Minimum band gear for small gigs

What is considered a small gig?

A small gig is any type of gig, indoors or outdoors, typically for not more than 50-100 people.

A small PA with only 2 full-range speakers is more than enough for outdoor gigs if you are not a loud band playing heavy metal or a similar genre where you need hard-rockin’ drums. All small indoor gigs can be played with only one pair of speakers, as long as it’s in a small pub or in a coffee shop.

Small gigs venue examples:

• Coffee shops
• Small pubs
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Autocamps
• Street busking

What gear does a band need for a gig?

At the beginning of a band’s career, every musician is focused on their personal gear. That’s all it takes for rehearsals. For singers, it’s different. They can’t just plug a microphone into a guitar or bass amp. But, they could use a keyboard or acoustic guitar amp for rehearsals. That’s because those amps are designed to produce a much broader frequency spectrum than a guitar amp.

What is the singer’s amp called? A public address system. A PA is a full-range frequency system. That is what a singer needs to be heard, as well as the rest of the band in most cases.

Essential band gear: A band needs all its instruments with amps plus a PA.

Minimum band gear for small gigs

1. Guitar

You need one guitar. How many times did your guitar stop working or get broken during a gig? A small pedalboard or multi-effects is all you need to make your guitar sound great. A small combo guitar amplifier with an 8 or 10-inch speaker is more than enough for most small gigs. 

If you insist on using a valve amp, more than 10 to 15 watts is unnecessary. All essential accessories like tuners, picks, strings, and batteries can fit in your guitar’s gig bag.

That’s it: Guitar in a gig bag, effects, and a small amp.

2. Bass

A very simple setup is needed for bassists when playing small gigs. Besides the bass guitar, you will need a small 8 to 10-inch speaker amp which is more than enough.

The bass guitar can be simply plugged into the amp or if you want better sound and control, a preamp with a DI and a compressor are used very often.

The minimum for bass is actually plugging the bass guitar directly into the mixer. Then you either need a monitor with an 8-inch speaker minimum or in-ear monitoring.

3. Drums

Drums are the biggest instrument in the band. Not only is the whole thing big but there are many pieces that the kit can consist of. For small gigs, we don’t need all of them.

The minimum complete drum kit:

• Bass drum
• Snare
• One tom
• Floor tom
• Hi-hat
• Ride cymbal

Some gigs can be played with only the snare drum and brushes, it all depends on the type of gig. If your band plays an acoustic gig in a bar a cajun could be the best choice.

4. Keyboards

One keyboard on a stand is the minimum for small gigs. If the keyboard player doesn’t have a monitor nearby a small keyboard amplifier is needed.

5. Vocals

All vocalists need is in the next part, where we talk about PAs. 

6. Public address

Ok, so we’ve come to the main gear a band needs for small gigs, The PA. There are two slightly different situations when playing small gigs. One is where every instrument gets amplified through the PA and the second is where only some instruments need to be heard through the PA. If you don’t need to mic the drums you can use smaller-sized speakers. When playing small bars sometimes you will use the PA only for vocals.

If you need the drums to be mic’d and are using only one pair of speakers you can get it done with 12-inch speakers. But only if you play not-to-loud small gigs.

My band plays covers from the 50’ & the 60’s. The styles we play most are rockabilly, rock ‘n’ roll, swing, surf, and so on. The venues are mostly hotels and camps during the summer and small clubs and caffės during winter. We use subs only for bigger outdoor gigs.

Best PA configuration for small gigs:

• Small 8 to 12-channel mixer
• 2 active 8 to 12-inch speakers (size depending on the type of band and venue) + stands
• A couple of microphones with stands (vocals, guitar amp, drums)
• One or two very small active monitors (or in-ear monitors)

Column-typed PAs have become very popular over the last few years, and they are getting better and better. They are designed in a way that eliminates the need for monitors due to no feedback issues. They are placed behind the band so they act as a PA and a monitoring system.

7. Lights

A T-bar Light stand with 2 to 4 flat LED par lights or a couple of lights placed on the floor will be enough for your small gigs.

Conclusion

Small gigs can be played with very small, but effective gear. We should also consider using less gear for small gigs. There is no need for taking huge amps, large drum sets, multiple guitars, or two keyboards to a gig when there is not enough space for everything in the first place. A small gig setup is what we are aiming for at Easymusicgig.com.

If you gig frequently, keeping things simple, small, and lightweight will help you keep fit so you can focus on your playing rather than being tired all the time. Check out for new musical gear that is small, easy to use, but still of good quality. Many times small gear is more expensive than their bigger cousins, but in the end, you will be gigging easier than before.