Tuesday 9 May 2017

Barcus Berry 3000A Buffer Preamp EQ

I know, I know. Another day another layout from me. I mean Jez, can't I let one of the other guys post a new layout for once this month? You guys must be sick of seeing my name pop up with a new layout... Anyways, this time I decided to do something different the the massive amounts of fuzzes I've been doing.

I've seen a few posts in the requests over the years for people looking for a preamp for Piezo pickups. The Barcus Berry 3000A is designed to work for acoustic piezo pickups but is also a buffer, preamp, and EQ. This is the only info that I could find on it:

The Barcus Berry 3000AE Piezo Buffer Preamp with EQ is specifically designed to work with all Barcus-Berry electret microphone systems. Features external bass, treble and volume frequency controls to allow a wide range of adjustment. Includes a belt clip for unrestricted movement.

 Barcus Berry 3000AE Piezo Buffer Preamp Features: 

• Designed to work with all Barcus-Berry electret condenser mic systems.
• Features external bass, treble and volume frequency controls for a wide range of adjustment.
 Barcus Berry 3000A Product Specifications:
Input (EQ) Flat
Input Interface: RCA unbalanced
Input Impedance: 2.2 Meg Ohms
Maximum Input Level: 2.0 vrms
Output (EQ Flat, Volume Max)
Interface: 1/4" unbalanced
Impedance: 2K Ohms
THD: .008% @ 1kHz
Noise: -92dBu
S/N: 100dB
Bass: +/- 12dB @ 50Hz
Treble: +/- 12dB @ 10kHz
Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 30kHz (+/- 1 dB) Power Supply

From what I see from the schematic I have no question that it will work with any Piezo pickup, as there doesn't seem to be anything really special to tell me it can only work with theirs. Mostly it's just marketing to get you to buy their pickup.


45 comments:

  1. No, way man. Not getting tired of your layouts!!! Thnx a lot, really appreciated...

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    1. i'm just kidding around and having some fun with my posts. on the final run for finals, so i have to try and lighten things up or i'm gonna loose my mind. i keep telling people i know, "who would have thought becoming a doctor would be so damn time consuming and relatively challenging?" and all i get back is eye rolls. lol

      trust me i know it's all appreciated. but think about it, in the just between march and may (midterms and finals) i've posted over 30 layouts. i still have a few on my list to do during breaks. lol

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  2. Awesome, I love these tiny circuits that sell for $150. I think the cut under the 100p is wrong, though. As is the input doesn't go anywhere except through that 100p to ground.

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    1. yea. i didn't realize it was still there after i moved stuff around to make it more compact. good catch. layouts been fixed and updated.

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  3. There can never be too many layouts :) Thanks a lot.

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  4. What software do you use to create the layouts?

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    1. http://diy-fever.com/software/diylc/
      +m

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  5. is there any chance since is a dual OP tu use a stereo out?

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    1. Nope. Two opamp channels are used for the single signal path. You'll need to build two of these and use dual pots for stereo operation.
      +m

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  6. Yes, yes, yes! The circuit I was looking for when I first found your site was a Piezo Mic Pre-amp pickup! :-) Since then I've built 15 different pedals (fuzz, reverb, harmoniser, channel splitters, etc, etc) but this is what I wanted.
    Many thanks!

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    1. any time. i remembered something like this being requested a lot of times. since i found the schematic for this i decided better late then never.

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    2. Do you start the build yet?

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    3. I built this and as sotosmaniac13 mentions this comes out as unity gain with the vol full up. My piezo's aren't the best in the world but there doesn't seem to be much difference with or without this circuit. The tone controls do work but very subtle. It could be my piezo's though and what I am trying to amplify. 👂

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    4. No it was sae for me

      It was only subtle diffrence.. with ot without its same

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  7. No, we'll never get fed up. You guys make up for me being a slacker with no time! :o)

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  8. Hi, firstly, as this my first comment on your site, let me thank you for all your hard time and great layouts. I've been building pedals according to your schematics for a long time.
    Yesterday, I started this one since a friend of mine asked for a double bass-piezo preamp. It seems that there may be a problem with this layout. I cant get any signal at the output. Maybe there is any problem that i cant see at the time and someone else can succesfully verify it. I'll check voltages etc and keep you posted.

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    1. Something is fishy about that 10uF capacitor. I think if you shift the Volume 3 output down 2 lumps you'll have it working.

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  9. I think you are right. Now I noticed that the negative side of the 10uf capacitor doesnt connect anywhere. I'll change that and try again.

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    1. Correct. Didn't realized I moved it by accident with the last correction I made. I'll fix it.

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  10. Michael Laughlin you were totally right my friend. (And you have better eyes than I do apparently.. :P )
    I dont get too much volume boost from the preamp (if I shouldnt have any increase please correct me) but everything works as expected. Zach you can tag it as verified.

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  11. Replies
    1. I believe so. The TL062 is a low power version of the TL072 if I'm not mistaken.

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  12. I used TL072 until my TL062s arrive. It works fine. Maybe the TL062 uses less battery power.

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  13. so can this be used with an acoustic that already has a preamp and piezo bass treble volume ? For instance an ovation? I am kind of curious if i could box it and just plug into it for more improved sound ?

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  14. I built this and it seems to work, eq and all...but the output is unity and does not boost at all. Is this correct or should I be getting amplification?

    If the latter...any clue where I should check for problems?

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    1. If you see above, I built it too and had the same comment about it. Finally, I just built a volume booster to run after this pedal.

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  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. as always it will be a big NO !!!! or a big... silent about this : i need the schematic or - bad - the pcb.


    ok ok. go to the forum... But i dont read english and i dont want to read 1000 pages for nothing.


    like a bye bye i a bottle, ciao ciao !

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    1. :P

      Has happened to the best of us.

      However. Do not solder when that drunk. You're bound to err. And then - Learn to debug. That's the most crucial skill. No schematic, no pcb, no forum, no post can ever help you as much as debugging your build. By yourself.
      +m

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  17. ah ah, I know I dont have to use internet after beers but after beers I dont remember I dont have to use internet. Ok, people who drink beers know the apologies in the next day, it's an other question.

    In fact I didnt have bug, I just need the schematic and/or the pcb to do a smd version to use monted on a light instrument like a violin, for exemple.

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    1. a smd version, ok, but the 9V battery on the violin... hm hm...

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  18. by the way, what are the difference with your other circuit here :
    http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.fr/2014/04/acoustic-piezo-preamp.html

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  19. Built this for a banjo player! Rad circuit, the EQ section is great

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  20. Sooo... is this the A or the AE version? Kinda confused here! itd be pretty ultimate to get a preamp that can blend a piezo and a condensor like the super high end acoustic pickup systems. any idea about using this with a transducer type pickup? Very cool stuff recently! congrats on med school!

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    1. it's the A version, haven't seen a schematic for the AE. the A is the older version, so the only info on specs i could find were for the AE, which shouldn't be too different from what the specs of the A were.

      not sure if it can work with a transducer pickup, but i don't see why not.

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  21. Does anybody know if this could be used in an electric jazz bass with the standard magnetic pickups?

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  22. Does anybody know if this could be used in an electric jazz bass with the standard magnetic pickups?

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  23. I am getting quite a bit of hum with this circuit. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

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  24. I just built this, very quiet and distorted sound. not sure what I'm doing wrong.

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  25. Tried this with LM833. No distortion at all and hiss is low enough for good recording. Wouldn't recommend using TL062.

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