The hurdy-gurdy is an interesting instrument, but unfortunately little known. They are usually manufactured to order by specialized luthiers. Like the instrument itself, electronics is also a very unusual product for him. There aren't many ready-made solutions that can be easily used with hurdy-gurdy.

I was once asked to make an on-board preamplifier for the hurdy-gurdy, which would enable the instrument to be amplified in stage or studio conditions. According to the assumptions, such an onboard preamplifier was to contain four independent piezo inputs with sensitivity control and tone correction for each channel separately (adjustment on miniature assembly potentiometers). All channels are mixed (adjustable on slide knobs) with the built-in four-channel mixer, then the output from the mixer is fed to the global EQ and Master VOL (adjustable on the slide knobs). Everything is powered by one 9V battery!

The preamplifier has been divided into two separate parts, which are assembled on separate PCBs. This makes it easier to arrange the plates inside the instrument.

Features:

 >   Preamp is analog design,

 >   The set contains two separate modules - HGEQ (global equalizer and MasterVOL) and HGMX (4-channel mixer with independent control of each channel),

 >   Low noise op-amp's & JFET's on board,

 >   Handmade, high quality, each preamp tested,

 >   Power: 9V battery (the battery is not included),

 >   Works with piezo pickups,

 >   Four independent 3.5mm jack inputs for pickups,

 >   Adjustable sensitivity of each input (using trimpots),

 >   High input impedance,

 >   Independent EQ control for each input (BASS, MID, TREBLE - using trimpots),

 >   Independent VOL control for each channel (using slider potentiometers),

 >   One Master Output,

 >   Global MasterVOL and MasterEQ control (using slider potentiometers),

 >   Easy installation,

 >   Included: manual, battery connector, 3-PIN XLR socket, connection wires.

PRICE: 259 EUR