Busking Amp - Battery & Inverter Solution

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey all, i've just done another video which explains things a little clearer! kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6iTZWeHl7N6iLM - Tom

[@micharquette9321]

Just read this - cheers

[@malkyvich]

Good and to the point video. Not the easiest to get all the info regarding wattage for inverters and amps. Cheers

[@michelaser]

Good brief video, no ads, no annoying background music etc.

[@DolbroDan]

Big help man, great advice. Powered busking is the norm now and I've always wondered how they do it (without spending a fortune on a built-in battery pack). Might have to make a purchase or two - or three if you count the trolley ;) Hope lockdown isn't killing your music to badly atm. Future days...

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Cheers Mate! It definitely gives you more freedom with your equipment once you have the inverter/battery. Thanks bro! Hope you're doing okay too!

[@lawrencerasmus]

A modified works the same on amps and a 20 amp hour would last a long time with less weight. I just bought a Gemini line array with battery power, trouble is class d amps sucks. A a/b amp is much better so you are on the right track. Nice video I am a new subscriber

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Cheers! Ah cool cool yep i've never used a modified wave inverter but good to know!

[@Oisinkelly308]

Lawrence Rasmus hi just wondering would a modified sine wave be okay for a loudspeaker since amps and loudspeakers are practically the same thing? Mackie Thump 15

[@stoneyrunva]

My set up is two 160 watt GoPowerPlus($30 US each clearance deal at wally world) lithium solar batteries, a Bugera AC60 watt amp($219), and a DIY toolbox(homer box from home depot) that flips open with Mooer multi effect pedal and a digitech trio band creator mounted under the lid and the batteries in the main toolbox section. With this set up I can get about 5 hours usable power before batteries need a recharge.

[@michaelwilson3489]

Great ! just set one up too works a treat… battery is definitely too big

[@okieobw]

An interesting bit of trivia. Here in Tulsa, ok, USA, you can't use the deep marine or even a regular battery from a car. You'll get cited and run off. So be sure you can use that kind of battery.

[@stateofblitz]

"hope that helps".. Sure does man. Thanks for the straight info 👍

[@BillyReedMusic]

Great video, Tom! Thanks for sharing this informative video.👍70!

[@simonl4523]

That did help: thank you for posting it

[@david-ky7rt]

Great video man!. Very helpful

[@brianfergus839]

This was very helpful. Cheers!

[@GuitarG123]

Does your inverters fan run all the time whilst powered up,and how loud is the fan ?Cool set up,thanks

[@RA-el6zj]

Hi, good video, thanks! I have a question. If I use a battery like that to run a car amplifier, do I need to ground it to something metal, or just to the ground connection on the amplifier? And why do people use AC amplifiers with a power inverter? Wouldn't it be easier to just use a car amplifier connected directly to a battery, so you don't have to carry a power inverter?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey! I don't know too much specifically about car amplifiers, But you could be right, car amps might work directly off the battery which would mean they are designed to run DC voltage if there's no inverter involved. Not sure though!

[@jesseliderc5199]

4ohm speakers are heavier?

[@skatedd2451]

Thank you for your video good setup

[@clankytherobot8560]

Hey mate, wondering how long would the battery last? I've got a 40w acoustic amp, and wondering how long your 75ah battery lasted with that amp, it's 60W right?

[@Tecom38415]

If the inverter is 300w wouldn’t that overload an amp? Being that guitar amps usually have 50-80 watt power consumption?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I believe, that since is power consumption, the amp will only draw 50-80 watt. But there is 300 w available. So you could load up more amps if you wanted too. Up to 300w or equipment. That's just my understanding! Can anyone confirm this??

[@brianfergus839]

@@tomsoutheymusic yes that is my understanding as well. It’s not a “continuous” 300w, it is a “potential” 300w

[@1204-p3r]

But what if i have 20 watt amp for busking

[@billwilliams6338]

Thanks, Roland Boss makes mobile guitar amplifiers that have a built in rechargeable battery for busking out on the street, but why kind of rechargeable battery are they using?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

It may be a new model? I used to have the Roland BA-30 and it has 8 x AA batteries and it performed very well! I recommend Roland/Boss amps especially for beginner buskers. The Cube range is good for new buskers too!

