Why So Few Affordable Battery Powered Bass Amps?

[Crater]

Because they are stupid?

No, it's because they are subject to the same laws of physics and economics as the rest of us. It takes some serious electric power to shake a mass of air at bass frequencies, and the batteries needed to supply that much power are either large, heavy and expensive, or not quite as large and heavy, but very expensive. Class-D helps make the most of limited power, and cab and driver designs have improved, but amplifying bass is still the audio equivalent of pulling a trailer, you need power and large enough "tires" (drivers) to deliver the energy.

Rechargeable batteries of all types are relatively expensive and have a limited life, and that life can be shortened considerably if the batteries are misused or not properly charged. Potential warranty nightmare for companies, IMO.

Someone (Alesis?) makes a battery powered self contained PA speaker, that's probably about the closest you'll get to a 'fully baked' ready to go product that would work as long as you're not expecting too much. There are various roll-your-own solutions possible involving conventional equipment connected to an inverter and batteries, including some self contained battery+inverter "power packs" that look promising.

I've never even entertained a need for such a thing. ... Just questioning the demand.

Are you kidding? There seem to be several threads on TB every month from people wanting a "battery powered bass amp for busking." This subject has been discussed a lot.

 

[groooooove]

it would be nice if they worked great, but honestly i've never really needed one.

i would't buy one unless it was really cheap and worked really well. we are not there yet.

 

[KohanMike]

No, it's because they are subject to the same laws of physics and economics as the rest of us. It takes some serious electric power to shake a mass of air at bass frequencies, and the batteries needed to supply that much power are either large, heavy and expensive, or not quite as large and heavy, but very expensive. Class-D helps make the most of limited power, and cab and driver designs have improved, but amplifying bass is still the audio equivalent of pulling a trailer, you need power and large enough "tires" (drivers) to deliver the energy.

I amazed how many people don't read all the posts, especially on a short thread like this. As I said earlier, I put together a very small 8aH battery and 200w inverter for around $100 that runs my Carvin MB15 200/250w 15" amp, which also includes a matching 115MBE extension box, for hours. The battery rig can be used on any kind of amp.

 

[SJan3]

No, it's because they are subject to the same laws of physics and economics as the rest of us. It takes some serious electric power to shake a mass of air at bass frequencies, and the batteries needed to supply that much power are either large, heavy and expensive, or not quite as large and heavy, but very expensive. Class-D helps make the most of limited power, and cab and driver designs have improved, but amplifying bass is still the audio equivalent of pulling a trailer, you need power and large enough "tires" (drivers) to deliver the energy.

Rechargeable batteries of all types are relatively expensive and have a limited life, and that life can be shortened considerably if the batteries are misused or not properly charged. Potential warranty nightmare for companies, IMO.

Someone (Alesis?) makes a battery powered self contained PA speaker, that's probably about the closest you'll get to a 'fully baked' ready to go product that would work as long as you're not expecting too much. There are various roll-your-own solutions possible involving conventional equipment connected to an inverter and batteries, including some self contained battery+inverter "power packs" that look promising.

Are you kidding? There seem to be several threads on TB every month from people wanting a "battery powered bass amp for busking." This subject has been discussed a lot.

No, I'm not kidding. In 51 years of playing, I've never entertained the need. I mostly agree with your assessment of the current state of batteries, but why the "are you kidding" quote? I believe I led my comment with, "from my perspective". Am I not entitled to that?
Ease off a little, my friend.

 

[InhumanResource]

Well, we are in a forum in which it feels as if the consensus is that 500W of amplification 8s required to play the tiniest club, and power used considerably exceeds power delivered. So if no reasonable dry cell battery system can deliver the power that the consensus says is required, why is it a surprise few of these supposedly inadequate amps are made?

I get the sense of the opposite sentiment that playing with 50 watt head on an 8" driver is plenty to drive a bar gig without PA support! Exaggeration obviously but I'm not convinced some of these folks check what the sound is like FOH vs stage.

 

[selowitch]

It seems to me that with so many musicians opting to play outside due to the pandemic that we'd see at least one new bass amp on the market in the $500-$750 range with a battery option but ... I guess not.

 

[Al Kraft]

It seems to me that with so many musicians opting to play outside due to the pandemic that we'd see at least one new bass amp on the market in the $500-$750 range with a battery option but ... I guess not.

Good point...hopefully some of the big guys in the business are listening!

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Why not add some RC Lipo battery excitement to your outdoor show.

 

[Stevorebob]

Ima guess because demand is low.

 

[seamonkey]

Major cordless power tool manufacturers now all make small to large job site inverters that work off their batteries.
Their batteries are everywhere and have good multi-year warranties.
If you have small to medium class-d amp you can plug into one of these and play for hours.

If an amp manufacturer tried to buy as good of batteries they wouldn't have the same scale of sales and price discounts. And they wouldn't be able to stock replacement batteries needed over time. Look at Tesla roadster battery issues. The cars are fine, but replacement battery packs aren't available.

It's not worth it to bass gear manufacturers to get into batteries. Especially now with job site inverters with capable manufacturers managing the battery supply streams.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Despite the pandemic and the movement toward outdoor-only performances, I remain surprised at the dearth of battery-powered bass amps and/or heads. I have a Phil Jones Double Four BG-75 with a portable power supply, but it's just not quite loud enough on its own for my outdoor gigging needs. I also have a Roland BA-330 which functions decently as a bass amp as well as a 4-6 channel PA and runs on 8 x AA batteries. It's even possible to use those two in concert with each other and that gets me pretty much where I need to be. I even hear that a Quilter Interbass with a mobile power supply and speaker cabinet can surpass the Double Four in practical volume, though I don't have one of those.

