[sdiy] Re-amping device

[Tom Wiltshire]

On 2 Nov 2008, at 06:03, Paul Perry wrote:

> At first glance you would think all one needs is to get the levels  
> right, to
> drive the effect.
> And for synth stuff that would - I think - be true.
>
> But I have heard of the guitar guys having to use more elaborate  
> setups,
> because of the weird input impedances that some classic guitar  
> effects have.
> Some guitar effects assume that you are driving them from a guitar
> (reasonably enough). You can fool them, but just taking the signal  
> level
> down to an appropriate level - maybe by an impedance matching  
> transformer,
> maybe by a simple op amp or transistor circuit with a gain of 1/20  
> - and
> putting a guitar pickup in series with the output.
> The idea is to have a low (or negligible) impedance from the  
> amplifier or
> transformer, then put the guitar coil in series with the output,  
> and this
> makes the signal look as though it is coming from a guitar.
> How essential is it? Depends on the effect. It wouldn't make a  
> difference
> with any modern effect.
>
> The short of it: I expect it only matters for guitar, and then only  
> if you
> are obsessive and using some vintage fx designs.

I agree with Paul. This is only likely to be an issue with equipment  
for guitar, and probably only older equipment at that.
Many tube amps have quite low input impedances, and getting "that  
sound" can mean loading the input to a degree that wouldn't be  
typical elsewhere. The same is true of some early fuzzboxes.  
Basically, unless it's got germanium or tubes in it, I'd have thought  
just turning the volume down would do.