It was Earth Day yesterday. I always wondered what do you give the Earth for its 'Day'? A tie, or a box of chocolates, doesn't seem right somehow. Maybe the idea is to not give anything - that might be part of the problem. Phil Jones Bass is striving to become part of the solution. Phil has taken his small combo, the Briefcase, and found a way to power it from solar panels. Yes, dear reader, there is a solar-powered bass amp. For those of you that don't know the PJB Briefcase, it is a very small bass combo that's quite unconventional. Since it's the core of the Solar Amp, let's review it, and you'll see how taking it solar is actually quite logical.

First of all, the Briefcase is not a cheap-o practice amp. It is a serious combo that happens to be very small. In fact, at only 6.5" wide, by 14.5" high by 15.75" deep and 28 pounds, it's not unreasonable to compare it to a thick laptop case. It includes a 100-watt internal amp, twin 5" speakers, 5-band EQ, active/passive switch, balanced DI and preamp outs, and even an external speaker output. And it actually delivers wonderfully clean sound and a surprising amount of volume (OK - a loud drummer will trounce it, you have to have it against a wall, and forget about slapping your low B string). What's more, the Briefcase can run off AC or be powered with an optional sealed 12-volt battery that fits inside. Reports tell us that this battery gives you a solid hour of playing time. To charge the battery, simply plug the Briefcase into an AC power supply. Here's where El Sol enters the picture. What Phil has done with the Briefcase is to use solar panels, instead of your electrical outlet, to charge the internal battery. Charge time is 10 hours of sunlight to get the battery ready for 1 hour of playing time.

Phil is planning on building 10 Solar Briefcases to start. The production date is not set but it will be in 2009. Says Phil, "there has to be at least 10 people in the world who want to be totally off the grid and play bass!!" List price will be $995. philjonesbass.com