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Looking for something that ideally is inexpensive light weight, and has good battery life, maybe rechargeable battery? I haven't done any research on what's out there yet. Was hoping someone with experience busking or just using a portable amp in general can comment.
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05-31-2017 04:45 PM
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I wanted an inexpensive battery powered amp to take to the park/beach/living room jam, so I purchased a Fender Passport Mini. Nifty little amp, but not loud enough for busking.
You may want to try a Pignose Hog 20 or Hog 30. No bells or whistles, but should be loud enough for busking. Hog 30 is rechargeable.
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It would help if the OP would define "inexpensive" and "good".
But I'm afraid I can't help with an answer to the question, as I have disliked the sound of every battery-powered amp I've ever tried. The solution for me was an acoustic guitar. If I need an amp, I need AC.
The spinditty (?) webpage might be useful to you.Last edited by dconeill; 05-31-2017 at 05:29 PM.
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i will be watching this thread with some interest, as i've been waffling on this for some time now.
i had mentally settled for a roland ac33. it seems to be geared toward acoustics so i don't know how it handles electrics. if you wanted electric guitar flexibility (but a lesser acoustic sound, i feel), than a street cube might be worth considering. i was dubious of the street cubes, but having heard a few in action abroad, i was surprised about the volume and sound quality they put out. not amazing, but plenty good enough for the task at hand.
another interesting option i recently became aware of is the laney audiohub freestyle 4x4. only available from the uk, but at around $300 or so, it seems very compelling. i just might, to have a knock around travel speaker for guitars and music.
on the fancier end of things you have the acus one for street and the aer compact mobile. good luck with that.
that carvin seems like an ok compromise, but it isn't exactly small or cheap.
the things you have to sort out for yourself is what you're willing to spend and what you're willing to carry. are you playing acoustic only or electric? archtops? need vocal capabilities? phantom power? will you use preamps, or a pedal board? need a mixer? i'd much, much rather have an ac powered amp, but there isn't really an easy, cheap, light solution to that, either. if you drag a cart around that's one thing, but if you are lugging everything on your back, or will be traveling through planes, trains, and buses, that's quite another.
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I am happy with the Roland micro cube, and have two friends buy one after playing on mine. Not sure what more you could want for busking.
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+1 on the Roland Micro Cube - amazing little amp. Use the Brit Combo emulation with gain down for best headroom. The ZT Lunchbox Jr also had a battery option, I believe. In both cases, rechargeable batts could be employed (?).
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Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I should have mentioned I'm probably going to use mostly nylon acoustic guitar on it, no vocals. I wouldn't mind using my electric as well. I'll probably just bring one or the other depending on how I feel that day. I usually do solo guitar gigs on my nylon though, so that will probably be my default.
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The Roland Street ex is quite good. I got one last year because I get called to play weddings a lot in the summer and a lot of them are outside. Getting them to run power out to me was frustrating and sometimes not possible so I did some research and got this amp. It is plenty loud, runs on AA batteries and you can select how much volume you need to save batteries. It is the first portable amp I have used that feels like a "real amp" where's I am not sacrificing much to get to play without needing to plug into an outlet. It is not inexpensive compared to other portable amps but it is much more powerful. The amount of inputs is really useful too. A lot of the time I will be playing with a violinist and we can both plug right in. The amp simulations are not great but it has a decent clean sound which is all I need. I also like that it angles up so that it projects better from the floor.
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Absolutely smallest most portable set up that's as loud as the rest maybe louder and decently priced
Bose blu tooth speaker (can't use that with guitar , use the AUX IN using adapter )--guitar cable --Garage band app on phone
20 hours batttery life rechargeable battery . Decently loud
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Another vote for the Roland Street - I've used it for the past 2 years on many occasions where AC was absent and when playing solo, duo or trio gigs without drums it was always loud enough. My main concern in any situation is : can I hear myself ? Since these gigs
almost exclusively are of the "providing athmosphere" variety, that rig works very well and provides a decent sound, too.
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With a Vox Amplug, no phone or Garageband needed either, just a mini stereo cable.
Originally Posted by NSJ
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I have a number of battery-powered amps including three Roland micro cubes, a Carvin Stagemate S400, an AER Compact 60 mobile, and a yellow Crate Taxi tx30. For busking, I think any of these would work. For a no kiddin' overall best guitar and vocal sound it would be hands-down the AER Compact 60 mobile -- however, it's also the most expensive and the heaviest to lug around. For busking, I'd probably take something else. Possiblly the Roland Micro Cube RX. It's lightweight, has rev and delay, easy to replace AA batteries, and sounds good. If I needed a bit more volume and presence, I'd take the Crate Taxi tx30, however, it lacks rev and delay and uses a rechargeable battery. Cool little amp though; I used it quite a bit back 15 years ago with a Gypsy Jazz band. Frankly, I think the Roland Street Cube is very similar to the Taxi but I don't have one of those.
