For a DJ or acoustic duo seeking high quality sound, portability and don’t have a tight budget, two subs, 4 or 6 tops would be enough.

The elements are so feedback resistant you could actually place the speakers behind you, far away and spread the sound evenly across the venue, including hearing yourself.

Perhaps the small line array system is the only way to get rid of monitors? At least you could slim it down to, perhaps in ears for the singer only.

All in all this means a very compact, great sounding and good looking system for the small act.

HK Elements for a band?

For a band, two subs is definitely not enough, 4 however is most of the time, as long as its not a Green Day tribute act!

Should you be doing big corporate work, 6 subs (three on each side) would most likely do the trick.

Due to the scalability of the elements you could really add as many as you need. This way you could do small gigs one night, big gigs the next, using the same system.

Pair the elements with a digital mixer and start saving the presets for different venues and you might not need an engineer in the end!

Rent out HK Elements!

For the band owner who want to invest in a system and get inquiries of renting just the system, the elements could work wonders.

You might have to demonstrate how it works but if you have regular clients, renting out half your elements rig, using the other half yourself might be a great little extra earner.

Elements bad points

I’ve use the elements on many gigs and have found there is only one problem with them: People like leaning on them…

If you can work around that, HK Audio Elements might be your perfect rig!

Electro-Voice started making microphones as early as 1927, over the years the company has expanded into all sorts of musical equipment, most of us know them for their speakers.

These days they are owned by Bosh but keep coming up with new innovative solutions for musicians.

I first came into contact with their speakers in the 80s, covers/function bands I played in where very fond of EV speakers. Usually it was the sx300 which is a 12” in a plastic box, but a plastic box that sounded better than the competition.

Plastic speakers are really handy since they’re light weight and you can throw them in and out of cars without really needing a flight case.

The plastic enclosure concept seem to last for years and EV’s in particular are punchy sounding, yet with great clarity.

Still, in 2012 you’d find the sx300 sell on eBay, new, for £700 a pair, pretty impressive!

With these came eventually a sub called SB122, a 12” that didn’t enjoy the same success the Sx300 did, but the concept was appealing, at least to me!

Why? -Because you loose the need for speaker stands, the footprint become much smaller and you can now run a bass and bass drum through the PA, sound like good news!

12” Subs and bass drums

However, with a 12” you kind of get the “can mainly tell if you take it out” kind of effect. It’s not festival stage kind of sub we produce with these, that’s for sure, but if you’re playing a wedding in a marquee, that’s not what you want anyway.

Because of this, many bands ended up using the SbA760, which is an active 15” sub.

Paired with a couple of sx300’s this would be the setup in competition with Mackie’s SRM450 and SWA1501.

Many might even say that this is what you need for a band, the 12” being more suited for the mobile DJ than band.

In my opinion though, the 12” is all you need. The thing is, the 12” sub is a great concept for the working band, you don’t want a big sounding bass drum, you just want there to be a bass drum present.

The amount of gigs I’ve done with huge P.A subs that were just there for show, with hardly anything running through them is staggering.

Also, the amount of times I’ve played through rigs like that and they’ve been pushed to crazy sound levels, with the party slowly moving towards a corner of the room is probably as common.

In my opinion, there is room for improvement here and guess what has just turned up on the Market from EV, a new 12” sub, active, made to go with their active zx1a, an 8” speaker!

EV Zx1 series

A few years back EV launch their new Zx range, starting at 8”, going up to 15”.

It’s pretty obvious that they are trying to revive the Sx series here, most reviewers have concluded that they have succeeded.

For subs, one or two 760 is the way to go to complement the tops.

Out of the speakers the one that had most praise was the 8”, DJ’s loved it for the booth and with the old SB122 it got paired up as a complete system for DJ’s. Bands probably thought it was too small, I suspect it would work great for a pub band.

Quickly after the release of the Zx series, the active version came on the scene and now the Zxa1 becomes the star of the show, no one could believe the extreme volume this little speaker puts out, everyone and their mum buys one!

Namm 2012 ZxA1-Sub

Last year we got a new sub on the market, specifically tailored for the zxa1, a new 12” sub, this time not built out of plastic, the guy in the video say; “using wood because it handles bass frequencies better”, hinting that this was the problem with the sb122…

Being stack able you could also run 2 of these on each side, giving you 1400w per side, just in the sub, not bad!

The advantage really is in the size here. By being only 12” and 8” speakers you really slim your rig, 2 subs and 2 tops would fit in the back seat of a small car, now that’s a good thing!

