How do you feel about a bettery powered amp?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 21 Jan 2002 8:14 am

I saw one agt the NAMM show. 130 watts into a 12 inch speaker with a horn. Runs on 3 motorcycle batteries and weighs 55 pounds.

It was designed for bass, but we took it over to the Carter booth and ran a steel through it, and at the low volume we had to play at, it sounded very good.

I made arrangements to go to the factory with my steel and crank it up. Assuming it still performs at performance level volume, would you want a truly portable amp?

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 21 Jan 2002 10:46 am

Any gig that doesn't have adequate electricity probably doesn't have other facilities that make playing steel guitar easy on the picker.

I've been asked to set up and play on sloping gravel driveways as well as front lawns, directly on the wet grass. It's a major PITA. If I know what's up beforehand I bring a small foldable platform to play on, but if the gig schedule just says "private party," oftentimes there's no warning the partythrower is an freakin' imbecile about what the band needs.

And of course, hauling around three motorcycle batteries is SOOOOOOO professional looking!

I'm sure its a great item. But don't call me for the gig.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 21 January 2002 at 10:46 AM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 21 Jan 2002 11:01 am

In 1975 I spent a lot of time playing on the street in San Francisco. I designed and built a battery powered amp. It used two latern batteries, I think, and put out about 20 watts. The batteries weren't rechargable, and the cost of them was one of my fixed expenses.

It worked pretty good. I sat on it and played lap steel. It cut through the street noise real well. No low notes, though - I used a high G6th tuning. It didn't have the umph to push low notes into the rumble of the city.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E7, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 21 Jan 2002 12:23 pm

...hauling around three motorcycle batteries is SOOOOOOO professional looking!

Herb, the batteries are inside the amp (which weighs 55 pounds)

We still don't know how the amp will sound at performance level volume, but I will bring my steel to the factory next week and give it a real test. I'll post the results.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 21 Jan 2002 12:41 pm

OOOOOPPPS!!! :O:O

I'll just go back in my little hole, now... sorry...

no, really... I do feel silly...

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 21 Jan 2002 1:17 pm

no, really... I do feel silly.

I'll feel even sillier if the amp turns out to be a bust.

But assuming the amp is really happening, would any of you guys want to own a truly portable steel amp?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 21 Jan 2002 1:26 pm

What's the sense of a battery operated amp if you'd have to find a place to plug in all your effects anyway?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 Jan 2002 1:27 pm

I can't think of a gig, that I've played in the last 30 years that would have required a battery powered amp.

It may have it's applications but not something that I would need or really be interested in.

Beside, I usually turn down "outside" gigs. If I play an outside gig I might as well go home and change strings as they will be dead.

Johan Jansen · Post by **Johan Jansen** » 21 Jan 2002 1:32 pm

How long do the battries hold? What happens when they go down? What happens when you have to transport the amp horizontal? Acid all over?
Can I plug it in the car-sigarettelighter to load it up on the way to the gig?
JJ

Michael Garnett · Post by **Michael Garnett** » 21 Jan 2002 1:48 pm

You could definitely use it in an all-acoustic environment... I believe they call that "UNPLUGGED"

Garnett

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 21 Jan 2002 2:01 pm

Jack Stoner wrote:

Beside, I usually turn down "outside" gigs. If I play an outside gig I might as well go home and change strings as they will be dead.

That's the difference between Florida and California!

I just noticed that this topic is in the wrong forum. Shame on Mike! I'm moving it to Electronics where it belongs.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 21 Jan 2002 2:14 pm

Mike,
Just where is this gig, in the middle of the desert? I'm with Herb on this one. If the gig is so remote it doesn't have electricity then it probably doesn't have running water or even cold beer!
Or you'd be the only one there with a battery powered amp and the rest of the guys would just plug in the wall right?
Man I can hear the rest of the band already, "Here comes that guy with the battery powered amp, everybody turn down!"
Seriously instead of a battery powered amp I'd like to see one that puts out 200 watts and weighs 10 pounds!
That would be innovation.

ROBERT MYERS · Post by **ROBERT MYERS** » 21 Jan 2002 2:45 pm

You won't need much power anyhow! Where would they plug in the PA? You'll have to turn way down 'cause everybody knows steel players play too damn loud. Just ask the lead players wife, she's the only one that complains.

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Bob Myers Derby S10 3&4

gary darr · Post by **gary darr** » 21 Jan 2002 4:50 pm

I remember back in the late 80's the dixie chic's used to play on the street corners of downtown Dallas, they had some kind of battery powerd amp straped to a two wheeled dolly.the amp was a Peavey I think. Any way they would have sounded good playing though just about anything.......