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So with an adapter you can run a Bose thru the amplug instead of headphones?thats tiny.If loud edough would be cool
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I got a Roland Street, replaced the speakers with a pair of Webers (about 70 bucks for a million dollar improvement) and made a battery pack that fits 6 rechargeable C cells that goes right into the DC jack.
This means I never need to buy batteries, or for a long time at least. It's got a good volume, really good sound and the battery pack can literally run all day.
One little extra I just added, a parallel wired second 9 volt lead that can power my Ditto. Virtually no difference in current drain and it solves the problem of no battery for the Ditto. All with the same rechargable battery pack.
And it sounds good enough that I can use it on gigs in duo with another guitarist or bassist.
It's paid for itself many times over.
David
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Wow, awesome collection of suggestions. Thanks again everyone. Reading through and taking all into careful consideration. I knew you guys would have lots of good recommendations!
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Looks very good anyone used one ? Originally Posted by drbhrb
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I have small Berhinger PA speaker, this one Amazon.com: Behringer B208d Active 220-Watt 2-Way Pa Speaker System With 8" Woofer And 1.35" Compression Driver: Musical Instruments Originally Posted by drbhrb
I tried to play through it with a modeler, it's really bass heavy and I had a difficult time getting my guitar eq'd correctly with it. I gave up on it. Just saying, try it before you buy it.
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fasciating. i'd like to hear more about the mods, most especially the speakers and battery pack. i wonder if such wizardry could be applied to other roland products, or to amps that don't have a battery power option. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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Can you point me to the Weber speakers you used. A million times improvement, give it to me. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
How about a power pack like this: TalentCell Rechargeable 72W 100WH 12V/8300mAh 9V/11000mAh 5V/20000mAh DC Output Lithium Ion Battery Pack for LED Strip and CCTV Camera, Portable Li-ion Power Bank, Black - - Amazon.com
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I have the Street Cube EX and I've been on the fence about the speaker replacement. Seems all the speakers have about the same freq response and I haven't come across anything with a little more in the low end. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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I was curious about a replacement too but I don't want to add any weight. I put an Eminence Delta Demon in my Cube 30x and it sounds very good but drastically increased the weight and for a portable battery powered amp I want to be able to travel light. Originally Posted by Stevebol
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i always thought you needed something with an inverter and fancy power like a goal zero yeti or something similar cobbled from a battery and various other whatnots. Originally Posted by fep
Goal Zero Yeti 400 Portable Power Station | Power Packs | Goal Zero
it cranks out the "good" power (safe for amps and electronics) vs the "bad" power which is fine for usb charging and stuff but potentially dangerous for an amp.
and i was looking at the roland ac33, which seems to sound a little better with acoustics, but with 5.5" speakers, pickings are even slimmer- jensen makes one, i think. maybe i should look at the street cube and hope speaker mods make the difference? but yeah, weight would be a huge concern.
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Roland Cubes
Busking in some places with amplification require permits.
Acoustics, not always but it would be prudent to check.
Adam Neely did a very informative YouTube on this. Permit process etc...
Last edited by geogio; 06-11-2019 at 05:54 PM.
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Steveboi, I just found out about the Roland Street ex. 50 watts of available powered by batteries that can be recharged if you want. 2 channels, stereo chorus and reverb, an 8" speaker and a 2" tweeter for each channel. That's good for effects, full frequency spectrum and I'm going to experiment with putting a weber hemp speaker in one to see if I can get a convincing jazzy rig. About 15 lbs for the whole thing!
Would work as a portable PA rig too if you want versatility-good option.
David
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Haven't done real testing (set up with a music source and measure) but all of my Class D amps can be powered for hours by a 5 pound 500W/hour lithium battery. You can't just go by ohms law and the number on the back. Class D amps don't pull that much steady state current because of how they work.
The most power hungry set up I run would be an Acus 350 with phantom power mic's and a pedal board. Informal runs have been 4 hours. A Schertler Jam 150 extension with a pedal board will go over 12 hours. Power packs are handy for camping and power outages as well. Got this on sale for $212.
And you need a good sine wave model.. not all of these are good for electronics.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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