Got your PM Eric, I'll be in touch shortly. I look forward to talking about this further.

Rich, good idea on the headphone jack, that's doable. My thought was to have the rechargeable batteries inside the unit, and to charge it by plugging in an AC adapter, making it an either/or option between AC or battery power for use. Not sure what Boss uses, can you elaborate?

Kris

Boss and most stomp boxes use a standard barrel adapter that is easily found at any music store and already on most pedal boards. Rechargables die over time and you can always find a 9V or a Boss style adapter. It takes some complexity out of the design and if your adapter ever dies, you can get a replacement just about anywhere.

Edit: I should add this clarification... I'm assuming that you're planning a box that goes on the floor. But if you had a small sized preamp that attaches to the Stick in mind, then forget the Boss adapter and go with a rechargeable (hopefully an internal 9V - just in case).

Hello, Just now saw the thread. This really isn't a business of mine, so there's nothing to step on! (Unless you add buttons to your model) : )
Looking forward to the new models!
-Japhlet

I agree with the principle of keeping it as simple as possible, a rechargeable battery is nice but you can always use a 9v rechargeable one with an external charger, and if you are in a hurry you can always use an alkaline 9v battery (not the greenest choice but it can save you during an emergency). I guess keeping it as small as possible is a better goal. I saw a swiss player that has a small pre-amp attached to the back of the stick (just behind the bridge), he then has the choice of going through the pre-amp or directly from his stickup just swtiching the jack. I don't know which kind of circuit is used but I remember that he has 2 pots, one for gain and the other for 'crunch'. Really quiet unit, with the advantage of using the shortest cable between the pickup and the pre-amp.

My 2 cents, Daniel

I have an enclosure that will work great, about the size of an iPhone, with a clip so you can attach it to your belt. I agree that simple is best, a unit that doesn't necessarily color as much as it preserves frequencies that may be lost in cable runs.

We have a deadline right now for the NAB show in Vegas in April, but as soon as that's done I'll get a few prototypes put together. Price point will be under $100.00

Kris

That sounds great! About how long until it would come out and how much? This would still be mounted on the back of the Stick right? I'd love to score one of these ASAP!

On the stick is a good point. This thing does so little, and is made up of so few parts it seems like a waste to put it in stomp box form. As for a switch the only thing I would add would be a small micro switch to disconnect the battery so you don't have unplug the cord when your not playing, that is if it is made with the function to turn on when a plug is plugged in. I wouldn't bother routing to mono outs, if it is on your belt or stick a foot or 2 stereo cable in and the standard stereo to mono cable out is the best thing to use.
In it's simplest form it is just a very subtle preamp that colors the sound a tiny bit and boosts the signal a bit making a Stickup sound better. I didn't see that much advantage on my NS, and haven't tried it with my Pasv4 pickup, but liked the sound going direct into an amp with my Stickup. To make it a headphone amp is a whole different animal, you need another amp inside as this won't power headphones. So the best case scenario for this is kind of like the original design on the net of the inline preamp, making this a small stereo in, stereo out box. small enough to be on a belt clip or mounted to the stick. REALLY small, or what's the point, just get an effect unit with a preamp
Speaking of small, I would use SMT resistors and caps. Then this would be really small. Your board could be the size of a quarter.
Ok ya got me thinking now, I built a few of these last year and really never used them, I didn't like having another stomp box, but a really tiny one mounted on the stick. Hmmm, time to break out the mega magnifying glass, tweezers and the micro soldering gun....
Mike

The only reason why I ask if it'll be mounted on the Stick is because EricTheGrey's and the one he modeled it off of is meant to mount it on the instrument, and it seems to work really well mounting it right before the belt clip.

I think a stereo to mono switch would be useful if possible. But I'm with you that it should be small.

Keep the suggestions coming folks. I agree that the smaller, the better, but I really like Rich's idea about having this also be a small practice amp with a headphone jack. That takes minimal space, shouldn't affect the size much at all. I'll look at possible ways to attach it directly to the Stick, that may pose a challenge. I'm not a fan of the 3M tape that's used for the Roland pickups, I'd like to avoid that. I'm almost wondering if we can build a stereo 1/4" plug right into the enclosure so that the unit is plugged straight into the pickup housing, thus eliminating the need of for cable.

Kris