Portable, reliable rig that doesn't run on house electricity.

[Katoosie]

No noise (normal amp hiss) without the bass plugged in? Your bass is picking up RFI, you might even try something as simple as a different cable or wireless setup if you can borrow one.

I tried different cable although its the same type of a cable. Same thing.

Here is the recording.
Notice how when I touch the strings etc the buzz goes away, but touching the J pickup makes it worse (which I think is normal).
My other bass has humbuckers and it is the same thing.
And yes both basses do not buzz anywhere else.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
@mborn

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

If I was in your position, I would seriously consider buying a portable power generator instead of a new amp.
Honda makes some fabulous small, portable, somewhat quiet generators that put out some clean power, plenty for your regular amp. You could put it outside, and run a cable into your place through the window or something.
Just a suggestion.

I've done this at venues where I know the power is weird and makes the amps buzz, mics shock and other bad things. I bring my own generator, put it outside, run a long cable and have nice stable power. I usually get called back for those gigs!

 

[Holdsg]

I used a PJ Double Four with a laptop battery for several years.
busking, camping, festivals, etc.
All fit into a backpack for transit.
Very handy setup for what I needed.
Sold it during my gear purge at the start of the lockdown.

 

[Runlikegregg]

Im not ignoring anyone here, you should read my reply above..


All I have is a breaker with switches, its all connected together since both properties are hers so it's one meter for both, the power just got extended over to this house.
I have a spector, a Warwick, ebs reidmar 502 and a GK 2x12 cab.

lots of not reading what you write and mansplaining going here. sheesh.

 

[R Briere]

Hi.

Just had a talk and a troubleshooting session with my landlord.

My new house is connected to the same line that an old house is on and the line is bad, makes amplifiers useless.

I need a new rig that is portable and one that does not run on house socket electricity while playing.

I'm looking for reliability, good tone, portability. Price doesn't matter.

Hit me with everything you got, TalkBass.
Please. I need all the help I can get on this!

A Furman Power Conditioner can Help......but BAD Wiring in any residence means that you could have a House Fire at any time. Have a Heart to Heart with your Landlord. You have a lot of Money invested.......protect it.

 

[Jonathan C]

Since this is RFI induced hum I don't think it's going to matter what amp the OP uses. I get hum through my headphone amp if any of my basses (humbucking or not) get near a source.

 

[Katoosie]

A Furman Power Conditioner can Help......but BAD Wiring in any residence means that you could have a House Fire at any time. Have a Heart to Heart with your Landlord. You have a lot of Money invested.......protect it.

Trust me, I tried.
Look what my amp is sitting on.

 

[Anatosuchus]

Okay, I know you aren't looking for electricity advice, but just in case it helps you: I had severe issues with amp hum and it turned out to be caused by powerline ethernet plug adapters. They are horribly RF noisy and can cause all sorts of issues with amplification kit. My problems went away when I moved entirely to a WiFi mesh network and ditched all the powerline stuff.

Just in case you are running that type of network.

 

[WestyBassBob]

Hi.

Just had a talk and a troubleshooting session with my landlord.

My new house is connected to the same line that an old house is on and the line is bad, makes amplifiers useless.

I need a new rig that is portable and one that does not run on house socket electricity while playing.

I'm looking for reliability, good tone, portability. Price doesn't matter.

Hit me with everything you got, TalkBass.
Please. I need all the help I can get on this!

I think your best bet it to get a chargeable backup power supply like what they use at data centers. You could probably run your rig for several hours through one of those depending on how much you want to spend.

As for your electric, it seems to me that the issue could be easily resolved by having an electrician simply replace your line. If your landlord is unwilling to pony up the cash maybe you could make some arrangement to share the cost or something. I'm guessing you have a pretty affordable apartment/house so making it a little better and potentially safer is a good idea.

 

[Katoosie]

If ya wanna have some fun you could build a solar powered electrical grid. I did this in my camper...took some reading and learning but it runs everything lights, tv, fridge, will run a bass amp...just not a AC unit. . Batteries, solar charge controller, panels, and pure sine wave inverter are the components needed.

Not to be like... mean, or anything... but, you know... I just want to play my bass and NOT have to become a freaking engineer? No?

Also if this is RFI hum as you say @Jonathan C then wouldn't battery powered amps also buzz?
Why is a battery powered amp and my bass not making any crazy noises then?

