Make your own onboard pre?

[jazzy grille]

Hey guys! I was wondering if anyone knew where i could find a book/website that might show how to make your own onboard pre-amps?

I have every single component that i could possibly need even pots and breadboards.

any help would be great.

[daveze]

Google search my friend.

Essentially, you can design most preamps with a modular approach: buffer, tone shaping, gain; each of which is optional and the order can change, depending on your preferences. Once you have a bit more of an idea of what you want, then you can go searching for methods of achieving what you want.

If you know a bit more of what you want, I'm happy to help where I can (I'm not that useful) and there are a few folk here that are guns at this sorta thing if you can provide them with a few more details.

[DeathDancer]

Try looking here. If no one has a thread on it you can prolly start one and get some input.

http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=44

[jazzy grille]

thanks guys!

This is just a project so its nothing to serious...thank god

But when i get all the material's that i am looking for i will make a couple posts asking some questions. Hopefully some one knows

I have read some stuff and i pretty much get the idea. I am still a little fuzzy on the values of some of the resistors and other stuff like that.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by jazzy grille

I have every single component that i could possibly need even pots and breadboards.

I have a couple of metric tons of audio componentry (parts only) and still buy new parts regularly. Such is the life of an experimenter.

What you need to consider, irrespective of topology is
- active only, or active / passive?
- what sort of battery life is reasonable to you?
- 9V or 18V? Question of space, headroom, noise considerations....
- do you want tone controls on board? How many bands? What type of controls, and what range do you want them to work over?

I seriously doubt you'll better a lot of the commercial options, esp Aguilar, as they're excellent compromises or preformance, size, battery drain etc. However, removing some of their inherent limitations, because of said compromises is possible, but brings about other, such as better sounding and lower noise opamps, but with higher current draw, and shorter battery life. Having a passive network a la most passive basses, before any active stage, which makes the active/passive option easier to implement, but usually seriously screws with the final active result. Adding tone controls can bring other issues esp when the tone controls are maxed.

I have no scanner or drawing programs; I'm still an old school, Italian-esque* draw-it-on-the-back-of-a-napkin engineer so I don't know how to share ideas online. In all the engineering work I've done, someone else got to draw up the finals. CAD work bores me silly.

* For the PC-anal retentive types, this is a compliment.

[jazzy grille]

Originally Posted by Dharmabass

I have a couple of metric tons of audio componentry (parts only) and still buy new parts regularly. Such is the life of an experimenter.

What you need to consider, irrespective of topology is
- active only, or active / passive?
- what sort of battery life is reasonable to you?
- 9V or 18V? Question of space, headroom, noise considerations....
- do you want tone controls on board? How many bands? What type of controls, and what range do you want them to work over?

I seriously doubt you'll better a lot of the commercial options, esp Aguilar, as they're excellent compromises or preformance, size, battery drain etc. However, removing some of their inherent limitations, because of said compromises is possible, but brings about other, such as better sounding and lower noise opamps, but with higher current draw, and shorter battery life. Having a passive network a la most passive basses, before any active stage, which makes the active/passive option easier to implement, but usually seriously screws with the final active result. Adding tone controls can bring other issues esp when the tone controls are maxed.

I have no scanner or drawing programs; I'm still an old school, Italian-esque* draw-it-on-the-back-of-a-napkin engineer so I don't know how to share ideas online. In all the engineering work I've done, someone else got to draw up the finals. CAD work bores me silly.

* For the PC-anal retentive types, this is a compliment.

I would most likely be going for Active/Passive with an 18v supply. perhaps a 6 band EQ (similar to mike pope's) as far as what frequencies they control that will be decided at a later time. I work at a Electronic compnent distribution firm. So i can get anything. That is kind of the reason why i really want to look into this. I have a pretty vast knowledge of electronics, I help some customers design their UL specs etc..

I have a friend who winds his own pickups and he has this new i dea that i have not seen anywhere and its very impressive. Me and him have been talking about making an amazing pre to match up with these "things".

[edwinhurwitz]

About 7 years ago, I got Craig Anderton's DIY Projects for Guitarists book and built his Clarifier for my Ibanez Professional guitar. It works quite well to this day, quiet, powerful and versatile. Craig goes through the theory involved, so it would be a great starting place.


Edwin

PS Back in the day, I also built his Super Tone Control from his first book, Electronic Projects for Musicians, into a bass and that was off the hook! I could crank the resonance so high that it would oscillate on its own. I got the biggest deepest cleanest low end out of any onboard electronics I have ever had out of that arrangement. It was just too insane to have inside a bass in the long run.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by jazzy grille

I have a pretty vast knowledge of electronics, I help some customers design their UL specs etc..

Then why are you asking us? It's pretty basic electronic design, similar to what I used to give first year College students as projects to help learn linear design.

[jazzy grille]

Originally Posted by Dharmabass

Then why are you asking us? It's pretty basic electronic design, similar to what I used to give first year College students as projects to help learn linear design.

Yeah but you see i didnt go to school for this all my knowledge is "aquired" from being being in this feild for so long. And what i help them work on is usually high voltage stuff. I dont work on the drawing's or anything i help them cross part's and find what they need by going over their specs with them. So maybe "design" was the wrong word

[DavePlaysBass]

If you have some circuits you want a frequency response simulation for, PM me. I have thought about doing the same thing.

Dave