Campfire amp

[Wasnex]

I used a battery-powered PA speaker one time to play for an outdoor wedding ceremony where no power was available and a generator would have been a noisy nuisance. I can't for the life of me remember what the brand or particulars were, but I remember that it worked extremely well, and that I remember thinking; I should really have one of these!

Electro Voice Everse 8 and Everse 12 are highly regarded, but total overkill for campfire duty IMHO.

Then again the Cube Street EX is about the same price as the Everse 8, and I am pretty sure the Everse will play way louder.

 

[klyph]

My Bose S1 pro is a GREAT busking amp. It has everything you need and then some. Not cheap, but I've seen used v1 ones used for reasonable prices. I know a few guys who also use them for standard monitor duty at outdoor gigs, and the battery power is a huge advantage. Bose says they will last six hours + on a charge, and I've found this to be true. The charger is built in, so all you need is a standard IEC power cord to charge it on AC.

 

[Froski]

My Bose S1 pro is a GREAT busking amp. It has everything you need and then some. Not cheap, but I've seen used v1 ones used for reasonable prices. I know a few guys who also use them for standard monitor duty at outdoor gigs, and the battery power is a huge advantage. Bose says they will last six hours + on a charge, and I've found this to be true. The charger is built in, so all you need is a standard IEC power cord to charge it on AC.

You're right about not being cheap. Looks like a cool option though

 

[Froski]

Taka a look at this: Laney Amplification - Since 1967

View attachment 7305628

This one seems like what I'm looking for. Do you have one?

 

[klyph]

You're right about not being cheap.

Yeah, I got REALLY lucky. I don't know when v1 was introduced, but one showed up in my local music store used in late 2020 for tree fiddy. I jumped on it! I did some busking with a guy who was killing it the next summer (plus some piano bar gigs and acoustic duos) and it paid for itself many times over. I don't do much of any of those things now, but I did have one acoustic duo gig I used it for this summer. I mostly use it now to listen to music or podcasts in my shop.

I even plugged my realist-equipped upright into it while busking with stellar results. I plugged in a mic and sang through it simultaneously.

Listening to program music on it can be annoying because the bass is kind of hyped, but that's not unusual for Bose.

I saw a used v2 on Reverb recently for 500$. Knowing now how useful they are, still not a bad price…

I've thought about getting or borrowing a second one and linking them to see if I could get "rock" volume.

 

[tb-player]

This one seems like what I'm looking for. Do you have one?

Sorry, I don't. But it gets pretty decent reviews. There are a few videos on YouTube.

 

[Froski]

I'd bring my Spark 2.

Can you tell me about the Spark 2? Ease of use, using the app, what do you use it for, what do you play through it? I'm between the Spark 2 and the Spark Mini. I'm leaning towards the mini for more simplicity and you don't have to buy the separate rechargeable batteries

 

[el murdoque]

Phil Jones Double Four.

It's reasonably small and light, but loud enough to play with two acoustic guitars and percussion.

You can run it off a laptop battery and it easily beats most other options in terms of volume, size and weight.

 

[Froski]

I'm going with the Spark mini. I just made the purchase with sweetwater. For van camping and portability, I'm sure this will be more than fine along with home practice and getting access to this app that I'm learning about with the deep dive I've been on while researching. I'm pretty stoked about it

 

[Sid the Kid]

I'd grab a Joyo BA-30 from Amazon for $100 and an appropriate power bank to run it. The power bank will be useful in many situations and the small amp is pretty cool too!