how was it done ?

leftwinger57
leftwinger57 Posts: 2,917
in Music & Movies
What I'm getting at is back in the day when U.S. bands would bring their gear to Europe or Asia how was the voltage conversion done. Never being overseas I know most countries use 220v as to our 110 v grids. Did they have 110 v generators or some kind of step down transformer to handle the voltage drop ? Conversely when English bands came over they could have easily rented U.S marketed Marshalls or what ever. But Pink Floyd and The Who had Hi-Watt amps built specifically for them and more than likely were 220v.
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Comments

  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    They probably had switches on the back or internally to convert them to whatever voltage country they were in had.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,447
    I think most stadium-type venues can support more than just 110, so using 220 gear stateside would not be a challenge.
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  • leftwinger57
    leftwinger57 Posts: 2,917
    Not quite sure either answers are purely correct. Only because 110 plugs and English 220v plugs are different so if they had adapter plugs to go along w/ your theories I could buy into it. When I saw Pink Floyd at Yankee Stadium in '94 all all along Jerome Ave on the back side of the stadium was a line up of Caterpillar Generating trucks and mean a bunch of them. So while yes there is 220v in stadiums for their lights and other things house power was not used. I still think some other way was done w/ a step down converter of some kind. Where's Doc Hardy he might have an idea about this.
    2chl- Adcom GFA- 555-Onkyo P-3150v pre/amp- JVC-QL-A200 tt- Denon 1940 ci cdp- Adcom GFS-6 -Modded '87 SDA 2Bs - Dynamat Ext.- BH-5- X-Overs VR-3, RDO-194 tweeters, Larry's Rings, Speakon/Neutrik I/C- Cherry stain tops Advent Maestros,Ohm model E

    H/T- Toshiba au40" flat- Yamaha RX- V665 avr- YSD-11 Dock- I-Pod- Klipsch #400HD Speaker set-

    Bdrm- Nikko 6065 receiver- JBL -G-200s--Pioneer 305 headphones--Sony CE375-5 disc
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  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited February 2015
    Why would you need a step down? A 220V line is simply 2 110V lines put together. It isn't wise to take a 220V and step it down since it requires twice the amperage at the new voltage.
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  • gce
    gce Posts: 2,158
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  • leftwinger57
    leftwinger57 Posts: 2,917
    I found out from Marshall that w/ the 220v they did indeed need step down transformers if playing in the U.S back in the day or if the tech was savvy enough he could change the tap on the internal transformer with in the amp. Modern day amps do indeed have switches to change voltages and just need and adapter plug for it to work. As far as I know no stadium provides the power for the p.a., lighting, and staging it's all rented generating trucks.
    2chl- Adcom GFA- 555-Onkyo P-3150v pre/amp- JVC-QL-A200 tt- Denon 1940 ci cdp- Adcom GFS-6 -Modded '87 SDA 2Bs - Dynamat Ext.- BH-5- X-Overs VR-3, RDO-194 tweeters, Larry's Rings, Speakon/Neutrik I/C- Cherry stain tops Advent Maestros,Ohm model E

    H/T- Toshiba au40" flat- Yamaha RX- V665 avr- YSD-11 Dock- I-Pod- Klipsch #400HD Speaker set-

    Bdrm- Nikko 6065 receiver- JBL -G-200s--Pioneer 305 headphones--Sony CE375-5 disc
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