[Dixielandjazz] On Parade - portable power

[Charlie Hull]

My K Street Ramblers can work acoustically, but like to have a 
microphone for singing, talking to the crowd, and 'equalizing' the 
clarinet to enable the nuances of playing softly but still being heard.

My solution to the portable power challenge was to make a unit using a 
car battery and 600-watt converter that changes the 12-volt d.c. battery 
power to 120-volt a.c.  I bought a heavy duty plastic battery case and 
mounted the converter on the lid. Although heavy, because of the 
battery, it's totally silent and has run a p.a. amp and a bass amp for 
over three hours. I use a trickle charger to recharge the battery.

Fortunately we don't use it often, but it works well when we do need it.

When playing on the streets at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, we put a 
monitor speaker, a p.a. head, the bass amp, and the power pack on a 
Rock-and-Roll cart and rolled it from site to site.

Charlie Hull