Last night I did a show with a band I've been working with for awhile now. New room for me. The walls and ceiling were tongue and groove wood paneling with a tile floor. My PA is JBL PRX635s over QSC 181is. The problem I've been having for a awhile now is with the lead vocal. Previously I have had issue with his mic feeding back in the mains. In other venues, I have been able to zero in on the offending frequency and tame quickly. (He uses in-ears just for himself, so the monitors might not be the problem. He is using an EV ND767. He runs it through three TC pedals and split the signal to me.) Last night was a different story. I had less headroom than normal. I had him bypass all his pedals and send me a signal direct. It helped a little. I also believe he wasn't feeling well , but wouldn't admit it. We tried different mics; Audix OM2 and a Blue mic (don't know the model #) The Audix had the best result. My gut says that this was a no-win situation and I should chalk it up to experience, but we're going to be there again in a few months and I need some advice with taming this thing.
If he insists on using his pedals, what can I do eliminate this for good? The first thing I think I'll check is the gain structure of his "chain". I didn't have time to go through it last night. The second thing I might do is insist he gives me his dry signal and keep those "effects" just in his ears. the third thing I might do as a last resort, is to have them do their own sound in that room. I was only putting Kick and vocals through the PA anyway. They've done their own sound there before so that might be an option.
What do you guys think about this?
John