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Portable gear?
- Thread starter Just2play
- Start date
For busking, it seems the Roland Micro Cube amps present a budget solution while the TB favorite is the Phil Jones Double Four running off a laptop battery.
Roland Bass Cube or Blackstar Super Fly. The latter has channels for guitar and mic, with Bluetooth and line in. Blackstar OK'd me to play bass through it, as it has the same speaker drivers as the Fly 3 Bass.
I use a JBL EON One Pro. Column array on sub. Bluetooth plus 4 channel mixer. Need more channels? Behringer 1002 battery powered mini mixer. I've gigged this in the middle of a vineyard among other places. Bass, dreadnaught, 1 shared harmony mic and one lead singing mic.
It travels in a Gator Transporter case with wheels. We just pull off the cover and leave it in the tray.
It travels in a Gator Transporter case with wheels. We just pull off the cover and leave it in the tray.
Is power going to be available or not? If it is, my recommendation would be any of the Phil Jones Cub amps. The link is for the BG-120. I have the older BG-110, and I have gigged with it. The even older BG-100 should be relatively inexpensive, and not that hard to find.
If power is not available, then the Double Four (BG-75) with the laptop battery might do you.
EV Everse series, they just came out with a 12 inch version as well.
For power you could also look into something like a Jackery power inverter unit.
For power you could also look into something like a Jackery power inverter unit.
I had a meh and oh no experience with PJ bass gear... They were not mine. But had great experience with Roland even though spec wise they seem to be lacking. Also they are durable.
Seen a few cats with the Roland Cube, sounded pretty good IMO.
My fav story about portable gear is when I attended an open jam at a place near me. Homeless guy shows up with a $50 Harmony stray copy, a $20 Salvation Army practice amp and a beat up delay pedal. I braced for the worst as he gets ready to solo. Aaaannnnd goddamnit if he didn’t sound exactly like David Gilmore. I think every jaw in that room hit the floor. Showed me once a for all it’s the hands.
Anyways yeah, check out the Cube’s.
My fav story about portable gear is when I attended an open jam at a place near me. Homeless guy shows up with a $50 Harmony stray copy, a $20 Salvation Army practice amp and a beat up delay pedal. I braced for the worst as he gets ready to solo. Aaaannnnd goddamnit if he didn’t sound exactly like David Gilmore. I think every jaw in that room hit the floor. Showed me once a for all it’s the hands.
Anyways yeah, check out the Cube’s.
Jackery. Jeeze I forgot. I have an EcoFlow Delta 2 and the add on battery. I own them as I'm building my sound company truck out to support an over night festival stay. (my wife get's our Transit camper...)
I'll have to test that EcoFlow setup out with a small PA and see how it goes.
If taking the Jackery, EcoFlow, Bluetti route ypu should also invest in a KillAWatt meter and determine the load you'll present. I have never run my EcoFlow rig down to zip. Not sure how graceful the power down is... That could present a problem for digital mixers like my Ui-24r or an XR-18. I don't think I want to find out...
I'll have to test that EcoFlow setup out with a small PA and see how it goes.
If taking the Jackery, EcoFlow, Bluetti route ypu should also invest in a KillAWatt meter and determine the load you'll present. I have never run my EcoFlow rig down to zip. Not sure how graceful the power down is... That could present a problem for digital mixers like my Ui-24r or an XR-18. I don't think I want to find out...
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I was listening to an interview with David Gilmore and he was asked about new technology and how that could affect his sound, his answer was basically give me a strat and an amp and it will still sound like me as it is all in the hands and playing style.
Honda Civic Hatchbacks are light & compact and if you’re handy you can pretty easily hook up an AC power inverter to the motor to power a low wattage Ashdown amp driving a sweet vertically stacked pair of Barefaced cabs.
The new Civic Hatch is a heck of a beauty compared to the past few generations of Civic, and allegedly the manual transmission has as good of a tactile & notchy yet smooth feel as their classics of the 80s & 90s.
A Dingwall Lee Sklar bass guitar is as compact as most able bodied individuals ever need and sounds adequate enough for many professional stages without any major modifications.
I hope you don’t have any pesky budget limitations.
The new Civic Hatch is a heck of a beauty compared to the past few generations of Civic, and allegedly the manual transmission has as good of a tactile & notchy yet smooth feel as their classics of the 80s & 90s.
A Dingwall Lee Sklar bass guitar is as compact as most able bodied individuals ever need and sounds adequate enough for many professional stages without any major modifications.
I hope you don’t have any pesky budget limitations.
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EV Everse 8. Fantastic for bass, under 17lbs, and a battery that can run up to 12 hours. Actually has low end, which in my experience the PJ doesn't. Expensive, but shames the competition.
I use one of these for busking or campfire jams -
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It lasts for a couple of hours charged - twice that 8 years ago when it was new - and even longer if you remember to turn it off when you aren't playing!
It's adequate if the other people playing are unplugged and there's no drummer, although it will cope happily with a cajon drum and a strummy guitar or two.
There's no sound shaping apart from a volume knob, but "it is what it is" and I've had a lot of fun with it over the years.
This is the smallest in the range, but they do go up to full band rechargeable battery powered PA systems I believe.
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It lasts for a couple of hours charged - twice that 8 years ago when it was new - and even longer if you remember to turn it off when you aren't playing!
It's adequate if the other people playing are unplugged and there's no drummer, although it will cope happily with a cajon drum and a strummy guitar or two.There's no sound shaping apart from a volume knob, but "it is what it is" and I've had a lot of fun with it over the years.
This is the smallest in the range, but they do go up to full band rechargeable battery powered PA systems I believe.
Pretty sure Jackery recommmends recharging before the power is depleted to 15%...probably good advice for all battery power stations.
The sweet spot for me would be the Roland Cube Street EX. Not as loud as I would want, but I would not want anything bigger and heavier if I had to carry it around. Likewise the smaller Roland amps are just too weak IMHO.
For Portable Power Station I think the sweet spot is the Jackery 300. More power would be nice, but it's about as big and heavy as I would want to carry. If you are interested, here is my thread: Battery-Powered Mayhem! (Jackery 300) | TalkBass.com
For Portable Power Station I think the sweet spot is the Jackery 300. More power would be nice, but it's about as big and heavy as I would want to carry. If you are interested, here is my thread: Battery-Powered Mayhem! (Jackery 300) | TalkBass.com
I would buy a GR Bass Pocket 50, because it's not only super lightweight, it's also powered buy recheargeable batteries, with 8 hours of autonomy.
And a GR Bass AT Cube 112 (6,1 Kg - 13.4 lbs)
And a GR Bass AT Cube 112 (6,1 Kg - 13.4 lbs)
