hybrid bass: one output jack stereo/mono

[lowerthetone]

Hi there,

Long time lurker here on talkbass, finally dicided to post a thread. I would like some insight on wiring up my bass. I am fairly new to electronics and I am humbled by the knowledge from members here, so any help is much appreciated.

I'm at the point of finishing my first build after roughly 4,5 year ; a 'hybrid' bass. It´s a flattop thinline acoustic-electric fretless 4 string. I have build a 4-coil pickup for the neck and there will be a piezo film under one of the legs of the bridge.

Both pickups will have it's own stingray 2-band pre clone (thanks unclefluffy!) which I have already assembled and waiting to be installed. The piezo (SDT1) will be first send to an buffer I build which is based on the Scott Helmke´s mint box buffer.

It would be great if I could use a mono cable for both pickups and a stereo cable if I want to use different effects for each pickup. I would prefer to use only one stereo jack if that's possible. The signal path would look like this.

Piezo --> buffer --> 2-band pre --> 3-way toggle --> stereo jack

Mag--> 2-band pre --> 3-way toggle --> stereo jack

My question: Is it possible using only one jack for a stereo and mono output? I wouldn't mind using a switch for mono/stereo. If I use a switch, is it possible to retain the switch on the jack to switch the power on? Is it possible to use a 3-way switch to use the mag, mag+piezo and piezo only in mono and stereo mode? This stereo/mono thing is really confusing me and if it is too much of a hassle I will probably wire it up mono...

I know the stingray 2-band current drain is extremely low, but would it be wise to feed 2 pre-amps and a buffer with only one 9v battery?

I documented the complete build with foto's so I could start a thread at the LC for those interested.

 

[bassbenj]

Hi there,

Long time lurker here on talkbass, finally dicided to post a thread. I would like some insight on wiring up my bass. I am fairly new to electronics and I am humbled by the knowledge from members here, so any help is much appreciated.

I'm at the point of finishing my first build after roughly 4,5 year ; a 'hybrid' bass. It´s a flattop thinline acoustic-electric fretless 4 string. I have build a 4-coil pickup for the neck and there will be a piezo film under one of the legs of the bridge.

Both pickups will have it's own stingray 2-band pre clone (thanks unclefluffy!) which I have already assembled and waiting to be installed. The piezo (SDT1) will be first send to an buffer I build which is based on the Scott Helmke´s mint box buffer.

It would be great if I could use a mono cable for both pickups and a stereo cable if I want to use different effects for each pickup. I would prefer to use only one stereo jack if that's possible. The signal path would look like this.

Piezo --> buffer --> 2-band pre --> 3-way toggle --> stereo jack

Mag--> 2-band pre --> 3-way toggle --> stereo jack

My question: Is it possible using only one jack for a stereo and mono output? I wouldn't mind using a switch for mono/stereo. If I use a switch, is it possible to retain the switch on the jack to switch the power on? Is it possible to use a 3-way switch to use the mag, mag+piezo and piezo only in mono and stereo mode? This stereo/mono thing is really confusing me and if it is too much of a hassle I will probably wire it up mono...

I know the stingray 2-band current drain is extremely low, but would it be wise to feed 2 pre-amps and a buffer with only one 9v battery?

I documented the complete build with foto's so I could start a thread at the LC for those interested.

I've got a guitar that is mag and piezo as you describe. What I used is a circuit from Fishman called a "powerchip". It's not a "chip" but a volume control/buffer for a piezo pickup designed to blend in a magnetic pickup.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...WWRWXGB&kwid=586872f3d8394a71a61877dc0d2b61ed

It comes with all the stuff (jack, battery clips etc. though I used a flip-top battery box instead) The mag channel is separate and can be passive (vol/tone) or active. The wiring allows you to have both or either pickup but coolest of all is that the jack that comes with it switches between stereo and mono. So if you plug in a mono cable, it does mono but if you plug in a TRS stereo cable it then gives you a pickup in each channel. I made a little TRS box that takes TRS cable in and routes it to two mono jacks for two amps one on each side of stage.

It's kind of expensive, but really does the job and they've got all the features you want worked out which you can use or not by your choice. Check it out! I love it! It's kind of expensive, but I don't know how they wire is so I can't say how they do the stereo-mono thing. I just spent the money.

PS. The stereo thing is a great effect especially if you are also using effects with stereo outputs that sound MUCH better in stereo than mono. But obviously is also a bigger pain than the usual mono rig.

Good luck!

 

[lowerthetone]

Bassbenji, thanks for the quick reply!

The fishman powerchip looks interesting, really small as well. The price is indeed a little bit too much for me at the moment, and for this bass I already build my own buffer and preamps. I like to build as much by myself. I even wound my own magnetic pickups. The preamps give me on board tone control as well.

I am really fascinated by the 'smart' jack included by the powerchip though! That's exactly the kind of option I am looking for in this build! It's a closed type jack though so I can't figure out how it works

I will definitely build a splitter box you described I use the stereo cable so I have two mono out. I could for example use overdrive for the mag path and keep the piezo path clean. My old Dynacord Bassking1 tube amp has 3 inputs with it's own gain knobs; one instrument input and two mic inputs. The mic inputs sounds kind of rude, fat and has the tendancy to overdrive a little (great for mag). The instrument has the mids scooped a little, and sounds a bit more polite, modern and clean (great for piezo I hope).

I am really excited to try out this stereo thing!

 

[lowerthetone]

I have found this wiring scheme on another forum, which is basically the same thing I am looking for: one jack, stereo/mono switch, mag / mag + piezo / piezo switch.

Invalid Link Removed

He says to have problems with a lower output in mono mode though, but I think I will try this one.

Does anyone know if I can safely run 2 stingray 2 band pre's + one scot helmke buffer with one 9V battery?

Thanks

 

[bassbenj]

Bassbenji, thanks for the quick reply!

The fishman powerchip looks interesting, really small as well. The price is indeed a little bit too much for me at the moment, and for this bass I already build my own buffer and preamps. I like to build as much by myself. I even wound my own magnetic pickups. The preamps give me on board tone control as well.

I am really fascinated by the 'smart' jack included by the powerchip though! That's exactly the kind of option I am looking for in this build! It's a closed type jack though so I can't figure out how it works

I will definitely build a splitter box you described I use the stereo cable so I have two mono out. I could for example use overdrive for the mag path and keep the piezo path clean. My old Dynacord Bassking1 tube amp has 3 inputs with it's own gain knobs; one instrument input and two mic inputs. The mic inputs sounds kind of rude, fat and has the tendancy to overdrive a little (great for mag). The instrument has the mids scooped a little, and sounds a bit more polite, modern and clean (great for piezo I hope).

I am really excited to try out this stereo thing!

Well, I haven't figured out how the "smart jack" works either, but I can tell you it DOES work!

I think you'll like the split pickup thing and you can always wire mono-stereo with a switch! I got into this when I discovered that my effects pedal sounded so much better using it's stereo out and two amps vs mono out and a single amp. Given the stereo setup for effects the split pickups thing was just icing on the cake! But you case of using a single amp with different inputs that would allow seperate (or none) effects on each pickup is very interesting too! Yeah, I could see like my bass Bad Monkey on magnetic and piezo clean!