onboard guitar preamp suggestion

[Renegadrian]

Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum...
I've got several projects, but I'd like to start  with an onboard preamp for my  guitars...I read someone threw in a LMP (1 or 2), else an AMZ mosfet boost...which is the best for that purpose? The goal I have  is to have a boosted signal, while it has to remain clear (no dist. added)

Tho' I have a perhaps silly idea...Being a big Malmsteen fan, my GF bought me a DOD 308 (which is a slightly modified 250, as you surely know...) - I like to use with the gain pot to the max, to get that push it's famous for...But I also discovered that it can be a great signal booster with the gain pot to its minimum...
Do you think it would be crap to put a 250/308 inside the guitar as a booster, with no level pot (only gain)?
That way I'd have both the minimum gain (almost clean boosted signal) and the max gain of it (may I'd need to push some valve amps) just turning the pot...

Thanks for your suggestions!!! 

[brett]

Hi
several boosters are suitable.
The LBP-1 and 2 are both good ideas.  (My personal favourite is the Stratoblaster, which despite the name has little or no distortion.  See generalguitargadgets.com for details).

RE:Do you think it would be crap to put a 250/308 inside the guitar as a booster

It would be overkill, so I'd have to agree.

[Hanglow]

I really like the stratoblaster as well, but can't compare it to the others you mentioned. simple, lots of clean boost.

[Renegadrian]

RE:Do you think it would be crap to put a 250/308 inside the guitar as a booster

It would be overkill, so I'd have to agree.

so you'd second that? it's not a crazy idea, you say?!

Thanks for the replies

[brett]

I meant that yes, you were right, the idea was crap.
The LBP2 and Stratoblaster only have about 10 parts, and are more than adequate.

[MarcoMike]

Hi, I don't know the stratoblaster but I can tell you the LPB-x is not aclean boost!, ok, it doesn't create distortion, but it definetly colours the tone of your guitar. it turns kind of "darker". on my pedalboard it is placed after all the distortions to increase the overall volume and is also nice on cleans to smooth out the highs.
if you put it ON your guitar instead, you will never hear those highs! not sure this is good.

the 250 is a distortion I really like, but there is no way to get a clean boost, even with the gain at -1! maybe you can include a switch to lift the clipping diodes or use very hi voltage LEDs as clippers...

what about a mosfet booster instead?

my 2 cents

[Renegadrian]

Grazie Marco!!! 

[Renegadrian]

I meant that yes, you were right, the idea was crap.

Ah, ok, I have misunderstood that at first...

[Renegadrian]

Judging by your replies, I think I'll build the AMZ mosfet boost and the Stratoblaster , first wiring them offboard so to compare them...LPB1 too, after all it's just a little bunch of components...after the comparison, I will put the board inside the guitar...

[Renegadrian]

WTF - I went to the shop I believed was the best for electronic parts...I gave them my list of parts..No way I can get a j201, or a bs170 or 2n5088...They  said they're pretty outdated and nobody looks after them anymore...so no way to get them here in Rome I believe...I have to look for them via web...

[Dragonfly]

WTF - I went to the shop I believed was the best for electronic parts...I gave them my list of parts..No way I can get a j201, or a bs170 or 2n5088...They  said they're pretty outdated and nobody looks after them anymore...so no way to get them here in Rome I believe...I have to look for them via web...

www.smallbearelec.com

they ship worldwide

[Renegadrian]

I already knew it - thxanyway for the input! 

[Mark Hammer]

Does your guitar pick up hum?  If it does, you probably do not want to amplify that.  Far better is to buffer the signal so that it travels along the first cord efficiently, without tone loss, and then have a booster pedal that can have some tone shaping to try and eliminate some of the hum or any hiss accumulated.

I keep saying that I understand why people want to install circuits in their guitars, but most of the things they want those circuits to do can be done better off the guitar than on it.

[Renegadrian]

Mark, thanks for the input, I know you are a guru for a lot of diyers...
Well, my guitar doesn't hum, I just wanted to try to give her a little push - as I wrote before, I want to build some boosters offboard and try them - Put the chosen one in the guitar's guts only when I'm totally satisfied with the result...

[Mark Hammer]

Understood.  I think if you aim for a gain of up to 4x, you'll be happy.  That can make the difference between pushing your amp into overdrive or not, and it isn't so much that you will feel the need to turn down.  The other thing is that many of your other pedals, like noise gates, choruses, flangers, delays, etc., will be expecting an input signal of a certain amplitude.  If you exceed that by a lot, those pedals can often misbehave.  I feel that gains of not more than 3-5x on the guitar itself can provide a useful improvement in S/N ratio, improved tone, better driving of the amp, but without the cost of making your other pedals misbehave.

[blanik]

i've tried the Super Hard-On in a guitar, pretty cool and the battery is still in there after a year! (the vero circuit itself is the size of a quarter, with a DPDT miniswitch for true bypass, in case of transistor failiure) i was even looking for a pot with a pull switch with a DPDT so i could juste replace a tone knob i don't use with it....

[Renegadrian]

Mark, yes you got the point!!! 

blanik, got a link of it? Never read about it...

[Ben N]

Re: your original question: An OD 250 without clipping is really similar to an MXR Microamp, which is in turn nothing more than your basic noninverting opamp gain stage. True it has a few more parts than you need, minimally, and may pose a space challenge in your guitar, but it can be pared down. Craig Anderton designed a number of onboard preamps using opamps, and a number of commercial manufacturers still do (EMG, Bartolini, etc.; although they do have the benefit of SMD). Todays low-noise, low current and rail-to-rail chips mean that you can do better than Anderton on noise, current consumption and headroom. An opamp would very likely make the most transparent boost of all. I'm not saying this is your best solution, or better than the others suggested, just that it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Comparing a opamp-based buffer-boost with an FET or BJT based design may be a great learning experience, if nothing else.

If you go for Mark's idea (FET buffer + 2-4 db), look at the Tillman (http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/); if you want a boost that you switch in or out, I personally love the Stratoblaster. The AMZ Mosfet boost article tells you one way to switch from unity gain buffering to boost.

Let us know how it goes.
Ben

[Renegadrian]

THX for your contribution Ben, it's time for me to gather all the parts I need thru Banzai...(for this and other projects)

[Renegadrian]

Done, at last...I have a Stratoblaster inside my Warlock clone...pics to follow! Sounds quite good on boosting clean sounds and adding a little bite to overdriven sounds...I am quite happy, it turned out great, and that just swapping one volume and the tone...But who need that?! One volume + the Stratoblaster on/off and level...
That's it...