Tillman Preamp Wired to Push/pull Pot In Guitar (how to prevent popping?)

[iandy4]

Hey Everybody,
I just installed a Tillman Circuit in my guitar.  I thought it would be neat to have the circuit activated by pulling up on the tone pot (push/pull) with the down position as the guitars normal wiring (bypassing the preamp).  It works fine but there is a severe pop when the push/pull is pulled up.  I have it wired so the battery is also activated with the push/pull.  I know I could also wire it so the battery is activated when the plug is inserted instead but would that stop the popping sound when switching (pushpull) between the tillman and the bypass of the tillman (standard wiring).  Ideally I'd like to keep it so the battery is turned on by the pushpull because I have a bad habit of leaving the jack in the guitar but I need some advice to know if that's realistic.  Is it possibly as simple as adding a resistor somewhere to prevent the popping?

Here is the circuit:

[euronymous0001]

leave the battery switching on the TSR jack of the guitar and use the wiring:

http://www.muzique.com/schem/fuzzface4.gif

[Paul Marossy]

Yeah, use a TRS jack to switch the power. And don't be lazy about unplugging the cord from the guitar when you're done playing it. 

[iandy4]

Thanks guys!

I realized I have to do that anyways unless I were to get a 3pdt pushpull and even then I presume I'd still have the popping problem.  Ok, no more being lazy!

[iandy4]

leave the battery switching on the TSR jack of the guitar and use the wiring:

http://www.muzique.com/schem/fuzzface4.gif

I see the schematic but I am pretty new to active electronics and I'm not sure exactly what to take from it.  Isn't it as simple as having a stereo Jack with the extra ring lug bridging the batteries connection to ground or will that still cause the popping sound?  Sorry if my lack of knowledge is annoying.  I'm still learning!

[euronymous0001]

[iandy4]

euronymous0001, Thankyou!!

I love this forum so much!

[Paul Marossy]

Yeah, this has to be one of the best forums of its kind on the internet. 

[iandy4]

I just got it working and wow... I bet a Squier has never sounded this good in the history of Squier's. I'll be making a youtube video soon when I get in the studio.  I'll be sure to post it here for those who are curious.  I can't Believe I almost gave up on the Tillman circuit after a few failed attempts.  It sounds amazing!  I hear it adds just the right amount of compression and just a little more warmth to the sound aside from the 3db boost.  My audio engineer room mate was just floored by the improvement!  Thanks guys for all your help.  Paul I have to agree that this is a special forum!  In the past three days that I've become active in the forum I've been nonstop soldering 

[vendettav]

^ glad to hear that mate. im actually looking for a booster myself so after im done with my fuzz factory (heavily modded) I'll get to try this one out. Waiting for some clips btw

[Paul Marossy]

I just got it working and wow... I bet a Squier has never sounded this good in the history of Squier's. I'll be making a youtube video soon when I get in the studio.  I'll be sure to post it here for those who are curious.  I can't Believe I almost gave up on the Tillman circuit after a few failed attempts.  It sounds amazing!  I hear it adds just the right amount of compression and just a little more warmth to the sound aside from the 3db boost.  My audio engineer room mate was just floored by the improvement!  Thanks guys for all your help.  Paul I have to agree that this is a special forum!  In the past three days that I've become active in the forum I've been nonstop soldering 

Yay! Glad that worked for you. It's not for everyone, but it's a pretty hard to beat simple little circuit for this sort of thing.

[Mark Hammer]

I'll just say that one needs to be careful about using onboard preamps, especially about their gain setting.  Not that it's dangerous or anything like that.  Certainly, the amplifier can handle it just fine.  Rather, sometimes the extra signal level can make pedals behave in frustrating ways.

For example, some FET-based phasers or 1st generation (i.e., no compander) BBD-based pedals can clip too easily with the extra boost, and level-dependent devices like compressors or noise gates may be tricky to set just right.  I also found the venerable Tube Screamer didn't sound nearly as good with an onboard preamp as it did using SC pickups in passive mode.

Obviously you have a bypass switch, so you don't have to suffer those problems.  Just giving you a heads-up so that, should you be using any of the aforementioned pedals and experience head-scratching performance, it may well be from the preamp rather than the pedal itself.

Finally, note that the Tillman, and a great many other JFET preamps, use so little current, that unless you plan on leaving the guitar plugged in for weeks at a time, there is really nothing to be gained by using a switch of any sort to turn the battery on.

[Renegadrian]

The Tillman is one of my fav!!! really love it, simple but effective...

[Paul Marossy]

Mark Hammer's comment made me realize that I forgot to mention that I use a bypass switch with the Tillman circuit these days. It's kind of like an on-board booster that way.  

[euronymous0001]

@paul -what is the difference between putting the tillman before and after your volume pot. i think that i read sometime that you run your tillman before the volume pot of your guitar.

thanks