Bass Guitar Amp Vocal Adaptor Circuit project with schematic and explanation

These days, music is a major hobby for the young and not-so-young. Lots of people  enjoy  making  music,  and  more  and  more dream of showing off their talents on stage. But one of the major problems often encountered is the cost of musical equipment. How many amateur music groups sing  through an amp borrowed from a guitarist or bass player?

This is where the technical problems arise not in terms of the .25” (6.3 mm)  jack, but in terms of the sound quality (the words  are barely understandable) and volume (the amp  seems to produce fewer decibels than for a guitar). What’s more, unpredictable feedback may cause damage to the speakers and is very unpleasant on the ear. This cheap little  easy-to-build project can help solve these technical  problems.

Vocal Adaptor for Bass Guitar Amp Circuit Diagram:

Bass Guitar Amp Vocal Adaptor Circuit project with schematic and explanation

A guitar (or bass guitar) amplifier is designed first and foremost to reproduce the sound of the guitar or bass as faithfully as  possible. The frequency response of the amp doesn’t need to be as wide or as flat as in hi-fi (particularly at the high end), and so this sort of amplifier won’t permit faithful reproduction of the voice. If you build an adaptor to compensate for the amp’s limited frequency response by amplifying in advance the frequencies that are  then attenuated by the amp, it’s possible to  improve the quality of the vocal sound. That’s  just what this circuit attempts to do. 

The adaptor is built around the TL072CN low-noise dual FET op-amp, which offers good value for money. The NE5532 can be used with almost the same sound quality, but at (slightly) higher cost. The circuit breaks  down into two stages. The first stage is used to match the input impedance and amplify the microphone signal. For a small 15 W guitar or bass amplifier, the achievable gain is  about 100 (gain = P1/R1). For more powerful amplifiers, the gain can be reduced to  around 50 by adjusting P1. The second stage amplifies the band of frequencies (adjustable using P2 and P3) that are attenuated by the guitar amp, so as to be able to reproduce the (lead)  singer ’s voice as clearly, distinctly, and  accurately as possible. To refine the adaptor and tailor it to your amplifier and speaker, don’t be afraid to experiment with the component values and the type  of capacitors. 

The circuit can readily be powered using a 9 V battery, thanks to the voltage divider R4/R5 which converts it into a symmetrical  ±4.5 V supply.

Author : Jérémie Hinterreiter - Copyright : Elektor


EmoticonEmoticon

Advertisement