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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: bassmannate on November 21, 2010, 06:03:25 PM

Title: Tillman preamp
Post by: bassmannate on November 21, 2010, 06:03:25 PM
Since this circuit is so simple and small, I'm thinking this would be great to put in the control cavity of my bass! Obviously, the simplest implementation would be to just put it between the control pots and the output jack, but what other setups have you guys done with this preamp? Just getting some ideas.
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: Quackzed on November 21, 2010, 07:13:25 PM
i'd put it after the pickup selector but before the control pots, that way the guitar volume pot acts as the tillman volume pot, no need for 2 volumes... as well as having a tone pot after it...
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: newfish on November 22, 2010, 09:42:51 AM
You could use a DPDT push/pull pot to bypass the pre-amp.

Then if you ever wanted to record / gig directly into another pre-amp, you'd have the choice of which one to use.

It's also a fail-safe if your battery dies mid-gig or whatever.

...and it's still only two pots!
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: bassmannate on November 25, 2010, 01:19:37 PM
Well, the only problem is that my bass is currently set up with 2 passive EMG select humbuckers running into separate volume controls. I have VVT right now. I might eventually get a blend pot and replace one of the volume pots but it's more trouble than I want to deal with since my cavity is really small. Makes rewiring inside pretty difficult. I may just build the tillman into a mint tin and use a short patch cable to run from the output to the preamp.

Oh well. It's all still just thoughts as I still have a couple projects that need to be completed first.
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: Barcode80 on November 25, 2010, 02:26:06 PM
It's so low current and simple to build, I personally would build a preamp for each pickup, placed between the pickups and the volume pots. The circuit is low current enough that running them both is not going to run your battery down any faster. Also make sure you work in the battery space needed when laying it out.
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: Paul Marossy on November 25, 2010, 03:27:16 PM
Quote from: newfish on November 22, 2010, 09:42:51 AM
You could use a DPDT push/pull pot to bypass the pre-amp.

Then if you ever wanted to record / gig directly into another pre-amp, you'd have the choice of which one to use.

It's also a fail-safe if your battery dies mid-gig or whatever.

That's what I did when I had that circuit in a couple of my guitars. And I also liked that a dead battery wouldn't derail me, too.
Title: Re: Tillman preamp
Post by: anti-idiot on November 26, 2010, 12:23:24 PM
Quote from: Barcode80 on November 25, 2010, 02:26:06 PM
It's so low current and simple to build, I personally would build a preamp for each pickup, placed between the pickups and the volume pots. The circuit is low current enough that running them both is not going to run your battery down any faster. Also make sure you work in the battery space needed when laying it out.

That's what I did. 2 preamps, one for each pickup, and they were pot-mounted (ala EMG). Great and simple preamp.