I'm building my first cbg and want to use volume and tone pots, or even just a tone pot only (is that possible?) and Ive seen a few posts that say a preamp is needed for the pots to have any effect, a few posts that suggest it, and a lot of posts that don't seem to mention a need for it. So which is it?A single piezo, two 500k pots, one .047 cap....do I need a preamp? What preamps do people use? Ive seen that $50 one from stu mac but that's about double what the whole thing cost to make.
Thanks for any tips
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
I built the mint box preamp but can't say that I hear too much difference. I'd read about the effect of impedance mismatch producing a dull, lifeless tone without a preamp and maybe expected too much. It changed the tone a little, but not really for better or worse. That's my tuppence!
I use piezo discs and usually a magnetic pickup and wire them via a 3 way switch without a preamp. I have found that the tone pot (with a .047 cap)has little or no effect on the piezo disc sound.
Preamps in my case are used to match the impedance of the piezo to the actual guitar amp as well as to amplify any low signal. There are folks here that don't use them. Some do. I do. I have been using the Minty Amp and its worked out really well. Takes about 10 minutes to solder and can be placed inside the guitar (you have to have a battery tho, so make the guitar accessible). Costs $4.50 as a kit but ~$5 shipping. Buy a few if you are going to build more than one box. - WY
Replies
Dom
Regards,
David
Minty Amp