Internal Headphone Amp?

aremick

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I'm talking to my local luthier about building a solid body nylon string ukulele, and I was thinking I could have a headphone amp built for quiet practice.

Does anyone know of a unit that would be suitable?

Something I could attach directly to the output of the preamp ...
 
Something like the Vox Amplug would work, but I doubt it sounds very good with piezo pickups.
 
I'm talking to my local luthier about building a solid body nylon string ukulele, and I was thinking I could have a headphone amp built for quiet practice.
Does anyone know of a unit that would be suitable?
Something I could attach directly to the output of the preamp ...

I own a cheap Chinese solid body ukulele with a headphone output jack, so what you want exists already, yet the sound quality isn't great. To make one that sounds good will require some custom electronics to be made and this won't be cheap.
 
A simple amp circuit is cheap and easy (look up LM386 or altoid amps) and there are cheap turnkey boards available (guitarfetish has one and there are several on eBay). I have not tried tried any of the turnkey ones, but I expect they're fine for practice and you are not likely to perform out of a headphone amp. I would put one in something I cobbled together, but not in one I paid custom luthier pricing for.

You'll probably get better sound out of something like Brad's AmPlug, and your electronics guy could crack the case to embed it - the hard part will be managing the ports and controls.

Consider if a raw headphone out will be sufficient. I like having a line in for backing tracks, etc. so often use an external unit even on my guitar with an onboard headphone jack (Shadow electronics, but it doesn't look like they sell this module individually).
 
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Since it's a custom build, maybe orient the jack somewhere where a headphone amp can be plugged in without too much trouble? This allows you to use a regular headphone amp.

I noticed that my description may not be very good. Here's are 2 pictures to show what I mean:
IMG-2312.jpg
IMG-2313.jpg

In the first picture, the jack is on the body and the amp doesn't cause much trouble when handling or in the guitar stand or even in put into a case, so the amp can be attached 24x7.

In the second picture, the jack is on the bottom of the body; this location means that the amp must be removed when the guitar is not being worn (otherwise, the amp will get crushed if the guitar is put down/on its stand), and definitely, it won't fit into a guitar case. So, this location can't work 24x7.

Since your uke will be fully custom, if you put the jack on the body like picture #1 (perhaps even in a better location since you have full control), you can use an off the shelf headphone amp without needing to embed that stuff into the uke.
 
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I have an Amplug Bass that I use with my Risa stick. I believe the input impedance actually is suitable for piezos.


I think it sounds pretty good.

The original Amplugs were notorious for breaking at the plug - I wonder if anyone has a broken one lying around ...
 
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Hi...The concept is that most amps built to a budget might hold back on the earphone amp that it contains. In those circumstances a partitioned earphone amp will be beneficial. With a tall conclusion amp like yours its inner earphone amp ought to be of great quality. As Dennis said, in case you purchase a better conclusion earphone amp you might begin to listen benefits. On the off chance that you go down that route, do tune in together with your earphones some time recently buying as a few amps and earphones appear to coordinate. Earphone cables can have an impact as well.
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You may want to consider a Bluetooth transmitter option so that your headphone/earbuds could be wireless. And not have to use a plugin wireless connection.
 
You may want to consider a Bluetooth transmitter option so that your headphone/earbuds could be wireless. And not have to use a plugin wireless connection.
Bluetooth has latency issues that are likely to be a problem. I haven't tried wireless headphones with a uke, but they were a disaster with piano. Super-confusing to hear the note noticeably later than when I hit the key.
 
I have the Risa Solid Stick. I’ve tried the Fender Mustang Micro and it doesn’t work for Piezo pickups. I’ve also tried the Vox headphone amp but there was a lot of distortion even when everything was turned off.
The only thing that works well is my iRig2. It’s a hassle because you have to plug the iRig to the phone and to the uke which results in a lot of wires.
Perhaps I’ll try the Vox again but the bass version like someone above mentioned.
 

I just ordered a Boss WAZA-AIR Wireless Guitar Amplification Headphone System. It looks interesting and has good reviews. A bit pricey, however.

 
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