Peak-peak voltage out of the Radius pickup

[Digswolf]

Hello,

I would like to know what shall be the normal peak-to-peak voltage range coming out of the Radius pickup. I'm asking because I haven't used it that much but I do remember it was working good when I bought it 4-5 years ago and it doesn't seem to be working properly anymore. I suspect there's something wrong with Radius pickup or its wire. I measured a little less than 0.2 Volts which appears low IMHO.

In the case this is way too low, please let me know so I'll start doing more troubleshooting on my side.

Other question : in the case I have to replace the wire, what's the AWG size of the wire?

Thank you kindly!

[Caleb_Elling]

Hey Digswolf,
Thanks for posting.

I don't have a standard voltage output for the Radius because it varies so much from one instrument to the next. It definitely has a low output, and is designed to be used with an external preamp.

Are you using it with an external preamp currently?

[Digswolf]

Hey Caleb,

Nope I am not using any preamp.

I might go to a guitar store this weekend to do some further testing. I would be surprised they don't have a preamp with a High-Z input of at least 2 MOhm

[Digswolf]

Hello Caleb,

Here's an update. I did go to a music store yesterday. My Radius is fine, it worked perfectly with a Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge. I guess the voltage output of the Radius is around 0.2-0.3 Vpp (at least on my mandolin) as I've seen through my own measurements.

Can't wait to get the parts I ordered yesterday to build my own preamp! This will help me recording directly on my computer.

[Caleb_Elling]

Glad to hear that it's working.

Out of curiosity, what preamp kit are you building?

[Digswolf]

I'ts a preamp based on Craig Anderton's DIY Projects for Guitarists, project #31. It will be a non-inverting preamp with a gain of 15, low frequencies roll-off of about 72 Hz and high-frequencies rolloff of about 10 kHz and no equalizer. Based on the measured voltage, it should be enough for my purposes, mainly to be able to record myself on my computer using Audacity and a Chinese copy of Behringer's Guitar Link UCG102.

I'll be using a TL071 op amp (low noise!)

I might get a Para DI in a couple of years though.

[Digswolf]

It works! Now I might wanna reduce the total gain to 5 as I had to turn down the output volume to about 1/3...

Here's a link to the audio I did. https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApUpiftrqqrUgtFhsaGosj71xuEl0Q

[Caleb_Elling]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!