In line boost for passive pickups?

[llew]

Is there a simple inline preamp boost (no controls) that you can run a passive bridge plate (K&K, JJB, McIntyre) pickup through to an acoustic amp and basically have what would be the equivalent of an onboard preamp? I have a collection or outboard preamps and just want to boost the guitars signal from the bridge plate w/o altering it.
Thanks!

[martingitdave]

Most of the preamps will buffer or match impedance. Maybe check Shatten?

[hotroad]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Most of the preamps will buffer or match impedance. Maybe check Shatten?

Fishman made a small mixer that was supposed to attach to your belt. It has volume and eq sliders and is not much bigger than a deck of cards. Runs on batteries or plugged in.. Has enough boost to use passive pickups.

[M Hayden]

I’ve built a few of the Tillman small preamp design in the link below. They are easy, inexpensive to make, and small enough to fit into tiny project boxes holding the circuit, jacks, and a 9v battery.

They sound pretty good - with an input impedence of 3 megohms, it works with just about every passive pickup, and the input impedence can be varied to work with your pickup by changing the value of R1 in the circuit. It’s only 3dB gain but it’s enough, most of the time.

http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/

[jseth]

Wouldn't a "step-down" line transformer do the trick? Take your signal from high impedance to low impedance...

[Doug Young]

There's PUTW's Line Driver. Or the PowerPlug. Not sure they're made anymore, but you could find a used one. Baggs GigPro is another option. Has bass and treble controls, but you don't have to use them.

And of course the Red-Eye, with just a treble control - again, you don't have to use it. The Red-Eye especially is known as a clean clear circuit that won't change your sound, just buffers and amplifies transparently, with the option of a treble boost (which is really nice to have once you try it).

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by llew

Is there a simple inline preamp boost (no controls) that you can run a passive bridge plate (K&K, JJB, McIntyre) pickup through to an acoustic amp and basically have what would be the equivalent of an onboard preamp? I have a collection or outboard preamps and just want to boost the guitars signal from the bridge plate w/o altering it.
Thanks!

MXR Micro Amp. It's old-school and simple but works as a buffer and a preamp. Although I haven't used it in years, I've still got mine, an original, locally-made MXR product from 1978. Also, the Schatten Design preamp looks good.
https://www.jimdunlop.com/product/m1...=1&ecCategory=