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setting up portable (small) rig for busking - some questions


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The small (three piece) original music band I am in have decided, with the whole COVID thing, to re-jig and set for playing busking gigs, for fun mostly and to keep the chops up.

 

I was looking at the small Roland battery amp MicroCube Bass Rx, but the demos I heard online leave me thinking it REALLY is only for the bedroom. So I got to thinking, as there are now these days, portable power stations that that generate 240 AC out (I am in Oz) at around 150-300 watts maybe one of those could provide the power for a 20-50w combo? I am guessing as I cannot seem to find these detailed sort of specs at manufacturers sites. Although I'd suspect that perhaps something in the order of about 2-5 amps would be needed? I am really not sure of the current draw.

 

Question is has anyone here done something similar, or can point me in the direction of where I can get the info? I've tried a few small combo amp makers and I cannot get these detailed specs.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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My duo was looking at a "portable" rechargeable battery pack that could power our small gig set up. It weighed in at about 65 pounds, was more or less a dolly on wheels. Our plan was to set up near our parking spot so we wouldn't have to lift the power supply, just run an extension cord.

 

As far as I know, a transformer (more weight!) could convert USA power to Australian power or vice versa and somebody surely makes something already in your voltage range.

 

Modern amps don't use as much power as they used to. There are some pretty amazing small bass rigs out there, our bassist in the full band favors a Fender Rumble 100 but he recently owned (and sold) a Trace Elliot ELF system that was very light and sounded pretty darn good, although the Rumble ate it's lunch easily.

 

Do you need PA? I think some of the current Fishman Loudbox line are available in a rechargeable format. I have the big one - the Performer. That's a bit much but it sounds incredibly clear and gets much louder than I would have ever imagined. The Artist should kick well above it's weight too. Worth looking at anyway.

 

I'll keep an eye on this thread, there is always something new to learn!!!!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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thanks KP...no not a PA, just two acoustic guitars acoustic vocals (singer has a LOUD voice!!) and the bass, on occasional songs I'll drop the bass and play accordion. Funny you mention the Rumble I was looking at one this morning.

 

But man, trying to find current draw for these things is like getting hens teeth hahaha! A rechargeable battery pack is what I was looking at and there are a few here that run out to 240v, but I cannot find if they are enough for a small amp in the current department, at least for the turn on draw.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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thanks KP...no not a PA, just two acoustic guitars acoustic vocals (singer has a LOUD voice!!) and the bass, on occasional songs I'll drop the bass and play accordion. Funny you mention the Rumble I was looking at one this morning.

 

But man, trying to find current draw for these things is like getting hens teeth hahaha! A rechargeable battery pack is what I was looking at and there are a few here that run out to 240v, but I cannot find if they are enough for a small amp in the current department, at least for the turn on draw.

 

 

The turn on draw should be a blip with a Class D amp. The Rumbles are fantastic bang for the buck and the 100 is just an amazing bass amp period. It isn't big, weighs under 25 pounds and the sound that comes out of it is huge for how small it is. I read somewhere that Fender now owns Genz Benz and this is one of the results of that merger.

 

The smaller ones are really good too, I'd want at least a 10" speaker. I play bass for recordings and sometimes pickup gigs, I would love to have a Rumble 100. It might be more than you need for busking.

 

I dunno, somebody must have a return policy? You could buy the things you think will work and give them a spin that way.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Yeah,good idea, but our shops here aren't obliged to take back for change of mind, only faulty. So you've got to be fairly certain on what you get! I might send an email to Fender and ask...

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Yeah,good idea, but our shops here aren't obliged to take back for change of mind, only faulty. So you've got to be fairly certain on what you get! I might send an email to Fender and ask...

 

Do you have any equipment rental outlets for tools? They might have a battery pack, you could rent it and take it over to the music shop and find out?

 

Writing Fender seems like a good plan!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Yes there is one rental company (music gear) for Australia, and they do not rent gear like this. I could try building and hardware rental places I guess...

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Yes there is one rental company (music gear) for Australia, and they do not rent gear like this. I could try building and hardware rental places I guess...

 

Rental places here don't offer much in the way of inexpensive gear either.

One of the reasons I prefer to sell gear that needs some repairs done, nobody will gig with it and return it for a free rental.

 

Sometimes I just have to put No Returns on there and go with it. Some may justifiably dislike it, so it goes.

 

That's why I mentioned tools. Somebody may have that and it's all you need to test it.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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True - I have also been investigating making my own using s Sine Wave Inverter...uses small dry cell golf cart type batteries...along these lines https://ourpastimes.com/how-to-use-a-car-battery-to-power-a-guitar-amp-12268475.html

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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haha, I sort of expected it but here is the response from Fender :

 

"Unfortunately we do not list it in this way in our manuals etc. and in general what the consumer would want to know would be the power requirement / draw for the amp ( in the case of the rumble 40 , 110W max/45W typical ) so I do apologize as this is what is found on the back of the amp.

