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

[lermgalieu]

Please note the most critical information towards solving this issue wasn't provided until page 4.

Really? Actually the thread title gave you all the info you need. An amp that doesn't run on house electricity.

 

[vickerekes]

I posted this on the Mini Rigs thread: Less than $200 solution.
We bought one of these for camping... it runs my SWR Spellbinder Blue plenty loud for hours and hours, no problem.
Maybe you can keep your rig.

 

[BassBrass]

If you Instagram, follow bostonhomeinspectors. He finds and documents some eye-poppingly awful stuff.

Oh I know, I should have specified after inspection or new. I lived in a 5 person band house in lower Allston (right next to the substation which gave us gingivitis) and all the wiring was done by the Irish Grandpa. Then an electrician came over one day.

 

[Chewy_B_i_T_s]

The folks wanting to get at the "root cause" have good hearts. They're the holistic practitioners of TalkBass who don't just want to address your specific issue but want your whole quality of life to be better. They care about you and would rather have you spend your money on a "healthy" overall house.

This reminds me of an old joke.

Patient: Doc, every time I take a sip of coffee I get a pain in my right eye. What should I do?
Doctor: Take the spoon out of the cup.​

 

[dalkowski]

Oh I know, I should have specified after inspection or new. I lived in a 5 person band house in lower Allston (right next to the substation which gave us gingivitis) and all the wiring was done by the Irish Grandpa. Then an electrician came over one day.

Lower Allston (UKLA)! My first Boston crib was just west of there and my band did some recording at a studio on or near N. Harvard.

 

[BassBrass]

Lower Allston (UKLA)! My first Boston crib was just west of there and my band did some recording at a studio on or near N. Harvard.

Now it's our thread. no one will mind. Lamar Louder and many others had studios on Rug Road, N. Harvard and LA had lots of empty commercial spaces in the 80s. I was later associated with another band house (these huge Victorian houses full of artwork and pets, with 4 livable floors, every room different, some very small) on the East side near the truck storage/HarvardLaw...once had a tactical squad dismiss a 700 person party that suddenly manifested after 2am. They were celebrating Defenestration Day, a made up holiday of a resident. We all knew the poor kid with ADD that kicked a cop in the groin. Shouldn't have happened.

 

[mrjim123]

Uniteruptible Power Supply.

A rechargeable battery pack that goes between the mains and an appliance, usually a computer, to protect it from mains power failure. Some only switch to battery when the power fails so won't make any difference to your issue. Some run the appliance on battery all the time which might help with your issue.

uninterruptible power supply

 

[Plain Old Barry]

What are you talking about?
One of the houses on the line is old and so is the electricity system. It's not my house and I can't do anything about it, my house is new.

Move

 

[beans-on-toast]

Not a route that you’d take because of cost but FYI…This is what global touring bands use to manage their power so that their amps can work anywhere. Plug it in to the wall and the output is clean AC that’s adjustable. If you amps are 240VAC 50Hz you can dial that in. Should you want 120VAC 60Hz, no problem. They offer a number of different products, the MA series is one.

Products: PCR-MA Series: Compact AC Power Supply PCR-MA Series

 

[el murdoque]

Yep I'm leaning towards a double four with a battery or some headphone amp thing/laptop.

I can recommend that If you're fed up with headphones. I do have a dell powerbank for laptops and a double four and they work fine together. It's been a while since I fired up the big amp for home practice.
IMHO the Phil Jones stuff always has sound first and volume second, so the D4 sounds quite full - but still gets way louder than you'll need to play by yourself.

Important notice: The current model of the European Double 4 has been modified and does not come with the external laptop charger brick any more, the power supply is internal now, with a 230V plug on the unit.
So if you're after a D4 that can run off a battery, get it fast, some shops still carry old stock.

