iansmitchell Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Would it be possible/practical to run a VJR off of batteries(4-8 Ds?) or maybe a lithium battery? I'm not sure whether or not, but it seems like a batter pack would be a cool addition to the combo, maybe epi could work on a more portable combo VJR, something to make it even more competitive with the roland mircrocube(they're similar in price, but the roland can work off of battery power). Seems like a cool idea to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippiedave Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 that would be cool, couse I love my little pignose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangedogs Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I just sold a NEW little VOX DA10 - the newest of the small battery Vox's (has 2 speakers). Battery feature was nice - I actually brought my Amp & Ax to the Jobsite (construction) a few times to WOW the fellas with my prowess ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I think those tubes need more power than a battery pack could come up with.. don't know for sure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansmitchell Posted August 11, 2008 Author Share Posted August 11, 2008 I think those tubes need more power than a battery pack could come up with..don't know for sure though. Well, aren't pignose amps tube amps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 the original one is solid state innit? they have a bigger one.. I dont keep up with them.. I though it was ac powered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricach Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 All the battery powered amps are solid state. Even the little piggies. The bigger piggies that are tube driven are plug in only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Hell Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Well if anything could do it it would be a Lipo. I fly large RC aiprlanes off of Lipo packs making big horse power. The packs are out there. http://hobby-lobby.com/lithium-polymer.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layboomo Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Well if anything could do it it would be a Lipo. I fly large RC aiprlanes off of Lipo packs making big horse power. The packs are out there. http://hobby-lobby.com/lithium-polymer.htm Yup...but herein lies the problem....the original question was is it practical? The answer would be no if a Lipo battery pack costs $75 to $150 for a $129 amp!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricach Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Oh, no doubt you can find batteries that can handle the power necessary, but for how long and at what expense? The batteries you point out could drive an EJr for at most 2 hours - and they will cost as much as the EJr did. You could go cheaper and use a car battery, but how portable is that? And that's not even getting into the circuitry necessary to turn that perfect DC into something better resembling a simple rectified AC that gives a tube amp its character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-theory Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Yes, it could be done, but practicality might be questionable. I would think that better choices for battery powered amps would be either a fractional watt tube amp, pure SS, or a hybrid with SS output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansmitchell Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 So would it be possible with say, the blackheart ant killer, a .5 tube amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Hell Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 My simple solution is I carry one of those multi use air pump, battery jump units in my golf cart. I haven't tried to get it to power my VJr but I will try it at my next outdoor show. You can plug right into it and your cool if your truck battery dies! I think you can get these for between $49 to $79 - maybe still too expensive, unless you already have one laying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 If that's a full size 335 you must be huge! just what we needed. giant guitar players! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Hell Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 That is actually a 1971 Ovation copy of a 335 - the Tornado but I am 6'3" and 200 lbs, it's easier to haul that battery around for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 The ZVex Nano amp uses 12vDC. It also needs about 1.5a to get it started, but uses about 1a after that. It'll eat the charge from a small gel cel in a few hours. A 7a motorcycle battery will work, but that's a lot of weight to drag around compared to the amp. The Nano head uses low power subminiature 6021 tubes. Looks great on the dashboard, too and the amp is powerful enough to keep up with most factory car stereos. If you want to run a VJr off a battery, you'll need a true sine wave inverter and a bigger battery. The usual power inverters just won't cut it since they use a modified square wave. I'm sure you can imagine what that sounds like. Here's a source... http://www.samlexamerica.com/products/subcategory.asp?CategoryID=7&title=Pure%20Sine%20Wave%20Inverters Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layboomo Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 That is actually a 1971 Ovation copy of a 335 - the Tornado but I am 6'3" and 200 lbs' date=' it's easier to haul that battery around for me! [img']http://www.theprofilebrotherhood.com/images/ovationTornadobody.jpg[/img] Cool beans...ain't seen one of those since......The Partridge Family! I had a white Deacon at one point and it was a really nice neck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robo Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 The ZVex Nano amp uses 12vDC. It also needs about 1.5a to get it started' date=' but uses about 1a after that. It'll eat the charge from a small gel cel in a few hours. A 7a motorcycle battery will work, but that's a lot of weight to drag around compared to the amp. The Nano head uses low power subminiature 6021 tubes. Looks great on the dashboard, too and the amp is powerful enough to keep up with most factory car stereos. If you want to run a VJr off a battery, you'll need a true sine wave inverter and a bigger battery. The usual power inverters just won't cut it since they use a modified square wave. I'm sure you can imagine what that sounds like. Here's a source... http://www.samlexamerica.com/products/subcategory.asp?CategoryID=7&title=Pure%20Sine%20Wave%20Inverters Gil...[/quote'] Would you really need a sine wave? It's going to be rectified to DC anyway. The PT should still work..., I would think..., I could be wrong tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansmitchell Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 I think tubes can be fed DC, just bypass the rectifiers, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I had a fretless ovation bass very similar to that.. never should have sold it either. cool guitar! the amp stuff has gone over my head, ian! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Battery power for the tube filaments is not unheard of. In fact, there are space charged tubes designed for 12v heaters because that's what was available in most cars. But cars used vibrators to get the higher voltages they needed for the plates. Sorta like a modified square wave, but not quite the same! Hmmmm! Oh well, whatever works. ZVex recommends those true sine wave inverters with their Imp amps cuz they don't have switching power supplies (like most guitar amps). That's where I got the link. So as always, YMMV. Proceed at your own risk. But a properly fed el84 has about 310v DC on the plate, and 300v DC on the screen. That's a lot of batteries. But you can still run 'em with lower voltage, say 36v DC like the VVR power scaling gizmo does all the way down, but that also lowers the output significantly down to baby in the bedroom levels. Much as I hated my Pignose, you might as well save yourself the hassle and use something like that. Sure, they sound freekin' awful. If you don't have to listen to 'em all day, they can be fun; but if that's your only amp, you'll eventually want to shoot it. Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 So if you're really really interested in building a battery powered amp... This one only requires a D cell battery to power the heaters, but it also needs five 9v batteries in series for the plates. http://www.pentodepress.com/receiving/street-musician-amp.html Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansmitchell Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 huh>? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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