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I used to busk outside a Bose Store, and they let me use their new Busking amp. It's incredibly small and works well for the mobile busker, it's worth a look and it's reasonably priced surprisingly! "Bose S1 Pro"

[@micr0_beats622]

Really helpful! Thank you

[@billwilliams6338]

Thanks, should i get a 150watt inverter or 300watt inverter? I'm not sure what the differences are between 150watt and 300 watt interverts. Do you know why rechargeable batteries need to be "conditioned test" tickled charged at a certain tickled rate? it has to do something with the batteries memory

[@tomsoutheymusic]

It depends on the size speaker you want to power, i would recommend 300watt as it is more capable of powering more speakers and gives you some headroom. Battery Condition Testing is important for used batteries, or batteries that may have not been used in a while. Over time, batteries lose their capability. so a 75AH battery, may lose its capacity over time if it is not cared for properly. After many years the charge will reduce until the battery can only hold say 10-30% of its original capacity. Trickle charging refers to low Amp charging. It's not so important, just trickle chargers can be left on batteries for longer periods, and can benefit battery life longevity. Deep Cycle Lead Acid Batteries are supposed to not be discharged below 50% charge. If this happens too often it can damage the battery and reduce it's life. This is why some services offer condition testing, to test how much capacity the battery still has. If it is cheap, and for busking, it can be worth a risk. I bought the battery in the video 2nd hand.. without knowing the condition and it worked fine for me. best of luck! Tom

[@billwilliams6338]

SOUTHEYMUSIC, what kind of DC to AC inverter converter would you recommend using and what kind and type of rechargeable batteries would good for plugging a fender or marshall amp to play outside. You recharge the battery using a tickle charger would take hours and days, any better faster ways?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I would recommend a Pure Sine Wave Inverter, a deep cycle lead acid battery (Sized anywhere from 15Ah to 75Ah), and get a charger that is minimum 2Amp. It only takes ages to charge if you have a large battery (75Ah) and a low amp rating charger (1A), which is what I had. As a loose rule, depending on the size of the battery and the Amp rating of the charger, a 75Ah battery with a 1A charger will take 75hours to fully charge. But only 25hrs with a 3A charger. Usually you don't discharge deep cycle batteries below 50% capacity (better for the battery longevity). So it wouldn't take this long. And i would recommend a smaller sized battery for buskers, 36Ah is ideal in my experience. Usually it takes at least .a few hours to recharge my 36Ah battery with a 2.1A charger, but this gives me 10+ hrs busking with my AER Amp, so this setup would work fine for your fender/marshall amp :) Check out my other video on my channel where I use a smaller battery.

[@jamieukulele]

Good vid. I have a Cube Street Ex which is 50W. No nothing about Watts etc So would 300W inverter be fine for this?

[@miskgkdlss]

Awesome, thanks for the info! Really appreciate it. Do you know if this set-up could power two AER compact 60/3 amps?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey mate, i reckon you probably could. But i haven't tried it. The little AER's seem to be a pretty small load. I'm gonna make another video and maybe see if they can power my 1000W PA speakers & Mixer, if they can do that i'd say for sure. :)

[@miskgkdlss]

@@tomsoutheymusic Great. I've almost sorted my busking set up. Got the inverter just need to get the battery. Cheers for the reply :)

[@micharquette9321]

Just the info I am looking for - cheers Tom. Picked up the sinewave today - Dometic MSI 412 - How has it been since then? 75AmpHour would give you a bit of playing time and then some. I have noted that you don't have a fuse on the positive side from the bat. Advisable from the info I have been gathering. Nice Amp BTW - how does it sound?? I am setting up for a Boss Acoustic Singer Live 60W rated output. Curious as to whether I should go beyond a 12 amp hour bat. The inverter I just purchased has 90% efficiency and I will be utilising the acoustic amp for guitar and vocals. Wondering if this will increase the rated output and drain the bat quicker? That is the extent of my knowledge on this - doing it myself to cut down on costs and also because hey, on the road, self sufficiency is called for.

