Off grid power

[Rockford]

This set up worked really well so I thought I'd pass it on. To play a 2 1/2 hour outdoor gig for the Army 10 miler race we had the problem of no power source nearby. For the rest of the band we used a Honda 2000 RV generator that operates much quieter than a typical generator. This time I kept the bass self contained and used a SunForce 1000 inverter with a 12 volt RV deep cycle battery. It powered my Genz- Benz 6.2 through a Peavy 210 cabinet for the entire time with plenty of reserve power left over. The battery was still going strong at the end. The key to decent sound was the Pure sine wave SunForce inverter. The modified sine wave inverters found in most auto stores really hack up the sound so the pure sine wave route is the only way to go. Hope this is useful for your next off grid performance.

 

[seamonkey]

A good article on the subject.
Link Removed

 

[ggunn]

The modified sine wave inverters found in most auto stores really hack up the sound so the pure sine wave route is the only way to go.

This is true. The power supply filtering on a lot of gear freaks out on the harmonic content in MSW (read: Modified Square Wave, because that's what it really is) inverter power.

 

[Rockford]

This is true. The power supply filtering on a lot of gear freaks out on the harmonic content in MSW (read: Modified Square Wave, because that's what it really is) inverter power.

Thanks for the responses and SM for posting the article. Parts of the article are, admittedly, over my head, but it does point out the importance of really listening for the results and attributing them to the right source. After trying out several MSW inverters primarily designed for appliances and automotive applications and being totally dissatisfied with the sound I read somewhere about Pure sine wave inverters working better for instrumental music applications. I had originally intended to spend some time examining and comparing the two choices but, after only a few seconds, it was very apparent that the pure sine wave inverter was the way to go. I noticed none of the distortion or chopping up of the sound that was characteristic of the MSW type inverters. I'm not being overly picky or eccentric about it. There was a substantial difference. Hope this will save a little time, money and frustration for other musicians who need some quiet, off grid power.