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Campfire setup. . . ?

el murdoque

el murdoque

Mar 10, 2013
12,057
25,411
Germany
thedirtjounal.com
#1
The weather is nice and it does happen that people meet around a campfire and bring their guitars.

I always thought about a setup which would allow me to join in.
Then Kala built the U-Bass and I was overjoyed and ordered one.
Then I realized that they don't do anything even close to the volume you'd need and I sold it again (and felt stupid).
I thought about such a setup on and off for a couple of years, even tried a bit here and there - and I learned a few bits.

In my opinion, portability and the ability to run off battery are the make or break factors here. Most sessions are not planned - you just toss the gear in the trunk because you never know.
You don't toss a 50ft extension chord and 40lbs combo amp into your trunk along with a bass guitar hardcase because you never know.
I've build a rig with a barefaced one10 cab and a tiny class D head, strapped together and fixed in a shoulderbag. That one could easily be transported, because it was an easy carry and it weighed in at less than 20lbs. Plus, it sounded awesome.
It did not run off batteries, though - and that could easily become a problem.

So what I was beginning to think was how a U-Bass might sound when amplified through a tiny portable pa speaker. I've seen a variety of cheap ones for less than 200 bucks.
Has anyone here have any success (or lack thereof) while trying to piece together something similar?
 
#3
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Phil Jones Double 4 with a PowerAdd Pro2 battery....be prepared to rob a few liquor stores to afford this setup.
 
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#4
Best solution' s I am aware of are Lug's (PJB with battery, above), Roland Micro Cube RX for bass, or a portable AC battery box to power your tiny combo of choice.
 
#6
seamonkey said:
Usually include bluetooth and a AUX input
Click to expand...
The AUX inputs are intended for a much hotter signal than the output of a bass, so there probably wouldn't be enough gain there to plug in directly. And the Bluetooth input isn't usable in this application because of the latency. Have you actually successfully done this, or is it just a theory?

I like the concept of using a jobsite radio for a number of reasons...maybe a small external preamp wouldn't complicate the situation too much. But I don't think you could plug a bass head on into the Aux input on a radio without some sort of gain stage or preamp.
 
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#7
I have a Blackstar Fly 3 Bass, I got it as a set with an extension speaker. It's tiny, fits in a backpack easily. Runs on batteries or the power block. Sounds OK. It's enough that it can boost an acoustic bass guitar (I have a Ferrington and a Guild) and can also amplify an electric enough that it can keep up with an acoustic guitar. That's all I bought it for and that's all it can do. Honestly when I'm at home I use my regular amp or headphones but I have a few times used this with headphones. It was only about $100 for both speakers.
IMG_2189.JPG
 
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#8
I rigged up an interesting and highly portable setup: bass>>>HPF>>>pedal preamp>>>1/4-1/8" male to male cable>>>>>JBL Xtreme bluetooth speaker. The HPF is necessary to cut out all the true bass frequencies......but the result is like a baritone guitar type of tone and I get enough volume to play along with 1 sane acoustic guitar. It's not a true bass amp like my PJB Double 4, but it works decently and the speaker can do double duty playin' tunes from my phone......and there's always one of these....
https://www.amazon.ca/Jackery-Gener...words=portable+ac+power&qid=1597714231&sr=8-5
 
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#9
el murdoque said:
The weather is nice and it does happen that people meet around a campfire and bring their guitars.

I always thought about a setup which would allow me to join in.
Then Kala built the U-Bass and I was overjoyed and ordered one.
Then I realized that they don't do anything even close to the volume you'd need and I sold it again (and felt stupid).
I thought about such a setup on and off for a couple of years, even tried a bit here and there - and I learned a few bits.

In my opinion, portability and the ability to run off battery are the make or break factors here. Most sessions are not planned - you just toss the gear in the trunk because you never know.
You don't toss a 50ft extension chord and 40lbs combo amp into your trunk along with a bass guitar hardcase because you never know.
I've build a rig with a barefaced one10 cab and a tiny class D head, strapped together and fixed in a shoulderbag. That one could easily be transported, because it was an easy carry and it weighed in at less than 20lbs. Plus, it sounded awesome.
It did not run off batteries, though - and that could easily become a problem.

So what I was beginning to think was how a U-Bass might sound when amplified through a tiny portable pa speaker. I've seen a variety of cheap ones for less than 200 bucks.
Has anyone here have any success (or lack thereof) while trying to piece together something similar?
Click to expand...


I pretty confident the Roland Cube Street EX will be plenty for campfire jams with acoustic instruments. I would pass on the regular Cube Street and the Micro Cube Bass RX. In my opinion both are barely louder than my Tacoma Thunderchief and they fart out pretty nastily when they hit the wall. The Cube Street EX has 10x the power. It's listed as 2X25 max, but I think it's equivalent to about 12W RMS total.

