ART preamp will accept mic but not guitar pickup?

  • Thread starter Thread starter keithpurtell
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keithpurtell

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I've got a pretty good ART Digital MPA preamp that has worked fine with mic input. Today I plugged in the output cord from a Barcus-Berry Maplebar single-coil pickup. Nothing. It's like there was no signal at all into the preamp. I tried ramping up all the output levels and monkeying with the input impedance. Nothing. Tried switching to a different channel. Nothing. Used a voltmeter to see if anything was coming out of the Maplebar; yes it was.

Tried plugging the Maplebar into a cheapo preamp and it worked just fine. Problem is the cheapo has a high noise floor. That's why I got the ART. Is there some particular trick to running a guitar pickup into a preamp that's different than a mic input???
 
Whatever adaptor you are using isn't wired so that the xlr input of the preamp can see it. You best bet is to get a DI box made for the purpose of matching a pick-up output to a mic pre input. They aren't that expensive.
 
Doesn't that MPA have an instrument (Hi-Z) input? The MPA-2 does.
 
Here's an image showing where I've been plugging in on the back ...
ART_MPA.webp

I think I'll try the Hi-Z approach first. (Doesn't involve buying more gear.) That's on the front of the unit, and I've had complete tunnel vision on all the input/output stuff in back. Thanks, and I'll let you know what the results are!
 
keithpurtell said:
Here's an image showing where I've been plugging in on the back ...
View attachment 70240

I think I'll try the Hi-Z approach first. (Doesn't involve buying more gear.) That's on the front of the unit, and I've had complete tunnel vision on all the input/output stuff in back. Thanks, and I'll let you know what the results are!
Click to expand...

There's you problem. That insert jack is not a proper instrument input. Either use the "high Z in" on the front or get a DI box.
 
The insert jacks are for plugging in an outboard effect box.
 
Yep, they are after the input gain control in the signal path. Even if you did get signal the tone might be off due to being lower impedance than an instrument input. The high Z input is made for guitar pickups.
 
Another case of a newbie colliding with the furniture. Thanks for your patience.
 
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