Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 (edited) What happens if you want to go battery-powered? I've invested a fair bit of time & money (nearly £200) over the last couple of weeks in experimenting, so I thought I'd best start sharing some of what I've learned. WHAT I'VE GOT I've ended up with two possible solutions: 1. PJB Briefcase (the original, not the 'Ultimate' version) powered by a newly-bought Lucas battery at the spec recommended by the PJB manual. This was easily found and cost £19.45 new through eBay. I've had the Briefcase for many years but I've always used it with mains power. 2. Hotone Thunder Bass micro-head (£87 online) powered by a hard-to-find BoxKing PowerBank (coincidentally also £87 online) running into an Embee 1210 cab. I already had the cab so all I bought was the micro-head and power supply. The head runs best off >1Ω and prefers 2Ω but this power pack includes a dedicated 18V supply running at roughly 0.5Ω. This results in slightly less volume, not quite as good tone, and occasional connectivity issues. Also, please note that the Hotone works significantly better when paired with a 4Ω cab (like this one) as opposed to an 8Ω cab. WHAT I'M DOING This is the first of three pairs of videos intended to give you a fair idea of the practicality of running off lightweight batteries ... volume levels, achievable tone quality, and so on. Pairs because each session includes both electric bass and double bass. Mind you, the first pair needed an intro and an outro (because I had to set up the plot and introduce the main characters) so that it's not actually a pair so much as four of a kind. My main aim is to show how these rigs sound in the real world, in my case rehearsing live with my bands in a small private woodland in the Chilterns. That sound can best be gauged if you have a 'vanilla' benchmark, so Silvie and I have started by recording solo videos in the studio. The plan is that the second pair of videos will be shot on Thursday evening in the woods with The Junkyard Dogs (using battery-powered guitar amp + battery-powered cajon), and the third pair will be shot on Sunday morning in the woods with Damo & The Dynamites (using acoustic guitar + acoustic cajon). How much of this plan survives contact with reality is anybody's guess. All sessions are without a vocal PA, so the overall volume level is automatically set at whatever the vocalist feels comfortable singing over. THINGS TO REMEMBER Obviously what I'm doing here is rather different from busking outside a bus garage or in a busy town centre, but these videos will hopefully give you at least some clue as to whether this is an approach that you might want to pursue. Secondly, these videos are not here to demonstrate what a superb bassist I am. I could have spent far longer preparing these videos by playing stuff over and over until I got the perfect take. Instead I've just laid down a quick & dirty take for each recording in order to concentrate on the real subject of the videos. One last thing ... the Briefcase is much heavier than it looks. For busking purposes I very strongly recommend that you use a trolley of some sort. You'll likely mess up your back if you carry it one-handed for any great distance. Edited August 4, 2020 by Happy Jack 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 (edited) EDIT: I should point out that through the camera and then through my own PC the PJB Briefcase actually sounds way better than it seemed to me when I was standing next to it. At the time @Silvia Bluejay was standing behind the camera and was surprised that I was so critical of the Briefcase with DB. Edited August 4, 2020 by Happy Jack 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 Apologies for the glitchy/noisy zooming in and out - DSLRs don't like having that done while they're recording video. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 My Briefcase for double bass sounds a LOT better with a decent pre-amp (EDB1) in front of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 4, 2020 Author Share Posted August 4, 2020 I may have to try putting my Broughton HPF up front ... it might be an impedance-matching issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 @Happy Jack and others, the BoxKing PowerBank can be found easily by Thomann under the name Falken 1 Mega Power Bank (it's the one I'm using) : https://m.thomann.de/gb/kse_falken_1.htm?o=0&search=1596567573 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 There's another option for great sounding battery powered combos : GSS. The system below will deliver 200 Watts through a 2x8" cabinet. Just add the extra lithium battery and you'll get a very versatile ultra portable mains-free mini rig. The "combo" : https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-double8-2-x-8-bass-cabinet-c2x20174304 The battery pack : https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/7s35v2-intelligent-lithium-battery-pack-for-guitar-sound-systems-mini-bass-amps-c2x18346407 I've owned the combo below with the battery pack and it was a delight to play (but more designed for double bass) : https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-06b400-mini-bass-amp-c2x15043753 To me it sounded better than the PJB Briefcase that I owned too, and is way much lighter too. Should I need to play mains-free again, I'll go for their 2x8" "combo" with the battery pack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodwind Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 @Happy Jack Fantastic videos. Thank you for this! @Hellzero great heads up on these amps 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodwind Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 18 hours ago, Hellzero said: I've owned the combo below with the battery pack and