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I'm still using the same little sine inverter over a year later, It does have fuses in the back of the inverter, and there is actually a fuse in the back of my AER Compact 60 next to the plug socket. :) The inverter and amp have both been great with 12 month's use! :) The 75Ah was actually very excessive, i'm currently using a 36Ah which gives me hours and hours, never had to worry about it once! :) Good luck with your setup! :)

[@ShaharBiran]

Gr8 video mate! I was wondering if this setup can be used to power tube amps as well ? Will runtime be shorter ?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

No worries mate! I don't own a tube amp and have never tried it unfortunately. If you match the output specifications on the inverter (240V 50Hz for example) to the input spec usually written in small print on the back of the amp, it should work fine! I'm not sure about run-time, if tube amps draw more power than more modern amps it may be a little shorter possibly! Goodluck with it! 🙂

[@mattgarbutt254]

I have a Roland Cube Street 2.5W + 2.5W amp (9V), plus deep cycle 22aH 12V battery. Will this work with a 12V 300w inverter? Not sure if the voltages match up, that’s all... Not using much power as it’s just my electric violin plus phone going into amp Thanks for the vid, very helpful

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Heya Matt, the battery and inverter sound fine, double check the inverter output. It should most likely be the same as you're wall outlet power specification. And the Roland Cube Streets power adapter should be suitable for wall outlet power, usually 240v etc. The the little black power adapter brick will transform it back down to 9v to your amp. :)

[@olgreybear7997]

Would you recommend this set up over a Roland Cube Street amp that runs on AA batteries? I see here in the uk (I noticed from this and other videos that you moved to the uk for a while) loads of people using the Roland amp but also this type of set up. What are the benefits and draw backs of one over the other please?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Roland Cube streets are great value for money. It's also worth looking at the Bose S1 Pro (which has battery built in too). This solution will just work for all other amps that run on standard mains electricity. Depending on your setup, and budget you may not need this equipment. But, it's handy to have, I use it to power my speaker, pedals and even charge my iPad if I'm performing remotely for long periods. :)

[@tomsoutheymusic]

For many buskers, a Cube Street does fine! But if you want to upgrade your kit, this may be an alternative :)

[@olgreybear7997]

tomsoutheymusic thanks for replying there. I used to always fancy taking a really decent amp out with me or even (if the weather here in the UK) a tube amp for some creamy overdriven blues playing. Great information and I have it bookmarked should I have the money any time soon. All the best and happy new year too btw.

[@billwilliams6338]

SOUTHEYMUSIC what AH battery would you recommend since 75AH battery is hard to take care of properly? Do you recommend using Deep Cycle Lead Acid batteries or something else?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I would recommend a 36Ah Deep Cycle Lead Acid Battery. They are heavy though are no problems if you have a busking trolley. Things are moving towards Lithium Ion Batteries in the future which are lighter and smaller, but they're very overpriced. I recommend a cheap Deep Cycle! You can even go smaller and get a 14Ah battery, this would power my little speaker in the video for 3 hours. (It's what they have in the AER Compact Mobile Amps). Depends how much juice you want! Goodluck!

[@mickdwyer5058]

Hey Tom, this is exactly what i need to do. Had no idea it could actually be done this way. Just to be certain as i've no experience and have come across this for the first time, i can then plug in my loop station (non battery) too using this set up?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hi Mick! Yes you can! I use this system with a power board, and I plug in all my 9v and 12v guitar pedals :)

[@kith4312]

So this would be able to power a 250 watt bass amp?

