AndyBass Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Anyone suggest a decent affordable battery powered amp loud enough for busking with a double bass? These threads (on other sites) usually end up as “I use such-and-such keyboard amp”, which every other review then says sucks for bass, or people power their usual combo through some kind of caravan battery, inverter etc rig. Or it’s shell out £1000 on a Phil Jones thing and an expensive power pack. Does anyone know of a small (ie if you’re already carrying a double bass), battery powered bass amp that is loud enough for a basic busking situation and doesn’t cost £££s, or are they on the “yet to be invented” list along with a mag-pickup-friendly equivalent of bumped Rotosounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlefeeder Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 You do not mention your transport plans, which will probably have a major impact on the recommendations. Your cheapest DIY option is to plug together a series of modules - a small 12-15V battery pack, a stand alone amp designed for car audio, a small speaker like the Basschat 6.5 or Basschat 8, and a basic preamp pedal like a Behringer BD 121 or AD121. The cheapest options are likely to be heavier, eg lead acid battery and ceramic magnet speakers, but if you plan to use a trolley, that is less of an issue. It would probably not be viable if you were thinking DB on back, amplification in hand. If you want a light one-box solution, other members can advise you - its not the route I chose. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 I have a Roland Bass micro cube which is...OK. In busking situations I've tended to use it more for my own monitoring and relying on my bass' natural projection against an unamped acoustic guitar. The best lightweight/battery busking setup I've used with the whole band amped was using a small mixing desk into an array of Roland street cubes and the bass cube, but collectively that setup cost close to £500, so not exactly budget. The best solution for overall sound was using our Yamaha powered PA tops, small mixer and a small petrol generator, but that wasn't exactly portable. Do you need to amplify just your bass alone or is everyone in the band amping up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 This is good single cab solution. Me (DB), guitar and vocals go through it and loud enough for a decent size crowd dispersed over a reasonable area. https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Mackie-Thump-GO-Portable-Battery-Powered-Speaker/41RC?origin=product-ads&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_kjLSaxkP62DvC4h1mplbB1_NhR&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5IXPhqbKhwMVU5JQBh2SQRS_EAQYASABEgIRofD_BwE 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Maybe ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 @AndyBass your profile doesn't say where in the country (world?) you are ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Bose S1 would do very well although £300+ I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyBass Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 2 hours ago, TheRev said: I have a Roland Bass micro cube which is...OK. In busking situations I've tended to use it more for my own monitoring and relying on my bass' natural projection against an unamped acoustic guitar. The best lightweight/battery busking setup I've used with the whole band amped was using a small mixing desk into an array of Roland street cubes and the bass cube, but collectively that setup cost close to £500, so not exactly budget. The best solution for overall sound was using our Yamaha powered PA tops, small mixer and a small petrol generator, but that wasn't exactly portable. Do you need to amplify just your bass alone or is everyone in the band amping up? I’d been considering chancing a micro bass cube but I don’t think it’ll cut it against a similarly battery-amped guitar and a muted drum kit, as we would amped up collectively to a degree. The Street Cubes look to be louder, but have heard mixed reports on their viability for bass. Thanks for the response 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Check this (my review): And this (another testimony): Link to this combo: https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/combos-c102x4030036 And the battery pack: https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-7s35v2-intelligent-lithium-battery-pack-for-guitar-sound-systems-mini-bass-amps-c2x18346407 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 8 hours ago, AndyBass said: Anyone suggest a decent affordable battery powered amp loud enough for busking with a double bass? I use an Orange Crush 25W practice amp, with a separate 'Jackery' battery pack that has a mains output. It works well and the Jackery is good for 6+ hours of play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 10 hours ago, AndyBass said: I’d been considering chancing a micro bass cube but I don’t think it’ll cut it against a similarly battery-amped guitar and a muted drum kit, as we would amped up collectively to a degree. The Street Cubes look to be louder, but have heard mixed reports on their viability for bass. Thanks for the response 👍 I’ve used both. The bass cube isn’t loud enough if you’re playing in a large outdoor space. The Street Cube is voiced for guitar and voice and isn’t for bass. (I sold one on here and have experience using one for outdoor gigs!