Drummer friend of mine just bought a cabin in the woods. Great place to make a ton of noise without upsetting the neighbors. Only problem? No electricity. He has a generator for the basics, but doesn't think it will power the SVT. Current generator could NOT power a floor sander to re-finish the hardwoods. QUESTION: How much generator would we need to run an SVT at full bore for a couple hours? I have no idea what kind of demands the SVT makes in terms of amperage.
I've played on Parade floats. With pa bass rig and a half stack. And a small gen set maybe 5000watts did the job with out a problem. And would assume most diesel units would put out more than enough. But what ever you do I'd suggest some sort of power conditioner to protect you and your gear! Some generators can fluctuate in output voltage be very careful
Diesel generators are typically pretty even with their power output so quality should not be a problem. As far as the amount of power, how it's distributed matters. The Ginny could be capable of as many watts as you want but if you are running off of the courtesy outlet on the side then you will eventually trip it's breaker.
Some generators aren't happy with light loads. An SVT by itself isn't that much power; in some cases it might not draw enough. The obvious solution to this problem: 2 SVT's.
A Honda EU2000 would be a good choice. It's very portable and as an inverter type generator, it provides a well regulated, perfect sine wave.
Diesel generators are rarely less than 5 KW, so, I doubt there would be an issue running an SVT. Of course it depends upon what else you are powering at the time. +1 on what @monkeyland wrote about the convenience receptacles. These receptacles probably limit you to 15 amps or about 1600 watts--this may be why the floor sander didn't work with the current generator. If you get a diesel generator, it should be wired to a distribution panel by a qualified electrician.
floor sander from Tool Time Tim? I can't imagine a diesel generator not being able to power anything you plug into a standard outlet.
I had just assumed I'd need diesel.. but would the Honda EU2000 just run on regular unleaded or somesuch? Is diesel too large / overkill? I wonder how many MPG (minutes per gallon) I'd get from the SVT using the Honda...
It depends on what you plan to run off the generator. Will you only be using the SVT? Or do you plan on using it to power lights and perhaps other amps or a PA? If you are only using it to power the SVT, then any generator that puts out 1.5 KW will likely work. And no matter which generator you use, make sure it's grounded before firing it up.
I would advise against using a delicate tube amp with hazy power such as what comes out of a generator. A recent, efficient head with all available protections would be a wiser choice IMHO.