it was a delight to play (but more designed for double bass) : https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-06b400-mini-bass-amp-c2x15043753 To me it sounded better than the PJB Briefcase that I owned too, and is way much lighter too How loud would you say you could get with that combo and would you have an opinion on the sort of headroom available for a given volume? Cheers Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 @Woodwind : This smaller combo can compete with the PJB Briefcase without any problem, so good for rehearsals and small pub gigs or playing acoustic music. For this there's enough headroom, but for larger gigs or more brutal music I would choose the 2x8" as it moves more air and has twice the power power. Hope this helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodwind Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 31 minutes ago, Hellzero said: @Woodwind : This smaller combo can compete with the PJB Briefcase without any problem... Brilliant, this is what I wanted to hear, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 The best-laid plans, eh? Firstly our Thursday rehearsal got moved to Wednesday, then we set up our kit in the woods and the Hotone/BoxKing rig suddenly misbehaved and died again. It had done this previously in my home studio when we were preparing the first bunch of videos, leading to another topic elsewhere: However, switching to just using the 4Ω Embee 1210 cab seemed to cure the problem and a couple of hours testing gave no recurrence. As soon as we set up in the woods, there was a straight repeat along with an interesting selection of squeals and howls. All very dispiriting, so we switched it all off and put it away. Plugged it all together again today at home and ... it all worked perfectly. Ah well, we'll try again with my other band on Sunday. Meanwhile, we were left with just the PJB Briefcase and it was superb. I genuinely couldn't hear any difference between using it when plugged into the mains and using it on battery power. Set to full volume, it was about the right level for a no-PA rehearsal or for busking in a relatively quiet area ... you'd have no trouble with this in a shopping precinct or a public park, for example. Don't be misled by the overly quiet vocals here - Rick is capable of singing very loudly indeed, far far louder than this, but he wasn't there to test my kit, he was just running through stuff we haven't played live for too too long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 OK, time to finish this off with a video of the Hotone when it's functioning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 Despite the lack-of-power issue (i.e. 0.5A battery power rather than 2A) the Hotone performed perfectly adequately with both the DB and the Precision. The improved tone from the PJB Briefcase was probably no more than reflection of the power issue. Overall, I definitely prefer the Briefcase for actual outdoor performance ... easier to use, no set-up time, fewer cables, etc. plus the on-board compression on the Briefcase (just a single knob) is surprisingly effective. The Hotone has now found a new home and a new function. It now lives next to my PC in my study/office and has become my home rehearsal amp running (off the mains) into a Crazy 8. For this purpose, it is pretty much unbeatable. The tone is superb and the volume levels very sensible for playing along with mp3s. It's also cute as anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 The Hotone also has an AUX input and a headphone socket, so it's equally good for silent practice with the PC (after unplugging the cab, obviously). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 Revived. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 A timely revival! To date I've been using a Roland Microbass Cube, which runs off 6 rechargeable AAs for a few hours. But Somewhere in the package delivery systems an Ashdown Ant and an Stonefield Mighty Mini. Add in an HX Stomp and a prototype home built Midi pedal ... at present the only thing that is not dependent on the mains is the Midi pedal (Internal Lithium Battery). The band is a ukulele group and we sometimes do gigs outdoors ... and I've just started researching how to drive my system from a portable rechargeable source. It turns out that many modern rechargeable power banks (the ones that support quick charging) can be "told" by whatever they are plugged into what voltage/current to provide, the range is quite amazing! I imagine this would nicely drive your micro head setup. I'm hoping that I can get it to drive my setup (Tho I'll have to do some mods to the Ant as it has an internal mains transformer) I've yet to find an off the shelf widget that sends the "Give me more power" command to the battery bank, but if I do I'll share it here. The specs I've read means a self-build is not too challenging and should have a price point of just a few quid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 3, 2022 Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 Revived again since the question is again being asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aalin Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 There is an interesting thread on Talkbass about that: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diy-tiny-battery-powered-bass-amp-tutorial.1515245/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSCOWBASS Posted December 6, 2022 Share Posted December 6, 2022 https://www.grbass.com/portfolio/pocket/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 2 hours ago, MOSCOWBASS said: https://www.grbass.com/portfolio/pocket/ That looks like a very cute piece of kit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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