Battery powered for ABG?

#21
From something I posted about a year ago:
"For self-contained battery powered options, you may take a look at Alto. I brought a used Uber LT just to keep up with a couple acoustic guitars, for camping at an outdoor show, recently and it did fine. The tone was nothing to write home about, not did I expect to be. Were I purchasing again and look at new equipment, I might consider the Uber FX, as it has some tone controls, but would have the same low expectations as with any amp of this size."
 
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#23
-Asdfgh- said:
There are some acoustic guitars along those lines but it would be a bit like putting a ship in a bottle, I think. And feedback might be an issue
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Some of the modern Bluetooth speakers have very surprising performance capabilities and all include dsp that could be tailored to notch out feedback.
I think weight might be a bit of an issue but maybe not.
 
#24
trevcda said:
From something I posted about a year ago:
"For self-contained battery powered options, you may take a look at Alto. I brought a used Uber LT just to keep up with a couple acoustic guitars, for camping at an outdoor show, recently and it did fine. The tone was nothing to write home about, not did I expect to be. Were I purchasing again and look at new equipment, I might consider the Uber FX, as it has some tone controls, but would have the same low expectations as with any amp of this size."
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Doesn't the Alto require TRS input?
 
#25
I've been using one of these for five years-ish for folk club nights and camping. It does the job and will get you to the level of a couple of strummed acoustics no problem.
After a couple of goes I left the ABG at home and just take a P Bass! :laugh: There are larger versions available. A good 2 to 3 hours is the usual from a full charge I find. Significantly more if you turn it off when you aren't playing!

 
#28
i think you could theoretically run a SVT off of a jackery 1000wh for over an hour. In all seriousness, i definitely recommend considering a standalone battery like jackery, bluetti, eco flow, etc. that way you can play any amp you want, that you already know sounds good, as well as your friends amp, charge your phone, and plug in the christmas lights. plus theyre great for emergency power outages and camping trips.
 
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#29
blastoff said:
i think you could theoretically run a SVT off of a jackery 1000wh for over an hour. In all seriousness, i definitely recommend considering a standalone battery like jackery, bluetti, eco flow, etc. that way you can play any amp you want, that you already know sounds good, as well as your friends amp, charge your phone, and plug in the christmas lights. plus theyre great for emergency power outages and camping trips.
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I second using a battery station. I love my GK1001RBii and Mesa Subway 215 enough to take them with a Pecron station to gigs with suspect or no power. No compromises other than the weight. 2000w/h goes a long way in sound production and can back up the house without troubles or exhaust noise.
 
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#30
#31
In 1980 I played electric bass in the high school marching band. I had a Fender Bassman 70 with a 2x15 enclosure. In the stands we used AC power. In order to play on the field we built a cart out of angle iron with bicycle wheels that supported the amp, cab, a marine deep cycle 12 volt battery, and a power inverter. I “marched” with the drum line while another kid pushed the cart. It was loud enough to be heard from the fifty yard line to the back of the stands (I had a solo so I know). Surprisingly, it worked. I used that amp many years afterward. My point is that was with 40 year old technology. I would imagine that a reasonably capable modern solid state amp paired with todays inverters and a rechargeable battery pack should work quite well. Or seek out a rechargeable all in one power supply as mentioned above.
 
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#32
With my acoustic bass ukes, I use a Blackstar Fly3 Duo Bass ($130 US) that uses six AA batteries, 6w with two 3" speaker boxes for roaming hospital rooms with a couple of other uke players. I've also used it sitting in a park with six or so acoustic guitars not amplified. I wouldn't use it for anything more.

My go to amp for most gigs is a Phil Jones Double Four 70w with laptop battery, total of about $500 US.

For really large gigs, I have a Carvin MB15 Combo amp, 15" neo speaker, 200w and matching 115MBE cabinet for 250w ($805), to which I use a Powkey battery, $1000 US.
 
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#34
Depending on how much weight you want to carry around a small car battery and inverter could run an amp for a long while. Our marching band in the 90’s did this to make use of a keyboard. College marching bands also do this to run the fans on vibraphones as well. With battery capacity increased over the years and electronics getting smaller, I imagine this method would be much less burdening.
 
#35
jnewmark said:
I would like to see some pics of PJ Double Four with attached batteries.
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This battery will slip into the handle on the side. I don't believe they make these anymore, but there are newer better options now.
 
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#39
I tested my amps into one of my PA speakers (1x12, basic stuff). It sounded pretty reasonable and balanced. I may try graphing it in REW another day. One of them is 28lbs, plus I have the bags. I might be able to build a battery-powered amp of moderate wattage from relatively cheap components. Why the PA speaker? It's all plastic and it's going to be much more weatherproof than a rat fur covered bass cab and the handles are much better for more mobile use if I am not using a trolley. Something similar but smaller might be even more convenient at low volumes and might have reuse value in other situations.
 
#40
So I opted for a Kinsman 45. 45 Watts of some measurement metric into a 6.5" speaker. It's a little bass shy for bass (not unexpected) but based on home use should work for a range of outdoor performances where being off grid may be required. It's not going to rattle any windows.

I picked it as it looks better than the majority of options and was on sale and it's sufficiently compact to be useful, although that's obviously a compromise. And it was on sale.

It runs off AA batteries. If it turns out that sound is compromised with that power source I'll look at an external battery as that's on the list to get for other reasons. AA is convenient compared to an inbuilt battery in the sense I can change batteries to extend time. But since it uses a DC wall wart, external battery packs are a simple option I trust more than trying to use a conventional amp and an inverter.

Time will tell if it is sufficient.
 
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