Recommended Zxa band PA

For audience between 50-150

2 Zxa1

2 Zxa1-Sub

For audiences between 150-300

4 zxa1

4 zxa1-sub

And let’s face it, this is for a party band, should the party have over 300 guests, call a PA company and ask for a PA with a sound man!

Is the Zx1A the P.A for you?

If you have a small band or duo and thinking of getting a new P.A, try these out, the weight, the price and the performance seem to “punch well over its size” as EV themselves put it.

If you are into renting out PA systems to small bands and events, the question might end up being: how many zx1a speakers do I need?

Well, how many bands do you know who need a PA this Saturday?

Here are 7 iconic amps you might wanna try out before you spend your hard earned cash on a new electric guitar amp.

Fender Super Reverb

Strat lovers look no further! If you and your band mates can cope with the volume and your playing isn’t too messy, then I dare you to put the Fender Super Reverb next to any amp.

The volume, the punch, the feel of this amp when cranked really is something else. On its own the clean is second to none, with a tube screamer you get that Strat – Fender Amp – Tube Screamer sound which many believe you just can’t beat.

Sure, with 4 10” speakers this is not an easy amp to haul around and most sound engineers will hate you, but what can you do, the louder you are, the greater you’ll feel!

Mesa Boogie Mark V

For the tweaker that play all kinds of styles, want everything in one unit and only work with the real thing (valves) the Mesa Boogie Mark V will deliver like no other.

Personally I prefer the head only so I can use different cabs depending on venue but I can definitely see the appeal of putting one of these combos in a flight case and just forget about it.

The are so many ways to tweak the Mark V you could literally have a new experience every time!

Dr z Maz Jr and Sr

The Maz come as Jr and Sr, it’s EL84’s in both (twice as many in Sr) so if you like that power amp sound (also in Mesa Lonestar and Fender Champ) then the Maz might be the ultimate.

The Maz Jr is 18w and according to many purists an 18w EL84 equipped amp is the Holy grail.

If you are shopping for an amp and never tried the EL84 sound you are missing out. No doubt, you need to try this before you put your hard earned cash down on a new amp.

Suhr Badger

Suhr has been making guitars for Scott Henderson and Guthrie Govan for a while now, both these guys are pretty picky so when they start using Suhr amps as well there’s a chance it’ll be the bollocks!

I’ve tried a badger and yes it is the bees knees, the creme de la creme, if you have the cash and are comparing top end amps, you don’t want to miss the Badger!

Vox ac30

Next on our list of 7 iconic amps to try before you buy I have included the Vox AC30. Sure I cold have picked a Matchless, a Bad Cat, Top Hat, Victoria or why not the Dumble Super Overdrive?

Well, the ac30 is the original, one of those amps that everyone else compared their creations to, so if you want to get to the source, this is it. The older the better but also more likely to blow up…

Marshall JTM 45

Temperamental to say the least! The JTM 45 is certainly iconic and if you get a good one, it might be the best amp you ever played through. However, some JTM’s do not sound good at all, why?

Boutique amp makers of today are no doubt winging their hands as they proclaim they can make one that will sound great, but really, you do want the original, don’t you?

Using KT66 or in the really early models, 5881 valves in later models, the JTM 45 was based on the Fender Bassman and later on paved the way for Clapton‘s early favorite, the “Bluesbreaker”, another classic Marshall amp.

DR Z Carmen Ghia

This is my personal favorite, two knobs, 18 watts, I dare you to try this super simple amp and justify why you would buy anything else.

Maybe you don’t want the sound I want, maybe you do. I’ve tried hundreds of amps in my days and for some reason, the Carmen Ghia is my choice, it’s just perfect.

Personally, I would get the head and use an EVM 12L speaker, but hey, that’s just me…

7 iconic amps Conclusion

So which of these 7 amps will you buy? Maybe when you tried all you’ll find a small boutique amp hardly anyone has heard of, but is perfect for you.

Hopefully this quick guide to 7 iconic amps, all being the real deal, will help you along the way!

Good Luck!

I’ve said it before, I try my hardest to not promote bands I like, I want to keep my focus on how to learn guitar, not telling the world about new music.

A few months back I just had to go against this philosophy and tell you about Salt Ashes song Gold, a Brighton solo artist who are making waves with her electronic music in the U.K.

Today I have a debut single and video from a Brighton duo called ‘Cells’ to share with you, why?

Because it’s bloody brilliant, that’s why!

The lyrics of A Time And A Place brilliantly capture the time we live in, enjoy and be sure to see Cells live, catch up with them on their website cellsband or why not buy the song on bandcamp?

A video named Young Girl Kills The Guitar has started to circulate on Facebook.