[@AndreGibsonBeatbox]

can you show and possible link the exact battery charger you use? please, thanks

[@tomsoutheymusic]

www.amazon.com/Battery-Maintainer-Portable-Motorcycle-Batteries/dp/B07CZ7KWP3 This is not the exact one, but similar specifications. It took a veery long time to charge the large battery, as you can see it is 1100mAh = 1.1Amp Charger. I would recommend getting a faster charger 2Amp+, unless you're happy leaving it to charge overnight. (which is no issue, just make sure battery is in a well ventilated space) This type of charger worked fine for me. :)

[@ESLinsider]

That's cool. I am wondering if something like this would work in Japan. I have 2 turntables and mixer dj set up I want to put on a cart and take out on the street and I am wondering what I will need. I got a power transformer too as my set up is from the USA. Any ideas if this would work for what I want to do?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

yeaah i reckon it would work for sure, thing is, since its coming direct from a Deep Cycle Battery, no need to convert to Japanese Voltage (100V) etc. If you buy an Inverter, you'll just need one that outputs the same as your USA kit, so like 120V? (not sure) You could even order an inverter from your home country, then just stick a USA power board into it, no adapters needed. You just need a 12v Deep Cycle Battery + USA spec Inverter orrr JAPAN Spec Inverter + Transformer w/ Adaptors and you'll be going i think. Haha hope this helps! DJ'ing on the streets in japan sounds epic btw.

[@eedom69]

@@tomsoutheymusic Thanks! When you say USA power board you mean USA power strip?

[@miljann98]

Could I use this battery and converter with my Boss Katana 50 amp set on 25W? No pedals

[@juicevox5160]

Do you think I could get away with using Ryobi batteries and a Ryobi inverter? (modified sine wave) How much noise/hiss does a modified sine wave really make, is it still useable?

[@cormacrussellmusic]

Hey man, really helpful video! I'm finding it really difficult to find a pure sine wave inverter. Do you know where I can get one? Thanks!

[@bassinblue]

That must be friggin heavy to carry. Ur a legend bro

[@tomsoutheymusic]

It's all possible with a heavy duty trolley and some bungees 👍 haha

[@LotusCole]

Thank you for your video. I’m from the U.S. and just got the amp and didn’t realize it wasn’t portable so this is very informational. So, I will order the inverter and battery. How long do you think a 12 volt battery would last per charge?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

glad I could help! :) All the batteries will be 12v, the thing you are looking for in terms of the "size" of the battery is the Amp Hour (Ah) or Milli Amp Hour (mAh). Like you get on powerbanks! 1000mAh = 1 Ah So the battery i was using in the video is a 75 amp hour battery, which means it will last ages. I've recently downsized to a 36Ah battery which is half the size and still keeps my amp going for 10+ hrs :) I know the Compact Mobile 2 Version of my amp has 2 x 7.5AH batteries built in.. so 14AH total, and lasts a minimum of 3 hours. So any battery over 14Ah should give you 3hrs+ if you're using a smallish speaker like mine!

[@SammySideFX]

@@tomsoutheymusic How do you charge the battery??

[@bennyhill3505]

Hi. Approximately how long would a battery last. Say guitar and vocals being used, everything at 50% output?

[@jbooth272]

How do you charge the NUMAX battery ? Or does it charge itself?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Car battery charger, or trickle charger :)

[@martinschneider8780]

how long do you think I can play DJ music through an active 15 inch jbl speaker of 300w on a similar battery till I run out of battery?

[@jungwooeun8736]

hello? How many hours can the amp run with a 75a battery?

[@stateofblitz]

Can I use something similar for a fender 15 watt bass amp?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Yeaah for sure!

[@stateofblitz]

@@tomsoutheymusic cheers

[@aaronburbidge88]

How do you charge the leisure battery??

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I use a car battery charger, or a 'trickle charger'.. anything between 1Amp and about 5Amp will do, 5 amp will be much quicker to charge.

[@aaronburbidge88]

@@tomsoutheymusic Cheers bro! Just bought the same inverter, nice set up! 👍🏼

[@lucagattamelata8093]

How do you recharge the battery?

[@karingriffinelectricacoust8822]

Go for a 300w rockpals and its soooo much simpler…just plug and go! No inverter and bulky batteries just a wee camping battery and i am off and it powers everything… Not two extra pieces to lug round!