 

I apologize that I could not provide the requested info and please feel free to get in touch any time.

 

Cheers,"

 

It's ok though, I'll just run the equation over those specs - but I think it's going to be doable! I have a couple of golf cart batteries to hand so I just need to get the correct inverter :)

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Really, about the worst thing that could happen is the amp won't receive sufficient current and will sound weak, yet thin. Turn it back off and figure out how to get more current.

 

I'm betting it will work well right off the bat, your other factor is... for how long?

 

The Rumble 40 is a lot of sound for the size and weight. The small Peaveys perform well but they are quite a bit heavier.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Yes the 40 was the one I was looking at :)

 

I haven't got anything yet haha!, just researching the heck out of it until I'm ready to go

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Yes the 40 was the one I was looking at :)

 

I haven't got anything yet haha!, just researching the heck out of it until I'm ready to go

 

Nothing wrong with that, sometimes we just jump in but it's never bad to be informed.Can save some time in the long run.

 

Our bassist had a Rumble 100, traded it for an SWR rig with 2-10s that weighed a ton, got a Trace Elliot ELF and didn't really find either of those were doing it for him.

Now those are gone and he has another Rumble 100, he's realized the practical benefits of a small, light amp that actually kicks some ass. Luckily our drummer isn't too loud.

 

I had to use a Boss Katana 100 Combo for a year and a half before I made the jump down to the newer Katana 50 Combo MkII but I am glad I did. The 100 did everything and sounded great. The 50 doesn't do as much but it's plenty for our gigs and the improved sound engine is pretty notable. Smaller and 7 pounds lighter too, win! Plus a simple 2 switch for the 4 presets, I hate stuff on the floor so the less the better.

 

Evolution! I like your busking gig idea, it's a great place to learn working a crowd for one.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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grjr5ubxgkmhmiuu91yxrws1c8wwwn4w.jpg

This louder than you'd think. Is it loud enough? Depends on your bandmates.

You can stop now -jeremyc

STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring

lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum

I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie

 

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Looks nice Lug - can you give me details of the units there? And playing bass in an outdoor setting, you reckon it cuts it?

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Here is another (I think really novel approach) to the issue, and one I certainly would never have thought of - a forum member at home made the suggestion, or rather hypothesized -

 

I'd be questioning whether 240V (230V) is actually required, or whether you'd be doin all this work when the amp likely has a transformer and rectifier inside which then drops the voltage and converts to DC? If you can find a schematic for the amp, it may show what voltage(s) are present, you may well be able to (with appropriate precautions) disconnect the power supply section and feed it DC directly, which will be much easier (and cheaper) to implement. From a very brief image search I'm finding some designs that are using +60V DC, some others using +35V and -35V DC, and then others that are using like +300V DC, so it depends entirely on the power section, but just raising it as a possible alternate approach.

 

Interesting....

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Where I live buskers can't do any amplifiers. So check your local requirements. Or I'd say just find a spot with 110v nearby until the constable tells you to move along. You won't go to jail for the first offense.

And a permit if there's one to be had: I have one, but nobody has ever asked for it except for in Alex Bay, NY where they knew damn well I didn't have one, and in Savannah when I was busking near the line for early voting where I wasn't supposed to be.

The voters dug it. Did not play any political tunes.

 

Another option is get the permission of a store owner and use their juice. If the cops give you grief you can say, "The shop owner said it was OK."

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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Looks nice Lug - can you give me details of the units there? And playing bass in an outdoor setting, you reckon it cuts it?

 

Phil Jones double 4 (70 watts through two 4" speakers) powered by a PowerAdd Pro 2. It needs 20v @ 4 amps which the PowerAdd will provide. Close to shoebox in size, amp weighs about 9 lbs. It will keep up with acoustic guitars and a bit more with ease. The downside is that you will have to rob multiple liquor stores to afford it.

 

Better idea of size....

gugduj08r7p6ctd5rpj8ro4ao5d800lo.jpg

62nuvbhzw832szfgp6xb9tmsxomepv5u.jpg

 

a review....

 

[video:youtube]

You can stop now -jeremyc

STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring

lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum

I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie

 

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The downside is that you will have to rob multiple liquor stores to afford it.

 

Truth, the good stuff isn't cheap! The Jones stuff IS the good stuff.

 

You could buy quite a few Rumbles with the same money.

 

My personal tendency is to buy gigging gear based on ROI, will it break me even in a reasonable time frame and start to earn it's keep?

Doesn't sound like that's a factor here but we all have our budgets.

