Whatever the total amperage is of all of your equipment, your generator would have to be twice that.

Not exactly true. You can't just add up the max amps of the equipment because those ratings are for an instantaneous burst which doesn't translate into a RMS draw. For example, the zlx-12 will only draw a little more than a single amp from a generator even though it's rated at 1000 watts or nearly 10amps.

Order a kill-a-watt off amazon and measure each piece of your equipment on max to get a true idea of your draw. This is the only good way to know for sure what you will need.

You would probably be fine with a Honda 3000 watt generator.

A "kill-a-watt off amazon and measure each piece of your equipment on max" is not very practical in the real world of a mobile dj.

A more practical solution is to check the user manual for current draw or call the company's tech support department of said gear for specs.

deejaybman recommendation of 2X the gears amp draw is standard practice in the Pro Sound world and being that he owns a very powerful high-end system his answer falls in line.

Yeah, because specs are accurate. Measuring the actual draw is stupid. Got it. Thanks.

Also to add to my idiocy, here is an article from
MobileBeat suggesting exactly what I suggested using. A kill-a-watt.

www.mobilebeat.com

I never said or implied that measuring was stupid, that was your emotions speaking to you. I said measuring each piece of gear "is not very practical in the real world of a mobile dj". Why ? Because most dj's have no experience with a kill-a watt meter and therefore wont take the time to learn to use it plus it can be very time consuming which many of us don't have a lot of.
Im just being realistic, ask yourself...... how many dj's own kill-a watt meters ?

BTW, I think kill-a watt meters are a great tools but they're like school....nobody really want to go lol

I have seen a lot of DJs use them.

Let's agree on this. Doubling the power rating spec to determine power requirements is easier for most DJs , but it will be overkill for what you truly need.

Yes and Yes 100% i agree.

I believe DJ's like me and deejaybman are exceptions to the average DJ rule because we use large sound systems allowing for more things to go wrong when a generator is your one Achilles' heel.

When Im contracted large events paying BIG money for hundreds of guests there's simply no room for failure, there are no do overs and my client doesn't give a F#ck about my excuses :(

Large Pro sound providers and dj"s like myself have a reputation and a lot of money on the line....This is why the 2X rule is not overkill (for us) but a necessity.

Oh yeah... and I use a Kill-A-Watt too. :)