100W Guitar Pre-Amplifier (Rise)

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Introduction

Guitar amplifiers are always an fascinating challenge. The tone controls, gain & overload characteristics are individual, & the ideal combination varies from guitarist to the next, & from guitar to the next. There is no amp that satisfies everyone's requirements, & this offering is not expected to be an exception. The preamp is now at Revision-A, & although the whole schematic of the new version is not shown below, the essential characteristics are not changed - it still has the same tone control "stack" & other controls, but now has a second op amp to reduce output impedance & improve gain characteristics.

One major difference from any "store bought" amplifier is that in case you build it yourself, you can alter things to fit your own needs. The ability to experiment is the key to this circuit, which is although introduced in complete form, there is every expectation that builders will make modifications to suit themselves.

The amp is rated at 100W in to a four Ohms load, as this is typical of a "combo" type amp with 8 Ohm speakers in parallel. Alternatively, you can run the amp in to a "quad" box (four x 8 Ohm speakers in series parallel - see Figure five in Project 27b, the original editorial) and will get about 60 Watts. For the adventurous, two quad boxes and the amp head will provide 100W, but will be much louder than the twin. This is a common combination for guitarists, but it does make it hard for the sound man to bring everything else up to the same level.

The Pre-Amplifier

A picture of the Revision-A preamp is shown below. You'll see that there's dual op amps, but the schematic only shows. This is the main part of the Rev-A update - the output section now has gain (which is basically selected), and a better buffered low output impedance. The remainder of the circuit is unchanged.

Guitar Pre-Amplifier Board

The preamp circuit is shown in Figure one, and has a few fascinating characteristics that separate it from the "normal" - assuming that there is such a thing. This is simple but elegant design, that provides excellent tonal range. The gain structure is designed to provide a immense amount of gain, which is ideal for those guitarists who like to get that fully distorted "fat" sound.

However, with a couple of simple changes, the preamp can be tamed to suit any style of playing. Likewise, the tone controls as shown have sufficient range to cover very anything from an electrified violin to a bass guitar - The response can be limited in the event you wish (by experimenting with the tone control capacitor values), but I recommend that you try it "as is" before making any changes.

Figure 1 - Guitar Pre-Amplifier

From Figure one, you can see that the preamp makes use of a dual op amp as its only amplification. The lone transistor is an emitter follower, & maintains a low output impedance after the master volume control. As shown, with a typical guitar input, it is feasible to receive a fat overdrive sound by winding up the volume, & then setting the master for an appropriate level. The general frequency response is deliberately limited to prevent extreme low-end waffle, & to cut the extreme highs to help reduce noise & to limit the response to the normal requirements for guitar. In case you use the TL072 op amp as shown, you may find that noise is an issue - at high gain with lots of treble boost. I strongly recommend that you use an OPA2134 - a premium audio op amp from Los angels Instruments (Burr-Brown division), you will then find this possibly the quietest guitar amp you have ever heard (or not heard :-). At any gain setting, there is more pickup noise from my guitar than circuit noise - & for the prototype one used carbon resistors!

Notes:
one - IC pin outs are industry standard for dual op amps - pin four is -ve supply, and pin 8 is +ve supply.
two - Op amp supply pins must be bypassed to earth with 100nF caps (preferably ceramic) as close as feasible to the op amp itself.
three - Diodes are 1N4148, 1N914 or similar.
four - Pots ought to be linear for tone controls, & log for volume and master.

The power supply section (bottom left corner) connects directly to the main +/-35V power amp supply. Use one Watt zen-er diodes (D5 and D6), and make positive that the zen-er supply resistors (R18 and R19, 680 ohm one Watt) are kept away from other parts, as they will get warm in operation. Again, the preamp PCB accommodates the supply on the board.

The pin connections shown (either huge dots or "port" symbols) are the pins from the PCB. Normally, all pots would be PCB types, and mounted directly to the board. For a do-it-yourself project, that would limit the layout to that imposed by the board, so all connections use wiring. It may look a bit hard, but is simple and looks fine when the unit is done. Cable ties keep the wiring tidy, and only a single connection to the GND point ought to be used(several are provided, so select that suits your layout. VCC is +35V from the main supply, and VEE is the -35V supply.

In the event you don't require all the gain that is available, basically increase the worth of R6 (the first 4k7 resistor) - for even less noise and gain, increase R11 (the second 4k7) as well. For more gain, decrease R11 - I recommend a maximum of 2k2 here.

If the bright switch is bright ( much treble), increase the 1k resistor (R5) to tame it down again. Reduce the worth to get more bite. The tone control arrangement shown will give zero output if all controls are set to maximum - this is unlikely to be a common requirement in use, but be aware of it when testing.

The diode network at the output is designed to permit the preamp to generate a "soft" clipping characteristic when the volume is turned up. Because of the diode clipping, the power amp needs to have an input sensitivity of about 750mV for full output, otherwise it won't be feasible to get full power even with the Master gain control at the maximum setting.

Make positive that the input connectors are isolated from the chassis. The earth isolation parts in the power supply help to prevent hum ( when the amp is connected to other mains powered equipment).

If issues are encountered with this circuit, then you have made a wiring mistake \.\. period. A golden rule here is to check the wiring, then keep on checking it until you find the error, since I can assure you that if it does not work properly there is at least mistake, & probably more.

The input, effects & output connections are shown in Figure 1B.

Figure 1B - Internal Wiring

The connections shown are similar (ok, virtually identical :-) to those used in my prototype. Noise is low, & probably might have been lower if I had made the amp a tiny bigger. All connectors must be fully insulated types, so there is no connection to chassis. This is important !

You will notice from the above diagram that I didn't include the "loop breaker" circuit shown in the power supply diagram. For my needs, it is not necessary, for your needs, I shall let you pick. In case you select to make use of it, then the earth (chassis) connection marked * (next to the input connectors) must be left off.

A few important points

The main 0 volt point is the connection between the filter caps. This is the reference for all zero volt returns, including the 0.1 ohm speaker feedback resistor. Don't connect the feedback resistor directly to the amp's GND point, or you will generate distortion & feasible instability.
 The supply for the amp & preamp must be taken directly from the filter caps - the diagram above is literal - that means that you follow the path of the wiring as shown.
 Although mentioned above, you might well ask why the pots don't mount directly to the PCB to save wiring. Simple . Had I done it that way, you would require to make use of the same type pots as I designed for, & the panel layout would must be the same , with the exact same spacings. I figured that this would be limiting, so wiring it is. The wiring actually doesn't take long & is simple to do, so is not an issue.
 I didn't include the "Bright" switch in Figure 1B for clarity. I expect that it will cause few issues.