[Dixielandjazz] Ramblings about portable sound

[Charlie Hull]

I sent this privately to Bill Haesler, but others may be interested:

A really great small self-powered amp was the Maxi Mouse.  It's no longer
manufactured but you might find one on eBay or some such source.
http://www.lectrosonics.com/portpa/maxi.htm

A number of bands use them for street gigs and such for vocals and to boost
the clarinet level so the player doesn't have to overblow to be heard with
the brass.  I know guitarists who use one as a gig amp in small rooms.  Port
City Jazz Band uses two of them on their street gigs.  I do a lot of senior
center and rest home volunteer playing, running my mike and laptop through
it.  It has only two inputs, 1/4 inch phone jacks, which can be extended by
using Radio Shack's forty dollar (US) 4-channel battery-powered mixer.  I've
used mine on 4-hour gigs without losing power.  It has an external 110-volt
power pack for recharging the internal battery.  Some have told me they have
run the amp from the recharging adapter, but the manual says no so I haven't
risked it.  I bought mine used for $400.  You might find one on eBay or
such.

I also have a small Peavey Solo battery powered amp with two channels, each
with XLR and 1/4 inch phone jacks.  It will operate from a power adapter or
eight D cell flashlight batteries.  I used it before buying the Maxi Mouse,
but not much since.  It has less power (fifteen watts on power, ten on
batteries) and the sound quality, while decent, is not as good as the
Mouse's.  I paid around $120 US for it. Here are some comments about the
Solo: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Peavey/Solo-01.html

For real quality, battery powered, heavier but still portable, check out
Carvin's Stage Mate
http://www.carvin.com/cgi-bin/Isearch.exe?CFG=2&P2=S400&P1=SYS1.  I haven't
heard it, but plan to buy one.  I have friends happy with their
Carvin gear, and own Carvin's PA-120012-channel 3-amplifier mixer.  They
make good stuff.  Great support and money back if you don't like what you
bought and return it quickly.

There's also the option of making a portable power pack to enable use of any
amp or appliance when AC power is unavailable... an alternative to a
gasoline powered generator.  We worked one gig where we had to be move
around a lot and electricity wasn't available.  I bought a 600-watt power
inverter and an auto battery, then made a wooden carrying case for the
battery and mounted the inverter on the outside.  At the gig I placed onto
my RockAndRoll cart the inverter power unit, two 12-inch monitor speakers,
and my 12-channel 3-amp mixer.  I routed the vocal/horn mikes thru the left
channel amp and to one speaker, and the bass fiddle's pickup thru the right
channel and to the other speaker.  It worked perfectly.  It's the only gig I
ever used it on, but we're ready if another comes along.  I don't know how
long it would play without recharging.  It lasted thru the three-hour gig.

Charlie Hull