 

[Xad]

Trust me, I tried.
Look what my amp is sitting on.
View attachment 4350289

Hey @Katoosie, like @Ronky suggested, what about a power station for your existing rig? Something like https://www.amazon.com/Portable-60000Mah-Generator-Powering-Refrigerator/dp/B08LQL8KVC, for example?

I don't have that particular one, as live in the US, but I do use similar ones (with 110V AC out) for outdoor gigs all the time. They work great. A 300-500Wh battery will last you many hours at in-the-house volumes, and you can obviously recharge as needed .

Another option that I use all the time is to run my Quilter Interbass (which I LOVE) using this battery and this cable. I have not done a full-to-empty test, but have let it run for 12 hours, and had 75% capacity left. The Interbass is an awesome pedal-sized amp with all the Quilter slam. More info about it here: Quilter Labs InterBass!

 

[Jonathan C]

Not to be like... mean, or anything... but, you know... I just want to play my bass and NOT have to become a freaking engineer? No?

Also if this is RFI hum as you say @Jonathan C then wouldn't battery powered amps also buzz?
Why is a battery powered amp and my bass not making any crazy noises then?

I do not know! If I had the answer, I'd share it. Here is something completely off the wall to try. Get a piece of wire. Doesn't even need to have a covering on it as long as the ends are exposed. Try to connect one end to any piece of exposed metal on your amp, the other to a water pipe in your home. Ground to earth, worth a try.

 

[Katoosie]

I do not know! If I had the answer, I'd share it. Here is something completely off the wall to try. Get a piece of wire. Doesn't even need to have a covering on it as long as the ends are exposed. Try to connect one end to any piece of exposed metal on your amp, the other to a water pipe in your home. Ground to earth, worth a try.

Yeah sorry I'm not doing that!

 

[juggahnaught]

I tried different cable although its the same type of a cable. Same thing.

Here is the recording.
Notice how when I touch the strings etc the buzz goes away, but touching the J pickup makes it worse (which I think is normal).
My other bass has humbuckers and it is the same thing.
And yes both basses do not buzz anywhere else.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
@mborn

This sounds like a grounding issue, if it goes away when you touch the pickup or the strings. Perhaps the outlets that you plug the amp into in your home aren't grounded well? Or perhaps something else is going on.

Your G and D strings sound great, by the way.

If you are looking for a headphone amp, there are expensive (and good) options out there like the Phil Jones stuff, but there are also less expensive (and also good) options like the Vox Amplug on amazon.se: https://www.amazon.se/VXAP2AC-Guita...eywords=vox+amplug&qid=1627579025&sr=8-1&th=1. It has a drum machine built in with nine beats or so, and three gain settings. They are small and plug directly into your bass so that you can play anywhere, and they use two AA size batteries. Even if you end up not needing a different rig, these are nice to have. I generally keep one in my gig bag, which allows me to play or practice without having to use my amp, which has been handy in a few situations. They also sound good.

Good luck.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I have this little guy, it works great for practice at home but too small for gigs..
Roland Micro Cube..

 

[basslayer]

Have you checked out [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]? If a headphone amp would work for you, I suggest the Traveler TB 4P bass. It has an internal headphone amp powered by AAA batteries.

 

[Jonathan C]

Yeah sorry I'm not doing that!

It would verify if your house wiring has a proper ground, there is no live current involved.

 

[R Briere]

I often use a Vox amp plug and AKG Headphones, Cheap. I thought I could perhaps improve battery life if I Ran Charging Cables to my Car Battery. Let's just say it didn't go well. LOLOL.

 

[Katoosie]

Hey @Katoosie, like @Ronky suggested, what about a power station for your existing rig? Something like https://www.amazon.com/Portable-60000Mah-Generator-Powering-Refrigerator/dp/B08LQL8KVC, for example?

I don't have that particular one, as live in the US, but I do use similar ones (with 110V AC out) for outdoor gigs all the time. They work great. A 300-500Wh battery will last you many hours at in-the-house volumes, and you can obviously recharge as needed .

Another option that I use all the time is to run my Quilter Interbass (which I LOVE) using this battery and this cable. I have not done a full-to-empty test, but have let it run for 12 hours, and had 75% capacity left. The Interbass is an awesome pedal-sized amp with all the Quilter slam. More info about it here: Quilter Labs InterBass!

Crap I really dig this power bank thing idea.
I found one called EcoFlow River 600. Yeah it is pricey but it seems like it is just a one, huge battery.
Quilter Labs InterBass!
It is rated at 600W. Would that be fine to run my amp? My gain is at noon and the volume is at the first notch out of 10

 

[SC Bassboy]

This should do it...