[@karingriffinelectricacoust8822]

@Eilish Hassett no my violin is a semi acoustic Spur violin….a passive pick-up, or I use a Bridge Dragon which is active pickup….I use a AER compact 60….it needs a pure sign wave I would think. Best to check but mine is a pure sign wave. They all have a signal that should be fine but if you haven’t got enough power nothing will work…..what is make and model of your inverter? If you want a solution to a problem always best to give all the facts….hope this assists you….

[@louisgreen3915]

Nice video by the way. Can I use any amp and how will it effect battery life.

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey Louis! You can use any amp, if you read on the back, where you plug in the power cable for the amp you can usually find some info on the power usage of the amp. For example my AER Compact 60 Says power Consumption: 120W Maybe check your amp, and unless it's huge, and over 1000W I think you'd be alright. In terms of battery life, i'd just say the more power (Watts) the quicker you'll drain your battery. So you may want to consider a big battery like this one 75Ah, to play for prolonged periods. (this battery is too big for my use i am not using a smaller 36Ah and still lasts ages) Hope this helps!

[@louisgreen3915]

Thanks alot bro. Realy great idea.

[@iamyuvaraj6478]

Your battery how many hours are working

[@octaviobarattucci]

Hi my friend, good video! I have an AER Compact 60 III. Can I use a Power Inverter DC to AC A300 - 350W? Would it work?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey mate! Nice amp. That should be fine I'd say. Check the output on the inverter matches your AER. The volts and Hertz :) but it'll definitely work I'd say.

[@yising4u2qt]

I play for 3 to 4 hours. What size battery do I need?

[@deadom]

Cool video. Definitely a solution for my gear. Probably a dumb question, but how do you charge the 12V Battery?

[@erniethenerd8495]

Doesn't the inverter contribute to noticeable noisy signal?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Generally not if it's a pure sine wave inverter 😊

[@erniethenerd8495]

@@tomsoutheymusic interested to use MSW because of the budget.

[@rudy-dx3vx]

Cool set up but why dont you just get a portable power station. Seems a whole lot easier that to carry abunch of stuff.

[@brianfergus839]

I’ll take this one on since the host hasn’t answered yet- as I understand it the inverter provides a pure sine wave power output. If the portable power station is not outputting a sine wave voltage, you will possibly have some noise.

[@rudy-dx3vx]

@@brianfergus839 yeah that is true like my flash fish power supply every time i use it to power my peddle my guitar picks up the electricity its putting out and i hear buzzing. At home if i turn on my light in the living room my amp starts to buzz too for the reason that the light fixtures are not covered so my guitar is picking up the power. I had a back stage peavey amp that when i hook up a guitar peddle it would pick up spanish stations it was weird

[@cateteller739]

Mate, how do you recharge the battery?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

I had a really slow 1A trickle charger at the time, so it took 2 days! But if you get a 2A or higher charger it will be twice as fast etc. Trickle chargers are designed to charge super slow so you can just leave it charging 24/7 and always topped up. Buy a charger over 2A if you are getting a battery this size! This battery was too big for my use really.

[@cateteller739]

tomsoutheymusic fantastic! thanks for the info. I’m wanting to busk on the south coast of NSW and I was absolutely stumped on how find a power source for a keyboard and amp..

[@sonnyobrien]

How do you charge the battery?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Car battery charger or trickle charger!

[@ilona4725]

Thanks man really helpful! I have a bit more equipment like mixing desk, pc, rc505 looper and a few other things. How would you go about powering all this so i can busk on the streets? :) any advice is really appreciated!

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey Ilona! Ohh sounds like a cool setup :) I think your amp would be the largest load, the looper, mixer and pc wouldn't need so much power comparatively, but i'd probably say go for a 1000W Sine Inverter or higher, 2000W if you can get it. But if its just a busking setup with a single amp i think you could maybe manage with a 1000W inverter. (this is just a guess) I use that little 600w Inverter with my amp and use it to power my pedal board (looper) and synth sometimes but all those things are just 9v power and don't really affect it. A mixer would use abit more power i can imagine and possibly the PC too.. again, i'm just eyeballing it but i'd say a 1000W inverter and a big 50+Ah battery and a powerboard, should have you busking :) ** Use a powerboard with SURGE PROTECTION!! Just incase, it'll prevent your PC getting damaged if theres a problem with your inverter!! they're cheap as and totally worth it** Hope this helps!

