Modifying instrument preamp

Archived from groups: rec.music.makers.builders,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

> Or should I just leave the preamp like it is and see how it sounds
> first?

Always a wise first choice.

Then go a step at a time... try larger caps to move the EQ down, probably a
good idea to first search out some info on the type of EQ circuit they have
so you understand it.

miker

Archived from groups: rec.music.makers.builders,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:15:29 GMT, walkinay@thegrid.net (hank alrich)
wrote:

>jtougas wrote:
>
>> I'm in the middle of designing a thin
>> bodied acoustic electric bass (think of a bass Chet Atkins SST), and
>> I've got a B-band pickup and preamp to put in it.
>
>I wouldn't bother with teh B-band. I'd buy a K&K, which even without a
>rpeamp, kicks butt on all the undersaddle pickups I've heard. YMMV

Problem is, I'm not expecting a lot of body volume out of this thing,
since it'll only be about 2 inches thick, with an interior depth of
about 1 1/2 inches or so, and a interior beam running the length of
the body to provide strength and weight balance against the neck.

So I won't really have a place to put soundboard transducers
underneath the bridge. An undersaddle transducer is my best bet.


jtougas

listen- there's a hell of a good universe next door
let's go

e.e. cummings

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <g75i21thei2v8noisiodtfgeg6e89vij34@4ax.com> jatougas@charter.net writes:

> >> I'm in the middle of designing a thin
> >> bodied acoustic electric bass (think of a bass Chet Atkins SST)

> Problem is, I'm not expecting a lot of body volume out of this thing,
> since it'll only be about 2 inches thick, with an interior depth of
> about 1 1/2 inches or so, and a interior beam running the length of
> the body to provide strength and weight balance against the neck.
>
> So I won't really have a place to put soundboard transducers
> underneath the bridge. An undersaddle transducer is my best bet.

I think your bass isn't going to work very well, but that shouldn't
stop you from trying. I don't build basses so I can't be sure. But
understand that EQ isn't going to put something there that doesn't
come from the bass. I'd take as flat an output as you can get from the
bass preamp, run it into an amplifier or mixer or outboard equalizer
that has "tone controls" and see what you can do with it. If you find
the sound you like, then figure out how to build that frequency
response into the preamp that you ultimately install in the bass.

And if you find that no matter how much you boost any frequency, it
still sounds like a 2x4 with rubber bands only louder, then you'll
have learned something about acoustic instrument construction.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Archived from groups: rec.music.makers.builders,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 00:59:52 -0700, "Lumpy"
<lumpy@digitalcartography.com> wrote:

>jtougas wrote:
>> Hi folks -
>>
>> Quick question for everyone. I'm in the middle of designing a
>> thin bodied acoustic electric bass (think of a bass Chet Atkins
>> SST), and I've got a B-band pickup and preamp to put in it.
>>
>> How should I modify the preamp to be more bass biased than guitar
>> biased?
>
>David Enke at www.pick-uptheworld.com
>has done a lot of experimenting with
>applying transducers to instruments
>besides the traditional guitar
>pickups.

I talked to David when I first started designing this series of
insruments (I'm planning a giutar to match, as well as one based on
the Fender 6, an odd hybrid). He gave me some very good advice, but I
decided against using his pickups (mostly on the basis of money; I got
three B-band preamps cheap).

Still, the Pick up the World designs are high on my list to try for
future projects.

jtougas

listen- there's a hell of a good universe next door
let's go

e.e. cummings