A single 9V battery is not advised for a TL072 because it is not designed for operation at less than 10V.

While the OPA2134 is a fairly expensive opamp, they have much lower noise than the common-or-garden TL072. The three circuits are shown using a 9V battery and an OPA2134 (or NJM2068) opamp. Some players tune for C 1 (32Hz), but that's still easily accommodated with the circuits shown below. The circuit is simplified considerably for musical instruments, because response below 40Hz isn't necessary (the lowest note on a traditionally tuned double bass is E 1 - 41Hz).

The circuits shown in the article/ project are intended more for a specialised bench amplifier, and aren't really suitable for musical instrument pickups. The general principles are discussed in some detail, but it can't be considered a 'true' project for several reasons.įor starters, the final circuit (shown in Figure 10 of the referenced article) requires the use of a 1GΩ resistor, and these are not easy to get and are expensive. The basic principles are discussed in the article High Impedance Input Stages / Project 161. I've also experimented with piezo transducers. However, there is an exception to the 'high impedance' rule that's covered later (charge amplifier)įor reasons that escape me, I've not described a piezo preamp before this, even though I have used piezo transducers in a number of projects developed for customers. While bipolar input opamps can be used, there will be a significant noise penalty. Almost without exception, this means a FET input, either JFET or FET input opamp. In most cases, the input impedance needs to be somewhere between 'high' (1MΩ or so) to exceptionally high (greater than 100MΩ). They can be used as pickups for various musical instruments, such as acoustic guitars, violins, cellos, double-bass (aka upright bass), ukuleles and mandolins (etc.), and also as accelerometers. Piezo transducers are common in a range of different areas.

Piezo preamps