[@chrisharveyjazz]

woh thats a big old battery to be carting around how long are you planning on busking for 24hrs

[@Anton-hz4fe]

Cool

[@alastairratatouille7631]

V helpful!

[@joepeterson2819]

Well lets hear you then👂

[@aligauld]

How long does that battery last when you play ?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Hey mate, not 100% sure because I've never run out of juice. I've easily done 15+ hrs busking over a couple weeks on a single charge.

[@gammakeraulophon]

@@tomsoutheymusic Hi mate.. hope you don't mind the question. So if I was to go smaller (12a/h) battery as you suggest can power this amp.. then would you also get less power time? Or is the amps/hour merely an indication of what wattage equipment a battery can power, and no relation to capacity/charge time? Thanks

[@TheWannabeBusker-z9c]

interesting vid

[@hemantakakati1103]

Can i run katana 100 ?

[@PerrinPang]

your power is 75Ah, and the one u posted is 12ah, does the ah matter or not? thanks

[@tomsoutheymusic]

The ah (amp hour) is the size of the battery, similar to a phone powerbank (10,000mAh = 10Ah). The battery i was using was a little excessive and large for my amp, and also very heavy! It would last much longer than necessary and i would only need to charge it after a few weeks busking. I posted the 12Ah battery just because it is a more reasonable size. I am currently using a 36Ah Battery now back in Australia, it is half the size of the big one, but you could still get away a smaller battery if you want to be more portable. :)

[@TemaVermelho]

Do you any one who tried an modified sine wave inverter (link?)? I'd like to hear hum....of course it may harm amplifier...

[@THEINDIGOPROPHETSX]

jesus how long are your busking sessions ? LOL

[@ESLinsider]

Hah. I am back... Still haven't turned my dream into a reality:-/. Tip toeing and being a chicken sh**. How much does that battery weigh? How long does it last? I am wondering if they have the same kinds of batteries here. Because of the weight that would probably be pricey to ship. How heavy is the inverter?

[@tomsoutheymusic]

When i moved back to Australia, i just left the battery... its too heavy about 20kg. The inverter is about 1kg. :) That battery was too big for my purposes, lasts hours and hours on end... i cant say exactly i never drained it. Currently i have a 36AH (half the size and weight) i bought it back in OZ, lasts at least 8+hrs with that setup. never fully drained it. Works great. Don't bother shipping it, its cheaper to just find a new or used one :)

[@edwardfletcher7790]

So you use a 12V battery to POWER a 230V inverter to make 12V or 9V internal power ? That makes sense...SIGH

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Haha yes it's a headache. Yes, But more importantly. The battery is DC, and the Inverter makes the electricity AC, like a wall plug allowing it to power appliances and speakers etc.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@tomsoutheymusic Dude, I'm an Electronics Tech, but thanks for the explanation... lol

[@FadingRosesBluesTristeza]

​​@@edwardfletcher7790 So why the comment? You didn't know it was possible that's why the comment.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@FadingRosesBluesTristeza I commented because it's like a car towing a truck towing a trailer towing a boat. You obviously don't know anything about electronics....

[@carlosmanuelgonzalez310]

most inefficient way to power an amp.

[@tomsoutheymusic]

try renewables

[@ttgmusic9096]

So i have been trying really hard to find info. I don't think you would reply but i have a boss katana 2x12 100 watt 120 volt amp. I also have a evh overdrive pedal 9 volt. Do you think that would work or would i have to get a gas generator. All i plan on doing is practicing somewhere in the desert where i live so i can play as loud as i want.

[@tomsoutheymusic]

Yeaah this would work for that for sure. 100W is pretty manageable, you could use this exact setup for that. And the pedal uses almost no energy in comparison so would work fine :)

[@ttgmusic9096]

@@tomsoutheymusic alright omg you replied thank you sir. Im ordering it now lol thanks