JSbass

Many thanks for the info. I'll just pop in a Procell Constant, but have a spare ready just in case. It's reassuring to know the battery drain, when the unit is not actually tuning, is very low.

Until recently I've used a clip-on type tuner, but have now bought a Chord CPT-01 tuner pedal, and am working out the best way to power it. It can take a standard 9v battery but also has a mains adapter input. As I don't plan to use any other effects pedals, I'm hoping a simple 9v battery, either alkaline or Li-ion rechargeable will suffice, avoiding the complications of an external supply. I've noticed that the tuner, with no battery or external power supply connected, still allows the signal from bass to amp to pass through perfectly when the pedal's foot switch is set to the off position (tuner function not operating). So am I right in assuming that when a 9v battery is installed, power is only drawn when the foot switch is set to on (tuner function operating), or will the tuner draw power from the battery irrespective of the switch setting, just because an instrument cable is plugged in? The tuner's user manual advises to unplug the instrument cable to avoid unnecessary power consumption, which suggests power is being drawn continuously. I'm hoping that's not the case, and that a simple 9v battery can provide all the power needed for the occasional brief silent tune-up between songs. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Rozi's music always sounds new to me, never predictable.

And from 2007, a wonderful version of 'Edith and the Kingpin' on Herbie Hancock's album 'River - The Joni Letters', accompanied by a stellar bunch of players: Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter, Vinnie Colaiuta and Lionel Loueke.....just superb. What a voice!

Just bought Mike's Ibanez SRH-500. It arrived promptly, well packed, and exactly as described. Buy with confidence. A real Ninja gent, helpful and courteous.

And how did the controller board and amp module perform with the Fane Sovereign? Is the sound quality before distortion acceptable, and is the volume level enough, say, for accompanying acoustic instruments in a small gig setting? If so, this certainly would appeal as a low cost, compact and lightweight battery powered rig.

Well, the Joyo finally arrived from Thomann, and I have to say it's not at all bad for the tiny amount it cost. It will do fine for practice especially as the aux in allows me to play backing tracks and songs via my phone and music player. The headphone output is fine and the speaker doesn't fart out unless you overdo it on the gain control. I had suspected that the 'two channel' description was just fancy sales speak for an optional overdrive, so I guess the full 10w is reaching the Joyo's built-in 5" driver. I asked because combos with multiple speakers, eg Roland Bass Micro Cube, seem to be described as stereo, implying two or more separate amps driving the speakers rather than a single amp section. I had assumed, wrongly, that a 4 ohm load, drawing the full power available from the amp would always be louder than an 8 ohm load only able to make use of a reduced power output. Thanks for clearing that up. My main reason for wanting to adapt the little 10w Joyo to drive a larger, more efficient cab is the ability to use frugal amounts of DC power when off grid, but still giving me enough volume and tone to keep up with acoustic instruments (maybe even drums with brushes at a pinch?), but just a bit better than the Joyo can on its own. Clearly there are simple solutions using AC such as an Elf, Gnome or Bam 200 into something like a 1 x 8 cab to get impressive volume yet still be super portable, and I could of course run it off a 12v lead acid battery and inverter when off grid. But for my modest needs, using the Joyo has its attractions. Happy Jack's video series on battery powered rigs shows how his 5w Hotone Thunder Bass, when it chose to cooperate with his powerbank, was able to deliver sufficient volume to keep up with his acoustic mates, albeit driving an efficient Embee cab. Presumably 10w should be able to do the same. Thanks for the Thomann powerbank recommendation. Nice to know that's an option that works.

I'm waiting for one of these to arrive from Thomann, but can't find much info online regarding the technical specs beyond a stated output of 10 watts, that the speaker is a single 5" and that there are two channels, normal and drive. I'll be using this unassuming little thing mainly as a practice amp, through the built-in speaker and through headphones, but also as a low volume, battery powered rig for when I'm on my boat or away from mains power and fancy bringing my 4 string passive bass along to an acoustic jam. Having read Happy Jack's thread on battery powered rigs, I'm beginning to wonder whether this tiny unit could be modified to become something more than just a micro practice amp. I was thinking along the lines of adding a connection for an external speaker that could bypass the built-in 5" driver, when required, allowing the use of a proper, lightweight cab equipped with a decent driver (1x10, 1x8 or even Phil Starr's little 1x6 House Jam Micro Cab). Hopefully this would make better use of the 10w output, but still with the option of running on six rechargeable AA batteries, a small sealed 12v lead acid battery with a 12v to 9v step-down adapter, or a USB power bank with a 5v to 9v step-up adapter. Before I start dismantling the Joyo when it arrives to find out what's inside, I thought I'd ask if anyone here knows: A). Is the amp output mono, ie, with the whole 10 watts going entirely to the single 5" driver? The spec mentions two channels (normal and drive) but I'm unclear whether this means the output is split between them, and hence reduced to 5w. I'll only ever be using the normal clean channel and can't really see the point of a dedicated overdriven channel when the same effect could be had by simply cranking up the gain control. B). Is the 10w output at 4 ohms or 8 ohms? I guess the built-in driver would most likely be 4 ohms to maximise the volume. C). One of the customer reviews on Thomann suggests that the amp is high pass filtered at 60hz, which would make sense with such a small driver, but I can't find any detailed spec to confirm this. I know there are several ready made battery powered combos such as the Roland Bass Micro Cube or Boss Dual Cube, along with amp heads like the GR Pocket 50, Quilter Interbass 45, Hotone Thunder Bass, and various low cost, home brew solutions using Chinese D-Class boards of indeterminate quality, but all are quite costly, involve DIY projects with no guarantee of success, or need much bigger, higher voltage battery power sources than I'm prepared to cart around. The Joyo seems to get pretty good reviews tone wise, but falls down in the loudness department, hence my interest in improving on the latter.

Thanks all. Good to be part of the BC clan.

Hi all, yet another oldie joining up. Beginner, but keen to get stuck in. No gear as yet but am scanning the BC for sale section in hope. Love jazz, especially trio and small ensemble stuff, from the late 50's to current. My goal is to get proficient at walking bass. I'd love to have a double bass but don't have the room, so fretless 4 string will do.