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Question About Op Amp Chip For Bass Guitar

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mluciani

New Member
Hello all!
I have a bass guitar that uses an active circuit (preamp) that contains a Texas Instruments TL-E2062CP 8 Dip Chip, listed in the DigiKey catalog as a Dual Low Power JFET Op Amp. While I have a good understanding of electronics I don't know a thing about these chips or how they work. I am interested in altering the tone of the guitar by swapping out the current chip with some others to see if I can achieve different tones. In looking at my DigiKey catalog there are a ton of 8 Dip chips available but I would have no idea where to start with trying to pick something out in some sort of logical manner that would change the electronic signal in the circuitry. The active circuit runs on 18 volts ( 2 Nine Volt Batteries ) and contains a number of taper pots to control Bass, Mids, Treble, Volume and Pickup Blend. Is there any sort of rating or information as to how specifications of these chips relate to their output? Maybe I'm taking a jump off a ledge that I have no business fooling with but would really like to educate myself on how these chips work within the overall electronic circuit of the guitar. Thanks for any help you can provide!!
 
Those chips make every effort NOT to affect the tone. You are barking up the wrong tree. Only an expert could tell the difference between the various chips by listening to them.
 
Thanks for the quick response! I thought I might be barking up the wrong tree but just was curious if it was part of the equation. I'll have to look at other things in the circuit. I'm not quite used to the PCB style preamp, usually a change of pots and capacitors is what I deal with. Thanks!
 
Altering tone...

The previous response is correct in that this circuit is tweaked so as to as transparent as possible. There are exceptions in such cases as the active electronics in a regulare electric (NOT ACOUSTIC) guitar such as the BC Rich series, which intentionaly color the mids, but this is not the case in a bass guitar as this would result in a very muddy sound on a bass guitar.

The tone you acheive from your instrument is a rather complicated combination of the qualities of the material the instrument is made from (woods, metal used for the bridge, etc) and the pickups. There are other variables but these two determine your tone more than anything else. Since you obviously can't change the materials your instrument is made from, the pickups would be your next logical step in altering the tone.

If the active electronics have some form of Equalization you may be able to also change the components that set the boost / cut frequencies of the EQ, but this is not always possible since some electronics use modules that are embedded in a potting compound that makes access to the components impossible.

At any rate, I would be careful what I changed as the active electronics used in these instruments is rather delicate and easy to blow out. FET input opamps are sensitive to static electricity!


I hope this has been helpful,
Experiment, Explore, Keep the music alive!
Mad Soundman
Sound System consulting, design, and installations
 
Thanks for the input mad.........I'm very familiar with bass guitar construction and the usual electronics but was not sure how this "chip" fit into the mixture. I'm assuming that it is purely an amplifier circuit and nothing more, hence the goal of transparency of tone. I know some folks swap out the stock preamp with something different but thought maybe this one could be tweaked. What I may actually do is grab a PCB and replicate the entire preamp but use some different components at other points to see what I can come up with. It will be an educational experience for me and who knows what might happen other than ruining a few circuit boards! As always, thanks for the advice! I always like adding to the knowledge that is stored up in this little ole' brain of mine.......
 
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