Finally nailed my preamp design!

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BluegrassDan

Well-known member
GDIY Supporter
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Messages
507
Location
Elizabethton, TN
Okay guys, I'm euphoric! I have been tweaking and adjusting like crazy on my DIY two-channel tube preamp. Finally landed on the prefect RC network to make it sing!

My goal was to build a tube pre that would match my Sumi dreadnought guitar and pair of KM84s. Something that I can carry into any studio and it will sound like me.

So, here it is. My guitar, mics, and preamp. No compression, EQ, or reverb. Just the basics. I'm flying high!

Please let me know your thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NclJBGVYahs#action=share
 
BluegrassDan said:
So, here it is. My guitar, mics, and preamp. No compression, EQ, or reverb. Just the basics. I'm flying high!


You should flying high.....GREAT SOUND OF PREAMP DAN......

I like it a lot....
 
Dan, you're a great player and singer with a great sounding guitar. Terrific recording. Really enjoyed your video. Would you mind sharing your mic technique for the guitar? Thanks.
 
Thanks so much, guys. The mic technique is spaced pair: one at the neck joint, one pointed downward at the bridge from shoulder level.  Since the last video, my second NOS Telefunken tube arrived to complete the matched pairs of GE Five Star and two Teles. It sounds EVEN better now!

I'm not sure to what degree (if any) the Russian PIO capacitors contribute to the sound. Seems like there are mixed opinions out there. Perhaps it's like D.W. Fearn says, "A listener might not perceive a 1% improvement in a single component, but what if you have 20 of those components?"

I am so appreciative of this helpful community and the information available to newb DIY-ers. Thanks to each of you who chimed in when I was banging my head against the wall. It feels so incredible to have built a piece of gear with a specific and predetermined use, then finally achieve it. Thanks, all!

 
Thanks Dan. I've been using custom nickel capsule SDC condensers, both around the 12th fret. Bottom mic pointing toward the higher strings, and the upper mic pointing toward the lower strings. I got that from Gary Paczosa. There's a pic online from Abbey Road where he's mic'ing Tony Rice and Dan Tyminski like that. It sounds pretty good. But I gotta try that over the shoulder thing. Heard of it before, never tried it. Your results with that technique are very compelling. Thanks again.
 
BluegrassDan said:
The shoulder method is one Bil Vorndick uses frequently. It's one of my favorite methods.

I sure can't argue with your results! I look forward to trying it soon.
 

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