 

[Crater]

So, I was reading up on Swedish electrical systems and found this page:
Sweden - Power plug, socket & mains voltage in Sweden

Apparently, there are two types of power outlets used in Sweden, type F, which is earthed (grounded) and type C which is not earthed/grounded. Apparently one can take a (presumably modern) type F plug and insert into an (presumably older) type C unearthed/ungrounded wall outlet. Lack of an earth connection through the power outlet could cause the excess noise Katoosie is experiencing. Perhaps that's what the landlord meant by "the line not being suitable for amplifiers" because it's not earthed. In any case, I don't think Katoosie is in any danger or electrocution or an electrical fire.

The American electrical system is similar, older houses used a 2 prong ungrounded electrical system, newer houses built since the 1970s have a 3 prong electrical outlets with a separate ground connection.

 

[Katoosie]

So, I was reading up on Swedish electrical systems and found this page:
Sweden - Power plug, socket & mains voltage in Sweden

Apparently, there are two types of power outlets used in Sweden, type F, which is earthed (grounded) and type C which is not earthed/grounded. Apparently one can take a (presumably modern) type F plug and insert into an (presumably older) type C unearthed/ungrounded wall outlet. Lack of an earth connection through the power outlet could cause the excess noise Katoosie is experiencing. Perhaps that's what the landlord meant by "the line not being suitable for amplifiers" because it's not earthed. In any case, I don't think Katoosie is in any danger or electrocution or an electrical fire.

The American electrical system is similar, older houses used a 2 prong ungrounded electrical system, newer houses built since the 1970s have a 3 prong electrical outlets with a separate ground connection.

All the outlets in my house are the new type, with the ground. Good job though

 

[Steadfast]

I invented a peddle powered bass amp. You have to be able to peddle and play at the same time….. or put your teen to work. I will sell you the patent.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

 

[WestyBassBob]

(Just for clarification, the particular battery @Katoosie linked has a peak output of 1800W.)

Hmm. My Swedish isn’t very good. But the one I was looking at said 600. If it is 1800 then that’s plenty.

 

[JimChjones]

All the outlets in my house are the new type, with the ground. Good job though

Funny things can happen with grounds if the wiring has been done in a none ideal manner. I recall a very peculiar situation where the site I worked at had two buildings about 50 metres apart. There was, and goodness knows how this is possible, a substantial voltage difference between the ground in one building and the ground in the other. This caused no problems (and no-one even knew) until the computer network in the first building was extended to the second without taking care of ground connections properly (this was before fibre optics were readily available). I forget all the details, but the sum of it was that there was a current flow through the 'earthed' shielding of the cable between the buildings and there were enormous problems with the signal quality.

I didn't even know such a thing was possible, I thought an earth connection was an earth connection! In your place I think I would be getting the ground connection in your house checked out independently, because there are potential issues (sorry) and I would want to be sure there are no safety or reliability problems with the electricity installation.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I thought an earth connection was an earth connection

And now someone will explain virtual grounding...

(not me )

 

[MrLenny1]

Instead of buying an amp hire an electrician.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

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!

Pre amp with headphone out. Ampeg di runs on batteries. I think the TC Spectra Drive does too.

Get rechargeable batteries.

 

[fdeck]

Don't know if you've seen an outlet tester, or what the Swedish version looks like. Here's one for a US outlet:

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Gear-Receptacle-Indications-50542/dp/B002LZTKIA

Quite cheap. You plug it into any outlet, it has 3 lights, and the pattern of which lights are lit up tells you something about how the outlet is wired. Anything but "correct" is... incorrect.

Some of the conditions shown on the tester could be symptoms of a single outlet, or of the entire house. I'm not a professional electrician, much less one licensed to work in Sweden, but there could be a wiring error in your landlord's house, or a missing earth ground, or who knows what. A single error at your landlord's power entry box could affect both houses. The fact that it's happening equally in all outlets points to such a cause.

Not to sound alarmist, but in addition to protecting you from getting a shock, the electrical standards are also intended to reduce the risk of some kinds of fires. So regardless of what kind of battery powered solution you arrive at, getting the house checked out still seems like a decent idea.