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sho-bud,session 500,american standard strat,shecter tele,peavy classic 50

Roger Kelly · Post by **Roger Kelly** » 21 Jan 2002 5:06 pm

Speaking of Battery Powered Amps, there's a kid in my neighborhood that has a gazillion Watt Stereo in his car, and it runs on a 12 Volt Car Battery...you can hear him coming 1/2 mile away. Maybe it won't take long before Peavey comes out with a Battery Powered Amp. That may be an idea whose time has come?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 21 Jan 2002 6:35 pm

Guys, you're all thinking in terms of GIGGING. Obviously any place where we do a gig is going to have electricity.

Assuming the amp works OK for steel, the place to use it would be at a picnic, or an outdoor jam session in a park where everybody else would be unplugged.

Personally, I'd love to be able to play my steel in those kinds of situations. I wish Paul Franklin Sr made a 12 string pedabro for that reason.

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 21 Jan 2002 6:57 pm

Herb; you've reminded me of a job I played in the 60s in NC that I have been trying to forget since then. It was somewhere in the foot hills for a Bingo Pavilion that was going to be run by a local Indian Tribe. We played in a CORN FIELD !! I was working with Clyde Moody at the time and they had a small platform for the singers but I had to straddle two corn rows.

We had power but I couldn't use any pedals because there was no foot angle I could match up with as the corn rows had been hilled up. The stalks were gone but not the hills. It was the worst evening of my life. I tried to explain to myself that I had heard JR tell Bobby Garrett to get off those pedals and play like Jerry Byrd. Bobby did that but not me......I felt like a dying duck in a thunderstorm.

We played from 8 til 11PM and then drove 3 hours back to Raleigh, slept 3 hours and then went to set up for the live morning TV show on Channel 5 at 6AM. I still think I was crazy but I remember having fun and excitment doing it.

Regards, Paul

[This message was edited by Paul Graupp on 21 January 2002 at 06:59 PM.]

Tom Gorr · Post by **Tom Gorr** » 21 Jan 2002 7:55 pm

I played through a battery powered amp once.
Sounded awful, but had NO HUM!

Maybe battery powered would work great for home recording at low vol's.

Tom

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 21 Jan 2002 8:01 pm

Fender makes a nice little rechargeable battery-operated TWO-CHANNEL amp called the "Ampcan". It's the size of a gallon paint can and has one 7 or 8 inch speaker in it. I bought it so I could play my lapsteel under a tree somewhere, like at little folk festivals, etc. I use it with an RV-3 pedal for reverb and delay and guess what...? It sounds pretty darn good on E9th at low volumes! It doesn't have enough bottom end for C6 but you can get a pleasant, easy to listen-to E9 tone from it. It is two channels: with separate volume and tone controls. One is supposed to be for a vocal mike and one for an instrument. The battery lasts about 3.5 hours, if I recall correctly, and I think it cost under $200. I like it!

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The "Master of Acceptable Tone"
www.jimcohen.com

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 22 Jan 2002 3:29 am

Carvin makes a portable battery powered PA speaker. I think it's called the Stage Mate. 100 watts with built in digital effects, 10" woofer, battery charges when used with AC.
I think it might make a decent "outdoor" steel amp.
Anyone tried one??

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 22 Jan 2002 9:15 am

Any situations in which I wanted to play in an outdoor jam session were too loud for my pedabros (which are very quiet instruments), and would have been inappropriate for playing pedal steel through a battery powered amp. Not because the sound sucks (which it usually does) but because most of the acoustic musicians I would want to play with would make the sign of the devil at any player using an electric instrument through one of those amps. I have a really loud dobro (non pedal) for those sorts of situations.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Bill Crook · Post by **Bill Crook** » 22 Jan 2002 12:11 pm

A battery-powered Amp ????

Really, This whole post is a lesson in what NOT to get involved in !!!

I cain't believe anyone would even think of useing such other than to power a set of earphones.

I have played one set in my life that used a portible AC generator to power the band equipment. It was such a disaster that I cain't even imagine trying to use a battery-powered amp.

Sometimes, Even you guys scare me.....

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 22 Jan 2002 2:14 pm

How about the old Pignose amps? I used to have one around here somewhere that a guitar player left and never came back for. I think my son may have run off with it. I can't remember but it used something like AA's or maybe a couple C batterys.

Fred Martin · Post by **Fred Martin** » 23 Jan 2002 5:08 am

Have had a little Taxi battery amp for 3 years thats fine for picking up the guitar and even doing some singin through at campground shows, doubles as a pa instead of having to put up with a generator. If they made a battery amp that had a larger speaker, reverb, and sounded good it would have some applications. We dont have as many plug ins out here in the west. Some of these like the Taxi will plug in anyway so its just for the unusual occasion.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 23 Jan 2002 6:21 am

The few Pignoses I've tried over the years all had a dirty sound, not suitable for clean steel playing. What do you expect from a pig's nose?

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The "Master of Acceptable Tone"
www.jimcohen.com