What accessories?

Forgive me, I did a search and did not find what I was looking for. If I missed it I apologize. I am BRAND new to the world of Theremins (as in my newcomer post).

I purchased a B3 Deluxe, and am wondering what are the essentials I should be looking for? I understand I will need a mic stand (ordered), as well as am amp (will shop once I have the Theremin), but what else should I look for or consider?

I have this idea in my head, and am not sure if it is workable or not:

We have a arts and entertainment district here, where locals perform on the streets. I would love to showcase the Theremin. Not only is it unique, but people will want to try it as well.

To accomplish this I would need a power source, since I doubt I will have an outlet readily available. Any help, advice, or criticism is welcomed. Thanks! David

Welcome to ThereminWorld!
What Voltage DC does the B2 use?
If it is twelve volts, perhaps a car battery with the appropriate container and connectors would be a possible solve, as well as a battery powered amplifier.
Or, perhaps a twelve volt solar panel, (or panels), to power the Burns--- that would be cool.
I would also consider a volume pedal and a delay pedal and patch cords.
Good Luck!
teslatheremin

yOU CAN ALWAYS GET A CAR BATTERY CHARGER (about $30 or so) and an inverter (very cheap at any pawn shop, and there are usually lots of them). Then you can just plug in as to a wall outlet and be good for about two hours, I guess, depending on how big an amp you get. In my experience, Black & Decker's charger is good, and some others bad (I mean that the others don't seem to last as long before needing to be recharged.)

Check out the emergency charger/battery units that Sears sells. These are meant to be mobile emergency starters. They have a battery built in and a charger. You will just need to make a suitable adapter cable to connect your theremin to it.

Any ordinary inverter will be ready-made to plug into that charger, and the inverter will have a regular three-pronged outlet, just like a wall outlet, to plug the theremin into without modification.

just a cautionary note..

It could be better to directly feed DC to the Theremin if it accepts this (I remember reading a comment from Thierry somewhere here regarding the supply for this Theremin, but cannot find it! - If I remember correctly, Thierry said it could accept 12VDC - but I am not sure if I remember this correctly)

The electronics to step 12VDC up to AC Mains employs switch-mode power supply techniques - unless one buys a really good (expensive) one there is likely to be a lot of high frequency rubbish / harmonics on this AC signal, and also possibly a lot of high frequency actually radiated from the unit..

I am NOT saying that it wont work - what I am saying is that there is a CHANCE that it wont work, and a higher chance that it will cause other problems such as noise/birdies/ghosts.. Also, these inverters are often inefficient (particularly cheap ones - can go down to 60% efficiency - which means the battery will last for 60% of the time one would get if running directly from the battery.. Also, remember that the mains to DC supply adds further inefficiency.. Also remember that one may need to add some 'ground antenna' ... )

Sorry! :-(

I have just found Thierry's posting
here (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=4277&F=1)

Thierry discusses the matter comprehensively - the bottom line being that, although the B3 will work from a DC supply >= 9V, to get stable operation you need >= 14V to allow headroom for the 78L12 regulator.

Which would be better.. inverter or 12V DC from battery? .. If I had to place a bet, I would go with 12V DC.

Best (as Thierry suggests) is two 9V batteries in series.. Or one could use a battery holder / holders which takes 12 rechargable 1.5V cells (C,AA, whatever) in series, which would give 14.4V when cells are at 1.2V each, or 18V if they are 1.5V each... (rechargable "1.5V" NiMh cells are usually less than 1.5V even if fully charged).

... Or, as TeslaTheremin says, if playing outside, why not go 'green' - one of the solar photo-electric panels designed to top-up a car battery should give enough power to drive the Theremin, even in moderate lighting.. Rig up a bunch of NiMh cells, couple of diodes and a resistor to control charging and discharging paths, and you could probably be playing all day and night(or at least until the battery in your amplifier ran out.. and this is another possible source from which you may be able to power your Theremin..)

(quite important to think about the supply for any amp you order! little point in having a battery Theremin if you need mains to run your amp!) I have this amp - DJ-Tech Visa 80 Light (http://www.djtechpro.com/product_detail.asp?category_id=46&sub_id=88&product_id=227)

Fred M.,
I knew you would make a suggestion for a solution to this poster's problem.
So, that amp model you linked could also be at least charged by solar panels?
Good Luck!
teslatheremin

[i]"So, that amp model you linked could also be at least charged by solar panels?" -TeslaTheremin [/i]

There is no reason not - except that going into its guts invalidates your warranty.

I should just add that I have not fully tested this amp, and therefore cannot fully endorse it - I got it cheap (< 1/2 RRP) and it seems to work well.. Particularly useful is that it has both line level and mic/guitar inputs + MP3 player.. it gives everything one needs -

But, at the moment, it is mostly used by the children for karaoke.. absolutely ideal for that, with 3 microphone inputs (one for each child) MP3 player, and input for a small synth they play.