I'm curious about the use of a 386 as I wouldnt've thought that was a low
noise IC.
Something like the K&K would be ideal, but it is a bit pricey. A DIY version
of something similar would be amazing I'm sure.
On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 7:02 PM, Eric Leonardson <eric@ericleonardson.org>wrote:
>
>
> Starting last year my students and I in the Sound Dept. at SAIC have
> been building our own preamps. Nicolas Collins and Robb Drinkwater
> (Sound faculty at SAIC) developed the circuit. Made available as kits.
> any student can purchase the amp kit for $5 from the Media Center
> vending machine (along with batteries, CDRs, DV tapes, Arduino boards,
> perf boards, and other useful items).
>
> Once assembled, the amp will also drive a small 8 ohm speaker if needed.
> Like the mint-box buffer they run on a 9-volt batt. and have a high/low
> gain switch for the input. The circuit differs from the mint-box buffer,
> using a 386 op amp IC instead of a 2N5457 FET.
>
> The benefit of the preamp may not always be apparent as piezo materials
> pick up high and mid-frequencies easily, but not in the low end. With my
> Springboard, the sounds of bowed coil springs are nothing without the
> very deep bass end of the frequency spectrum. Simply plugging it in to a
> 1/4-inch input jack and boosting the gain for mic level was always risky
> depending on the character of the PA mixer, where the mis-matched
> impedance could make itself audibly and noticeable, i.e. very
> disappointing. So, I found a preamp indispensable. However, for the
> Springboard, since the late-90s, I've relied on a little K&K preamp
> designed for the impedance of piezo pickups. It was very low-noise, and
> worth every penny of the $90 I paid. The particular model I use is no
> longer available, but K&K Sound Systems is still in business, and have
> newer versions available: http://www.kksound.com/
>
> All the best,
> Eric
>
>
> On 12/18/10 4:20 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo wrote:
> > On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 9:31 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo<
> > rodrigo.constanzo@gmail.com <rodrigo.constanzo%40gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> >> Interesting. Those look like the same type of thing again, but with a
> >> different protective "sleeve".
> >>
> >> Haas anyone made DIY preamps for their piezos?
> >>
> >> I've made one of these mint-box buffers:
> >> http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html
> >>
> >> But I have to say, I don't really hear much a difference with or without
> >> it, so I don't know if the gain is not very hot on it or what.
> >> I've also used a DIY version of a "Super Hard On" boost pedal, which has
> a
> >> super high input impedance.
> >>
> >> Rodrigo
> >> http://www.rodrigoconstanzo.com
> >>
> >> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 8:20 PM, Simon Whetham<simon@simonwhetham.co.uk<simon%40simonwhetham.co.uk>
> >wrote:
> >>
> >>> hi rodrigo
> >>> what about these?? http://www.c-ducer.com/ great for the inside of
> boats
> >>> in the amazon! ;-)
> >>> simon
> >>>
> >>> *Simon Whetham *
> >>> www.simonwhetham.co.uk
> >>> www.myspace.com/simonwhetham
> >>>
> >>> www.activecrossover.co.uk
> >>>
> >>> *Latest news: Arts Council England to fund 'Active Crossover 2011'
> >>> exhibition tour*
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> out now:
> >>> *'Grey Area'* with Paul Khimasia Morgan released by Con-V
> >>> <http://con-v.org/cnvr22.html>*'The Clearing' *with Rebecca Joy Sharp
> >>> released by Gruenrekorder<http://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=2874>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------
>
> >>> To: oddmusic@yahoogroups.com <oddmusic%40yahoogroups.com>
> >>> From: rodrigo.constanzo@gmail.com <rodrigo.constanzo%40gmail.com>
> >>> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:19:17 +0000
> >>> Subject: [oddmusic] Film Piezos (EMI vs PUTW)?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> So I've been looking into buying some more Piezo Film pickups to use on
> >>> different projects.
> >>> I saw this improv trio recently, of which the guitarist had great tone,
> >>> and
> >>> SWORE by Pickup The World pickups.
> >>>
> >>> So I finally looked them up:
> >>>
> >>> http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/FAQ.html#one
> >>>
> >>> Now, from what I can tell from the pictures, it's Piezo film they're
> >>> talking
> >>> about.
> >>> There's no big/clear pictures, but they mention an "outer wrap of
> Kevlar".
> >>> So I'm guessing it's the standard Piezo Film strips that EMI also
> sells,
> >>> but
> >>> wrapped in a conductive/protective shield, then sold for a massive
> markup.
> >>>
> >>> Has anyone purchased one of these?
> >>> Has anyone fully shielded their piezo film pickups?
> >>>
> >>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
>
> Eric Leonardson
>
> E-mail: eric@ericleonardson.org <eric%40ericleonardson.org> <mailto:
> eric@ericleonardson.org <eric%40ericleonardson.org>>
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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