Hi. My band has been going for a while but we're wanting to step it up into the big leagues now, and prepare for gigs.

We currently have no way of making our singer heard at practice. Although this will be catered for at gig venues, we basically need a way of amplifying 1-2 microphones so they can be heard above the guitars and my drums, when we're rehearsing.

What's the best option from a budget and practicality view, do you think? Chances are it'll just be, like I said, for practice and nothing more, so we don't need professional gear.

The guitarists are looking at buying new amplifiers. Can you get amps that you can also use to amplify vocals at the same time as a guitar (as I said we're very new at all this stuff, sorry), or do we need to buy a small PA system for vocals?

Any ideas would be great.

(sorry if this is in the wrong board)

I agree with chill. Invest in a small PA mixer and a pair of speakers. My band uses the following;


A Soundcraft GigRac 600 and a pair of these SoundTech ST15s;

I liked the sound of these so much I bought 6 of them! I use the other 4 speakers as floor monitors for our main PA rig.
Loud enough to hear the vocals at practice and can even be the main PA at very small gigs. I also use this rig for my church's Sunrise Service. I bring the preacher's wireless mic and hook it all up to one of these;


With THAT rig you can do a live PA ANYWHERE you want! 
We can also use this rig as a seprate monitor rig in situations that require more than we normally use. It's a very versital little system. Sound great, and it's suprisingly affordable!

By the way, the little generator is graciously provided by the radio stations I work for during the church service. It's the most expensive part! About $1000.00! You can get the speakers and GigRac for less than that!

If you guys are short on cash but know someone with woodworking skills, check out www.billfitzmaurice.com

His designs work well and the little Wedgehorns can be built for super cheap.  Their wide dispersion means you could probably get away with only two for practice, and their high efficiency means you can get away with a low power amp like that Gigrac.  I'd prefer to use a used Mackie DFX mixer and a cheap but good used pro amp if money's getting pinched, but the powered head style mixers are convenient.

The Gigrac is the most cost efficient rig around in its size class.  The Gigrac performance and reliability are unquestionable.