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 23 hours ago, Rosie C said: Jackery' battery pack Superb bits of kit. We use them for work, powering up test kit when there's no mains or the mains goes on and off. They do all different sizes ( and prices) too. Had one confiscated trying to get it on a flight tho ... Battery too big :-( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 12 hours ago, NickA said: Superb bits of kit. We use them for work, powering up test kit when there's no mains or the mains goes on and off. They do all different sizes ( and prices) too. Had one confiscated trying to get it on a flight tho ... Battery too big :-( Yes, I have the smallest one, 240 watt hour I think. But if we keep doing outdoor gigs we're thinking of getting the 1k one for our PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Conversation off line with another bass chatter..... I tried powering my pjb rig from a jackery 240. The 150W flight case only draws around 25W and even the 250W pb300 only draws another 25W. I could play through the flight case all day. These class d based amps draw next to nothing. The 1kWh jackery is seriously heavy and expensive mind ... then again, so is a petrol generator. No need for a busking amp, buy a lithium battery pack and use your usual rig ( unless it's a 4x10 powered by a valve amp ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 1 hour ago, NickA said: The 1kWh jackery is seriously heavy and expensive mind ... then again, so is a petrol generator. I actually have a little 2kW petrol generator, it used to run halogen flood lights, I wouldn't want to plug anything electronic into it. But maybe I'll sell it to help with the cost of a larger Jackery. Our Morris side have the 1k Jackery, and you're right on both counts! I'll go for the 500W if I can - but the PA is rated at 350W, and with my bass amp too, it seems a bit close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 3 hours ago, Rosie C said: PA is rated at 350W, Rating and power draw are very different. A 350W pa will probs only draw 50W on average. Plug your pa into the jackery 240 and see what its LCD says about power usage ( add 5W or so for the power used by the Jackery itself). Multiply that power figure by the number of hours you want to play and that's your required Whr rating .. or try it in a rehearsal and see how long it lasts. If the 240 lasts 30 min, then the 500 will last an hour etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 18 hours ago, NickA said: The 1kWh jackery is seriously heavy and expensive mind ... then again, so is a petrol generator. Having used both recently, I'd say 'No Contest'. Even a small petrol generator is significantly heavier than a Jackery unit, a much more challenging shape to carry and store, stinks of petrol all the time, and can't be put back into the van until it has cooled off. I bought a Jackery recently based on conversation with @NickA, tested it thoroughly at rehearsals, then stowed it permanently in the gigwagon. Anywhere we might need auxiliary power it will be part of the basic setup. Two days after putting it in the vehicle we played a country pub with a large covered beer garden, a place we've played many times before without incident. We set up the band, tested everything, started playing our MP3s through the PA, and then there was a very loud POP and everything ... erm ... went away. One of the bar staff (a new girl, just a teenager) had tried to turn off the pretty lights in the beer garden by unplugging them - guess what she unplugged. It hadn't even occurred to me to plug everything through the Jackery. Ah well, lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 11 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: It hadn't even occurred to me to plug everything through the Jackery. Ah well, lesson learned. At our last gig, playing outdoors in a beer garden and plugged in to a socket in the outdoors bar. During the second set the power dropped out for 2 or 3 seconds. Then came back. It did it two or three times. My best guess is a dodgy connection somewhere in the pub's wiring. A Jackery would have been ideal - and avoided an extension lead running across the veranda. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 We use them at work permanently on charge where possible, if the power drops out the jackery takes over. We have a set of solar panels for outdoor work away from a socket. We used to use lead acid UPS devices which weigh a ton, have noisy fans and provide backup for minutes not hours...awful things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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