Here's a link to the new (reissued) Alembic Strat-o-Blaster. I think the mounting setup is really cool...but it's awfully pricey at $95.
http://store.yahoo.com/alembic/blaster.html
Phillip
Battery drain of 100 ma, huh? Must be some battery if it'll last 10 months! :wink:
You know, I've heard it mentioned before, but never seen one - that sort of set up looks pretty cool. Maybe I'll make a booster or distortion in the same form factor for the guitar I've got pulled apart right now. I think I saw some already punched aluminum scraps in about the same form factor somewhere.
That'd solve the price of enclosures problem for some of us - just make all yr effects on-board! trimpots are cheaper than 16mm, and you cut out the price of knobs, and save on switches, and getting a bunch of plates cut to right dimension is a lot cheaper than having enclosures made, I'm sure. Besides, who needs more than one effect anyway? :P
I guess it's not too bad a price for something more than a volume control.
EMG makes (used to make?) a similar nice compact preamp. Used to cost about $40. It had a small trimmer to set the gain and the circuit board was mounted on a small toggle bypass switch. It was a simple op amp circuit with a LF441, similar in specs to a TL061. Worked fine, sounded good. I still have it in a box somewhere. And I know it uses less than 100mA. :wink:
Tim,
EMG still makes it. It's called the PA-2. (I've got two of 'em, heh heh)
I've always loved the sound of my Strat and my Tele, but didn't like the fact that they have much less volume than a dual-humbucker guitar and that they don't push amps & stompboxes like a Les Paul does.
The PA-2 fits the bill nicely. I wire it up on a stereo jack so the battery connection is cut when the cord is unplugged. I had to route some extra space under the control plate on the Tele (for the battery), but the Strat fit without routing. I ordered them WITHOUT the toggle switch, to preserve the appearance; I'd always have it on anyway.
Seriously, if anyone is thinking of going the route of an active booster, this is the one to try. It's about the size of a postage stamp. Mine were around $25-40. I've had them for about four or five years now.
Oh, and I have the installation/spec sheet that came with it right in front of me:
Output Noise (dBV)..........................-89
Output Impedance (Kohm)..................2
Gain (dB).........................................20
Current @ 9V (Microamps)...............175
Battery Life (Hours).......................2850
Build another...lol
Bear in mind the Strat-o-blaster is intended as a retrofit to replace the stock recessed jack plate on a Strat. I'm assuming that the unit comes with the machined plate and switch in addition to the otherwise inexpensive circuit. As such, it isn't all that overpriced.
Now, to find someone to work on their web pages who knows the difference betwenn a "u" and an "m".
Doing the plate part would be just a bit 'tricky'.
If I were to,, I would have to try using the old jack plate.
It would not be easy [impossible?] for me to produce something like what they have there.
I installed an LPB-1 in my guitar body, burned a hole in the scratchplate for thw toggle switch :D
Quote from: petemooreDoing the plate part would be just a bit 'tricky'.
If I were to,, I would have to try using the old jack plate.
It would not be easy [impossible?] for me to produce something like what they have there.
Perhaps you could invert the stock jack plate to make some more room underneath?
The way I wired my PA-2 was to put the battery in the 'swimming pool' cavity of the Strat and put the PC board UNDER the jack. I put electrical tape around the board a little so as not to short anything out. It made adjusting the trimpot easier this way.
QuoteBattery drain of 100 ma, huh? Must be some battery if it'll last 10 months!
LOL! The batOblaster!
i had an idea for a place to put onboard effects, but all you trem heads out there wont be able to do this/ will find it very hard to do. you could put the effects in the place of the springs on the back of the guitar... and if you were good enough you colud easyily get 3 effects in there. the only downside is that there would be hardly any space for the trem to work, but i dont really like having a wobble bar anywho, so it wouldnt affect me.
callum
You could actually remove the springs, but the trem bar would have to be removed if you want to stop yourself from breaking the trem block. You'll need to drill a hole for wires though ;)
Quote from: smoguzbenjaminYou could actually remove the springs, but the trem bar would have to be removed if you want to stop yourself from breaking the trem block. You'll need to drill a hole for wires though ;)
There's already one on strats for the ground wire. I've got EMG PU's in my Ibanez and have the battery between the tremelo springs.
Regards
RDV
Hey you're right. I never noticed that wire there. How stupid is that? :?