Still, I'm wondering why there are so few options for battery-powered bass playing outdoors. I know Phil Jones has some higher-end battery-powered stuff like the Briefcase Ultimate, but that's mighty expensive.

I played bass guitar in the pit for marching band my senior year in high school. That was 21 years ago and I used an older version of this to power two peavey amps.

My guess is there's not much demand for bigger battery powered bass rigs and or the r&d and production cost would be ridiculous. The cost of materials for an amp builder to get good batteries that would last is through the roof. Between stuff like the production of electric cars and billions of cell phones those materials are in high demand. Plus there's the issue of reliability. A lot of batteries suck. I have to buy a new laptop battery like every other year for example. If I don't it's because I bought a new laptop that came with a new battery. But yeah since that experience playing bass with marching band I've played hundreds of gigs and never really had an issue of not having somewhere to plug in. I own a couple really long extension cords. I actually bought them because I got tired of small engine stuff like weed eaters for example crapping out on modern fuel that has ethanol on it. So other than my mower all of my yardwork equipment is electric now. If I think power is going to be an issue o just toss my extension cords in the trunk

 

[SJan3]

It seems to me that with so many musicians opting to play outside due to the pandemic that we'd see at least one new bass amp on the market in the $500-$750 range with a battery option but ... I guess not.

You've piqued my interest. I might be Interested at the right price/performance point. Still, I can't help but think of my cordless electric razor that gradually and predictably looses it's charge while the whirring tapers off to an anemic drone as it's about to give up the ghost.

 

[fdeck]

Need agedhorse to make a small nuclear reactor powered combo that wouldn't need a cord or charger

Here's a start:

Patent Details

It's basically a vacuum diode in which the "filament" is heated by nuclear fission. Things like this have been around for a long time, as they predate solar batteries for generating power in space.

 

[OregonJim]

I amazed how many people don't read all the posts, especially on a short thread like this. As I said earlier, I put together a very small 8aH battery and 200w inverter for around $100 that runs my Carvin MB15 200/250w 15" amp, which also includes a matching 115MBE extension box, for hours. The battery rig can be used on any kind of amp.

Let's see: A 12V, 8AH battery into a 200W inverter. Let's be generous and say the inverter is 80% efficient. And let's be generous with the amp and give it 80% efficiency as well.

12V * 8A * 0.8 * 0.8 gives you about 60W out for no more than an hour at best.

 

[selowitch]

Let's see: A 12V, 8AH battery into a 200W inverter. Let's be generous and say the inverter is 80% efficient. And let's be generous with the amp and give it 80% efficiency as well.

12V * 8A * 0.8 * 0.8 gives you about 60W out for no more than an hour at best.

This is where my head starts to swim and I want to give up on the whole thing because I don't understand the interplay of watts, amperes, etc. nor do I comprehend what would be adequate/appropriate for my needs and I cannot seem to get clear answers despite Internet searches.

 

[mcnach]

Since electricity is widely available, battery-powered bass ampifiers are pretty much unnecessary.

!!!

 

[M0ses]

Billions and billions of dollars have been put into battery technology over the last several decades. It's still advancing very slowly, but it has advanced and you can buy batteries sufficient for the job at any automotive or hardware store.

Why would an instrument manufacturer have the slightest bit of interest in investing money in re-doing that same R&D from the ground up?

There is no advantage I can see to incorporating the battery and inverter into an integrated amp. You will end up with either an amp that is 60 pounds more difficult to move even when you do have access to grid power, or an amp that is not powerful enough for practical purposes. And in each case the amp now contains chemicals and energy that can be quite dangerous to store in the wrong conditions!
Overall integrated batteries are just a bad idea and any amp can be battery powered without modification so I'm not sure what the problem is.

 

[M0ses]

This is where my head starts to swim and I want to give up on the whole thing because I don't understand the interplay of watts, amperes, etc. nor do I comprehend what would be adequate/appropriate for my needs and I cannot seem to get clear answers despite Internet searches.

It's very simple. Get as much power as you can afford and you can practically transport and store. You will still wish you had more. Playing outdoors is the worst possible time to have an underpowered amp isn't that obvious.

 

[pbassjbass]

It seems to me that with so many musicians opting to play outside due to the pandemic that we'd see at least one new bass amp on the market in the $500-$750 range with a battery option but ... I guess not.

I suspect that price puts you into the neighborhood of a usable lithium ion battery power supply for the job. Might need two, for fail over, or encores.

Easier to just use the 1960's garage band model, play in the garage, close to the power (and out of the rain).

 

[mmon77]

1

Let's see: A 12V, 8AH battery into a 200W inverter. Let's be generous and say the inverter is 80% efficient. And let's be generous with the amp and give it 80% efficiency as well.

12V * 8A * 0.8 * 0.8 gives you about 60W out for no more than an hour at best.

You only did half the math. What does the amp require for input power?

i randomly looked at the TE Elf. 120V @ 30W. If I remember correctly that wattage figure is on the high side of what the amp uses. So even if you were slamming it, that amp should run for 2 hours on the above referenced system. Other amps will have different requirements. If you're planning on trying to run an older class AB amp, or think you're gonna run an SVT and a fridge, you'll need quite the battery pack.

As per the OP question, I think the reason is lack of demand, really. These days there are plenty of external power pack options, so i would go that route. Or use a quiet inverter generator. I have a Honda eU2200i. If I didn't use that generator for other things, I'd look at the Harbor Freight Predator line. They get good reviews and are half the cost of the Hondas.