 

I'd love to have a small, light bass amp that performs well but my budget says not now. And I honestly wouldn't use one enough to justify it.

I got bass pickup gigs all the time in Fresno, I am sort of quietly unknown up here and had/will have steady bookings on lead guitar.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Yes, I now recall doing a fill in spot with a R+R band about 2 years ago and he ran his dbl through one of these...he commented it was on the pricey side but well worth it. tbh, I was more interested in the power pack, as I don't think I'll ever play enough bass to warrant that sort of expense for the PJ unit :D

 

EDIT: nice vid too btw, thanks!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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If you can find a schematic for the amp,

Interesting....

 

 

Indeed, I agree. Interesting. My hunch is that working the inside of today's electronics would be a tough nut to crack unless that's already your bag. I have an Ashdown Superfly amp that has two 250 watt power amps in it. I wanted to re-work it so that the effect loop return was stereo; I figured that should be easy since the effects loop return goes straight to the power amps. Ashdown sent the the schematic and said words to the effect that "Not gonna happen unless you start from scratch". (And you know...how come it wasn't engineered that way from the beginning? Would have cost an extra 50 cents.)

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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Phil Jones stuff is not for those who care about things like mere money. When I had my butler pick mine up, I specifically told him not to haggle.

You can stop now -jeremyc

STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring

lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum

I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie

 

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Phil Jones stuff is not for those who care about things like mere money. When I had my butler pick mine up, I specifically told him not to haggle.

 

hahahaha!! Fair :D

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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If you can find a schematic for the amp,

Interesting....

 

 

Indeed, I agree. Interesting. My hunch is that working the inside of today's electronics would be a tough nut to crack unless that's already your bag. I have an Ashdown Superfly amp that has two 250 watt power amps in it. I wanted to re-work it so that the effect loop return was stereo; I figured that should be easy since the effects loop return goes straight to the power amps. Ashdown sent the the schematic and said words to the effect that "Not gonna happen unless you start from scratch". (And you know...how come it wasn't engineered that way from the beginning? Would have cost an extra 50 cents.)

 

Yeah I agree....perhaps it's because a lot of this stuff is done by electronics engineers from a design concept given to them. Not a musician in sight!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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If you can find a schematic for the amp,

Interesting....

 

 

Indeed, I agree. Interesting. My hunch is that working the inside of today's electronics would be a tough nut to crack unless that's already your bag. I have an Ashdown Superfly amp that has two 250 watt power amps in it. I wanted to re-work it so that the effect loop return was stereo; I figured that should be easy since the effects loop return goes straight to the power amps. Ashdown sent the the schematic and said words to the effect that "Not gonna happen unless you start from scratch". (And you know...how come it wasn't engineered that way from the beginning? Would have cost an extra 50 cents.)

 

Yeah I agree....perhaps it's because a lot of this stuff is done by electronics engineers from a design concept given to them. Not a musician in sight!

 

If you've got a solid catalog of known great sounds to refer to, it's probably not that difficult. I would suspect that at least some companies, the R&D has quite a few musician/engineers on staff.

Quite a few great music gear manufactures have /musician/engieneer/tinkerers as founders. Andrew Barta at Tech 21 comes to mind.

There are many others.

 

Not me but I've been a guitar tech almost as long as I've played - 50 years-ish.

I got into it because I realized what a difference a well set up guitar that is customized to your personal preferences can make when I play. That goes for basses, both of mine were improved or built by myself.

No biggie but I think that's out there too. :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Seems I may have been asking the wrong question: https://paniquejazz.com/2019/03/20/use-any-guitar-amp-without-a-power-outlet/ interesting read here and a VERY simple solution...now to try and find a similar item in Oz with a 240v outlet :D

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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  • 1 month later...
My humble two cents: In the last couple of years, age, back and job requirements made me reduce the size of my rig for most gigs, and nowadays I'm mostly gigging small-to-medium venues with a GK MB200 small head and a Fender Rumble (2x8" neo speakers +tweeter) bass cab. At first I was quite afraid it might not be loud enough, but I've found it fills space more than adequately in most of the situations I have used it. For slightly bigger spaces I can always add a second 8ohm cab (I use either a 12" or a 2x10", but it's heavier since those are not Neo, and occupies more space), but the head can be carried inside the gig bag's pocket and the cab weighs next to nothing, and it's absolutely worth it

Brought to you by Juancarlin.

www.juancarlinmusic.com

http://www.youtube.com/JuanCarlinMusic

www.facebook.com/JuanCarlinMusic

Instagram: @JuanCarlinMusic

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My worry would always be hold long the batteries will hold up, and are they replaceable. Think I would prefer a good battery powered PA speaker with a multi-effects pedal over a dedicated guitar or bass amp. For one, more general use. Second, you can keep a spare around for anyone to use.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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