Figure 1

fig 2

Handmade Pickups For Acoustic Instruments

Installation Instructions: TC-A with Artist II Endpin Jack Preamp

Before You Start, A Word About Amplification:TC passive pickups have been designed to operate properly and sound goodwithout the use of a preamp when plugged into any normal electric guitar amp.As a non-preamped piezo pickup the TC has an impedance of approximately 2mega ohms which most electric guitar amps will handle. As with any passivepickup, the sound can be further enhanced and EQ'd with an outboard preamp. PA systems: If you require the added ability to be able to plug directly into aP.A. or mixer then a preamp designed for pickups will be necessary. Thepreamps that are built into PA systems are microphone preamps and generallywill not work properly with a passive pickup. Acoustic Amps: If you are plugging into an acoustic amp a preamp may berequired depending upon the design of that acoustic amp. Acoustic amps mayor may not require the use of a preamp with a passive pickup and that willdepend upon whether or not there is a special built in preamp section within thatamp that specifically allows for the choice of plugging in either a passive(non-preamped) or active (preamped) pickup. This choice is quite often asecond channel or a pushbutton on the amp's control panel. Many acousticamps show a selection that may indicate the choice of 'high impedance' and'low impedance'. Low impedance in these instances usually indicates that in thisrange the amp will handle an impedance of 1000 ohms or less - which will allowactive pickups with preamps to be used. High impedance in these instances may indicate an allowable impedance inthe 2 or 3 mega ohm range - which will allow passive pickups to be used. Or itmay indicate a maximum input impedance allowed of 20,000 ohms or less -which will handle magnetic electric guitar pickups but not passive pickups. You should carefully read the technical specifications of your acousticamp in order to see what it will do.

Tools Required for Installation: Soldering iron (small approx. 15 to 35 watts), Solder, Electric drill, Assorted drill bits, Deburring tool, Clear tape,Masking tape, scissors

The Artist II Endpin Jack Preamp The preamp for the TC-A may be run from a 9 volt battery or from an outside power source (such as the phantom power from a PA or amp -up to 48 v d.c. or from our RP-1 remote battery box). The Artist II is a 2 channel unit, channel one being used for the TC sensor and channel tworeserved for another type of sound source such as a magnetic pickup. If you are adding a magnetic pickup to the second channel you must add a10k resistor across the (+) and (-) inputs of that channel.

Installing the preamp1) Remove the strings, cover plate, T bridge and the three aluminum cones from the instrument and set them safely aside.2) Drill a small 1/4" hole through the deck in the position shown by the arrow in figure 1. Make sure that the hole is clean and has no sharp burrs oredges. Insert the supplied rubber grommet into the hole.3) The TC-A pickup comes with the Artist II endpin jack preamp. The unit requires a hole through the body 3/8" diameter.4) The lead wire is supplied 18" in length and should be long enough for any installation. Insert the lead wire through the grommet in the deck andbring the end of the wire up through one of the cone holes in the deck so that you can work with the lead wire. This wire is a two conductor shieldedcable with an outer copper wrap and an inner insulated wire.

Wiring1) Prepare the end of the sensor wire so that the outer (-) shield and the inner (+) wires can be soldered to the appropriate pads marked ‘Input 1'as shown at right in figure 2.2) The amount of gain for channel 1 is set on the opposite face of the circuit board with the trim pot marked as ‘Gain Set Input 1' in figure 3.3) Gain should normally be set at about 20% of maximum. The second channel, which is not being used, should have its trim pot rotated fullycounter-clockwise to turn off that channel.4) Re-install the preamp cover. The preamp may now be installed in the hole thathas been drilled for it.5) If you are installing a battery, locate a spot where you wish to place the batteryand stick the provided velcro pad into place. Secure the battery wires with thesupplied clips.

627 Colby Drive, Waterloo Ontario, Canada N2V 1B4 www.schattendesign.com email: tech@schattendesign.com 519-742-3862 toll free: 877-633-0177 fax: 519-742-1843

fig 5

fig 3

fig 4

Installing the sensor to the T bridge

1) Take a small amount of the dark gray putty (marked outsideputty) about the size of a large pea. Stretch and knead the puttyuntil it softens and then spread it on the brass surface of thepickup. Ideally, the putty should be about 1/16" thick and evenlydistributed. You will find that you can push the putty around bystretching it into the position that you want with your thumbs.Important ! The thinner the amount of putty used, the better thepickup will work.2) As per figure 1, press the pickup into position. Make sure thatyou hold onto the T bridge while pressing the pickup into place.It helps to seat the pickup if you move it slightly from side to sideas you are applying pressure.3) Reinstall the cones, T bridge, cover plate and the strings.

Information For Use With Phantom or Outboard Power

CAB-1 Cable Specs: Optional Ten foot, 3 conductor cable, XLR male to TRS 1/4" stereo male.XLR Pin 1/4" Stereo Pin 1 = Ground = SleevePin 2 = Signal = TipPin 3 = Power = Ring

RP-1 Battery Box Specs: Optional remote 18 volt battery box, XLRfemale jack to 1/4" mono female jack, holds 2 x 9 volt d.c. batteries.Requires CAB-1 cable from instrument to RP-1. A standard guitarcord is used to connect from the 1/4" mono jack to a guitar amp

Information For Adding Volume Controls1) Volume controls may be wired to the circuit board, tone controls cannot.2) For each channel that you wish to have a volume control, a trace must be cut on the circuit board. The trace cut is shown in fig 4.3) Pots used should be 500k audio taper. 4) Fig 3 shows wire color assignments where the wires coming from volume pots are to be attached. 5) There are three lugs on a pot, labeled as ‘T’, ‘W’, and ‘G’ in fig 5.6) On one pot, black lead from the circuit board goes to lug W, white lead goes to lug T, ground goes to lug G. 7) On a second pot, red lead goes to lug W, yellow lead goes to lug T, ground goes to lug G.

W arrantyWe warrant to the original purchaser that our pickups are free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 2 (two) years. Should a product fail toperform properly within the specified warranty period you may contact your dealer or Schatten Design for instructions. No product will be accepted for warrantyreturn by Schatten Design without a Return Authorization number.

Rev.05-12