I believe the Roland BA-330 is actually a bit louder than the Cube Street EX even though it makes a bit less power at 2x15W. The reason is because the BA-330 has four 6.5" woofer verus the EX's two 8" woofers. The BA-330 is also about twice as big a heavy as the Cube Street EX. So IMHO the EX is sort of the sweet spot, easy to tote and sufficient volume. The EX weights 16lb/7.4kg and runs off 8 AA batteries. I suggest buying Eneloops and a charger.

Here's a guy playing bass with a recording through the EX

Japanese Unboxing and Demo of EX

Here's a bass demo of the BA-330
 
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#10
Redbrangus said:
The AUX inputs are intended for a much hotter signal than the output of a bass, so there probably wouldn't be enough gain there to plug in directly. And the Bluetooth input isn't usable in this application because of the latency. Have you actually successfully done this, or is it just a theory?

I like the concept of using a jobsite radio for a number of reasons...maybe a small external preamp wouldn't complicate the situation too much. But I don't think you could plug a bass head on into the Aux input on a radio without some sort of gain stage or preamp.
Click to expand...

yes, I've plug active basses into aux inputs. And adapter is needed so the TS from the bass converts to a TRS to the Aux input. But a little battery powered mixer or pre-amp would be fine to addd also.
Bluetooth is useful for play-alongs tracks - and for yourself, or adding loops.
Many new Fender, Positive Grid, include a bluetooth these days along with an Aux input.
 
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#11
el murdoque said:
The weather is nice and it does happen that people meet around a campfire and bring their guitars.

I always thought about a setup which would allow me to join in.
Then Kala built the U-Bass and I was overjoyed and ordered one.
Then I realized that they don't do anything even close to the volume you'd need and I sold it again (and felt stupid).
I thought about such a setup on and off for a couple of years, even tried a bit here and there - and I learned a few bits.

In my opinion, portability and the ability to run off battery are the make or break factors here. Most sessions are not planned - you just toss the gear in the trunk because you never know.
You don't toss a 50ft extension chord and 40lbs combo amp into your trunk along with a bass guitar hardcase because you never know.
I've build a rig with a barefaced one10 cab and a tiny class D head, strapped together and fixed in a shoulderbag. That one could easily be transported, because it was an easy carry and it weighed in at less than 20lbs. Plus, it sounded awesome.
It did not run off batteries, though - and that could easily become a problem.

So what I was beginning to think was how a U-Bass might sound when amplified through a tiny portable pa speaker. I've seen a variety of cheap ones for less than 200 bucks.
Has anyone here have any success (or lack thereof) while trying to piece together something similar?
Click to expand...
Instead of buying this battery-powered bass amp for $60?
s-l400.png

Or this one for $120?
Screenshot-20200817-234634-Samsung-Internet.jpg

Both are loud enough to make the neighbors complain if you're playing on your front porch and the Joyo has strap attachments so you can wear it on your back.
 
#16
I picked this up for busking. Overkill if you're just trying to amplify your bass, but being able to connect your phone over bluetooth for backing tracks and having a second input for a mic or someone else's instrument really opens up some possibilities.

Behringer EUROPORT MPA40BT (Used) | ProAudioStar | Reverb

Battery lasts a long time and it's loud enough to have the cops ask me to turn down.
 
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#17
another vote for Roland Micro Bass Cube
I bought one for this very reason

put a pillowcase over it and you can take it to the beach. Sand? HA!
you can use a Doritos 4-pack combo bag to cover it in the rain.
with the strap of the amp, you can mount it to the pull-handle on your wheeled cooler and even play at the same time if someone drags your cooler for you

so yeah
 
#18
el murdoque said:
The weather is nice and it does happen that people meet around a campfire and bring their guitars.

I always thought about a setup which would allow me to join in.
Then Kala built the U-Bass and I was overjoyed and ordered one.
Then I realized that they don't do anything even close to the volume you'd need and I sold it again (and felt stupid).
I thought about such a setup on and off for a couple of years, even tried a bit here and there - and I learned a few bits.

In my opinion, portability and the ability to run off battery are the make or break factors here. Most sessions are not planned - you just toss the gear in the trunk because you never know.
You don't toss a 50ft extension chord and 40lbs combo amp into your trunk along with a bass guitar hardcase because you never know.
I've build a rig with a barefaced one10 cab and a tiny class D head, strapped together and fixed in a shoulderbag. That one could easily be transported, because it was an easy carry and it weighed in at less than 20lbs. Plus, it sounded awesome.
It did not run off batteries, though - and that could easily become a problem.

So what I was beginning to think was how a U-Bass might sound when amplified through a tiny portable pa speaker. I've seen a variety of cheap ones for less than 200 bucks.
Has anyone here have any success (or lack thereof) while trying to piece together something similar?
Click to expand...

I had an upright bass for camping until my son took it. :-)

Anymore I camp out of my van when I go to the desert, and generally bring along my Trickfish setup with a 112 cabinet and a P-bass. It all runs great off the van's electrical.

But, yeah, an upright was perfect for camp.

John
 
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