Is it real or fake? Is this the next big guitar viral?

Who is this girl?

Join the conversation on facebook to find out more. I know I will!

It’s not every Saturday I’m gig less, so when House of Hats played the Brunswick last night under their themed night the Harvest Sessions, I had to go and see what these guys where up to.

The Harvest Sessions now run every 3 months; if you are about in Brighton and Hove do check it out.

The band also travel about so do follow House Of Hats on twitter to find out if and when they come to your area.

About House Of Hats

All three singers are great friends of mine who have all sung for Spytunes, for example: Dream A Little Dream Of Me, Tears In Heaven and Red.

House Of Hats are: Alex Gigante, Noddy Nod Nod (Miss Al Brown) James Kuszewski and Rob Gigante. Find them all on Facebook.com/houseofhats.

In the video you find the end of last Saturday’s gig. Enjoy!

One of the most pleasant musical surprises of 2012 was that Bruno Mars is actually really good. Maybe even cool.

In hindsight, if Mars planned his career, released all those first singles in order to “get the kids” and then planned to release ‘Locked Out Of Heaven‘ to cross over, then he is a genius.

I actually believe he is that clever, I reckon he planned it. After all, he did write ‘Forget You’ and gave it to Cee Lo Green. We all know that worked out pretty well…

At the 2013 Grammy Awards Bruno Mars team up with Sting, Rihanna and Ziggy Marley to pay tribute to one of the greatest artists ever lived; the legendary Bob Marley.

In the video you can hear them first perform Locked Out Of Heaven, as Sting join we soon move in to ‘Walking On The Moon‘, followed by ‘Could You Be Loved’ with Rihanna and Ziggy Marley taking center stage – Enjoy!

Bob Marley help parents calm kids down

Not only artists that attend the Grammy Awards and internet guitar guru’s like me are huge Bob Marley fans, turns out kids love him too!

In this Facebook video we see how parents use Bob Marley’s music to calm a toddler down.

Bob Marley; you clearly rule!

“It’s like a restaurant, if there’s lots of people there – it’s gonna be good food” says Clapton when explaining why he would always go for a worn out neck on a Fender Stratocaster.

Finding several of them, changing necks and probably pickups around, he would essentially build his perfect Strat himself.

Brownie is that early 70s era which has my favorite Eric Clapton album dated at 1974, the outrageously groovy 461 Ocean Boulevard.

Clapton goes on to explain how seeing Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix playing a Strat, this is what made him swap.

Brownie sold at a 1999 auction for $497,000 (the replica is $15,000 – bargain!)

Eric Clapton Martin Guitars

In this video Clapton plays his Martin Signature Guitars. “They’re perfect!” he exclaims.

Bright round and louder and the more basic the better he reflects as he looks at how these guitars are almost too good.

Clapton’s acoustic range seem to be one for the living room, rather than in the back of van, living in a soft case. The problem being, will you ever leave your living room?

“It was always Martin” he remembers as if this was the holy grail of acoustic guitars, when he first saw a D28 it actually seemed to be as if he discovered the grail, “it almost glowed”, he says.

This experience never seem to have left him when it comes to Martin Guitars. A proper players guitar, according to Clapton.

Eric Clapton and Gibson

In the 60′s, before Eric discovered Hendrix, Buddy Guy and the Stratocaster he was a Gibson Les Paul man.

In this video we hear the replica guitar Eric played in the 60s on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, this guitar relates to Eric’s time being obsessed with Freddie King.

Eric also played this on the Beano Album, paired with a Marshall Bluesbraker. Eric played this guitar so much that it “became a part of me”.

As he plays it, it sounds like Eric has started to turn the treble up a bit since then, might be that love affair with Fender Stratocasters that has played a part in this…

I was thinking I should arrange an acoustic version of Gangnam Style as it is one of those songs that took over the world for a while.

However, my lack of Korean singing friends didn’t make this easy but lo and behold, these girls beat me to it!

I think you agree that this is gonna be hard to top!

They even keep the guitar in the shoot all the way through, job done – Enjoy!

This is a first for me, I don’t really promote my friends this heavily, I usually am just very encouraging and say – Yes that great, and it is, but this, this is actually amazing.

Salt Ashes have just posted this song called Gold on soundcloud and I just have to tell everyone to listen to it.

Find out more about Salt Ashes here:

Soundcloud
Facebook
Tumblr
Record Of The Day
Twitter

So without me rambling on, here it is; Gold by Salt Ashes, no guitar in here!

I sincerely hope you like this as much as I do, and if you do, please share it with the world, she deserves it!

-Dan