Bartolini TC Series User manual

PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICSPICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS TC Preamps
The TC series preamplifiers are designed to improve the performance of electric instruments by increasing the signal
level, modifying tonal quality with a wide range of options and decreasing the treble losses in the cable.
All TC preamps can be used in the unboosted mode to provide equal amplification of all audio frequencies. The
boosted modes allow tonal changes ranging from simple treble boost to a midrange spectrum shaping specifically
designed to overdrive amplifiers to their best distortion sounds.
These preamplifiers are hand made from discrete components (no I.C.’s) for very low noise levels, outstanding
distortion characteristics, and very long battery life. They are rugged, reliable, easy to install, and in most cases do no
require modifications to the instrument. Although we recommend shielding the control cavity for optimum performance,
the internal shielding of these preamps will provide very low hum levels even in unshielded installations.
The following examples explore some of the possible uses of these preamps.
USING THE TC PREAMP WITHOUT BOOST
TCTC
9 volt
BATTERY
stereo
jack
yellow (input)
To Volume Control
or Selector Switch
black
Ground
red red (+9V)
Boost Lead
(use shrink tubing
or electrical tape)
black
green (output)
This wiring increases the instrument signal level 2x (TC5), 4 x (TC3), or 8x (TC1)
without distortion
The battery is switched ON when the mono plug is plugged into the stereo jack.
TCTC BYPASS SWITCH
(DPDT)
yellow (input)
green (output)
1M-ohm
470K-ohm
To Volume Control
or Selector Switch
To Output
Jack
50K-ohm
to
250K-ohm
AUDIO
green (output) To Output
Jack
Preamp bypass switch or output level control can be wired as follows:
The resistors on the bypass switch minimize switching noises.
The level control will vary the signal from 0 to the maximum output of the preamp.
From Pickup
or Selector Switch TCTC
yellow (input) red +9V
Boost Lead
black
Volume
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
Tone
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
27K-ohm
green
.047
mfd
To Output
Jack
Ground
For maximum control of pickup tonality the TC preamplifiers can be used to isolate the pickup from the
tone and volume controls.
The battery is switched ON when the mono plug is plugged into the stereo jack.
From Pickup
or Selector Switch

USING THE TC PREAMP WITH BOOST
PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICSPICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS TC Preamps
Connecting the boost lead to ground through a
capacitor increases the gain of the preamp. The gain
boost can occur throughout the range of the
instrument or only at midrange and treble frequencies
depending on the value of the capacitor. A resistor in
series with the capacitor can be used to limit the gain
boost.
ONE PICKUP - ONE KNOB
(BEST OVERDRIVE DISTORTION)
The 50K-ohm trim pot allows matching of the guitar output level to the amplifier input characteristics
for best distortion
TC3TC3
.0022
mfd
yellow red +9V
470-ohm
1 mfd
+
boost lead
(blue)
green
50K-ohm
Output
Trim
To Output
Jack
Attach to Ground wire
black
Volume
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
Boosted
Unboosted
Strat
100100 1K1K 10K10K
f (Hz)f (Hz)
Preamp Input
Impedance
Input Wire
Color
Output Wire
Color
Boost Wire
Color
Unboosted
Gain
TC1 & TC2 300K-ohm Yellow Green Brown 8x (18dB)
TC3 & TC4 400K-ohm Yellow Green Blue 4x (12dB)
TC5 & TC6 500K-ohm Yellow Green Grey 2x ( 6dB)
A 3PDT switch is used to switch the coil tuning capacitor,
the preamp boost, and output attenuation components.
The frequency response curves show one of our hum-
cancelling pickups (Vintage Bridge Pickup) with the TC5 in
both modes compared to a Strat . The Output level in the
unboosted mode is 4 times that of the Strat . The maximum
level of the boosted mode is at least twice that of the
unboosted mode. The TONE and VOLUME controls can be
250K-ohm or 500K-ohm audio pots. The 27K-ohm resistor
minimizes switching noise.
SWITCHING FROM BOOSTED TO
UNBOOSTED MODE
®
®
BOOSTED
UNBOOSTED TC3TC3
Volume
250K-ohm
AUDIO
Tone
250K-ohm
AUDIO
yellow
boost lead (blue)
27K-ohm
+
1mfd
470-ohm
50K-ohm
Output
Trim
+9V
red
green
.0022
mfd
black
.02
mfd To Output
Jack
From Pickup or
Selector Switch
From Pickup
or Selector Switch
Attach to Ground wire

PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICSPICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS TC Preamps
The outside positions of the switch toggle give different
amounts of midrange and treble boost (see TC3 response
range). The resistors between the capacitors and ground
limit the amount of boost. For maximum boost, connect
the capacitors directly to ground. The 27K-ohm resistors
minimize switching noises. In the center position the
preamp is not boosted.
3 POSITION BOOST SWITCH TONE CONTROL BOOST
Thanks to Ed Reynolds (Austin, TX)
From “0” to “9” this control behaves like a regular
passive tone control. When turned full up, the control puts
the preamp in boosted mode. The resistor limits the
amount of boost.
SPDT
(on-off-on)
27K-ohm
27K-ohm
.33mfd
1mfd
470-ohm
Boost
Lead
1K-ohm
Ground
Tone
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
A500K-ohm
or
470-ohm
Boost
Lead
from
Preamp
.02
mfd
From
Pickup
“HOT” Lead
Ground
1mfd
TC3 WITH VARIABLE BOOST IN A STRAT
The second tone knob is replaced with a 5K-ohm control that controls the amount of boost. The optional capacitor
from the bridge pickup to ground enhances midrange frequencies for better overdrive distortion but will diminish
“squak” in the #4 (”in between”) position.
Attach to Ground wire
TC3TC3
bridge
middle
neck
9 volt
BATTERY
Volume
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
Tone
A250K-ohm
AUDIO
Boost
B5K-ohm
LINEAR
OPTIONAL
.0022mfd
to
.005mfd
Yellow
Red
Red +9V
stereo
jack
Black
Green
Boost Lead
(Blue)
1mfd
470-ohm
.02
mfd
Disclaimer: Strat and Stratocaster are registered trademarks of the Fender®Musical Instrument Corporation.
Bartolini Pickups & Electronics, LLC is in no way affiliated with the Fender®Musical Instrument Corporation.
®
+
+
Black
+
+

PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICSPICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS TC Preamps
Upper Mid and Treble Boost - 3 Position Switch
TCTC
BATTERY
9 Volt
VOLUME
A250K
AUDIO AUDIO
TONE
A250K
BLEND
Dual 250K
5A5C taper
Neck Pickup
Bridge Pickup
Yellow (input)
Green
Red
Red +9V
Black
Boost Lead
27K-ohm
27K-ohm
Attach to Ground wire
Treble Boost
Flat
Upper Mid
and
Treble Boost
0.1
mfd .022 mfd
1.5K-ohm
1K-ohm
SPDT
(on-off-on)
.033 mfd
TO
.047 mfd
(treble cut)
at
lock washer
Black
42
36
30
24
18
12
100 1K 10K
f(Hz)
10 mfd Boost
UNBOOSTED
1mfd Boost
1 mfd + 470-ohm
Boost
.33 mfd Boost
dB
The 0.1 mfd and 0.022 mfd Capacitors control
the frequency of the boost. Larger capacitors
boost more of the bass frequencies. A 10 mfd
capacitor will boost all frequencies equally (flat
boost). The 1.5K-ohm and 1.0K-ohm resistors
limit the amount of boost, larger resistor values
decrease he boost levels.
The graph shows the behavior of a TC3 for
other capacitor and resistor values. When used
on the TC3 boost lead a 1.5K-ohm resistor will
limit the boost to about 12dB above the
unboosted level.
stereo
jack

PLEASE NOTE:
-THE WIRE LOCATIONS ON THE DIAGRAMS ARE NOT IN THE SAME ORDER AS THEY ARE ON THE
MODULE AND WERE ONLY DRAWN THAT WAY FOR SIMPLICITY. FOLLOW COLORS, NOT WIRE ORDER.
- IF NOT USED, THE BOOST LEAD SHOULD BE COVERED WITH ELECTRICAL TAPE OR SHRINK
TUBING TO PREVENT GROUNDING. VERY HIGH GAIN, NOISE, AND DISTORTION WILL RESULT IF THE
BOOST LEAD IS GROUNDED.
-DO NOT OVERHEAT PINS OR WIRES. USE A LOW WATTAGE (25 WATTS MAXIMUM) OR A
THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED SOLDERING IRON AND GOOD QUALITY ELECTRONIC SOLDER.
APPLY THE LEAST AMOUNT OF HEAT FOR THE SHORTEST TIME NECESSARY TO MAKE A GOOD
CONNECTION.
-AS ALWAYS, WE RECOMMEND TO TAKE YOUR INSTRUMENT TO A GOOD GUITAR REPAIR SHOP.
A LIST OF REPAIR SHOPS NEAR YOU CAN BE FOUND ON: www.bartolini.net
The TC2, TC4, and TC6 preamps are the “stereo” 2-channel versions of TC1, TC3, and TC5. The output impedance of
the TC preamps is 60K-ohm. The unboosted gain is measured with a 500K-ohm load. If these preamps are used with
250K-ohm volume controls at the output lead the unboosted gain will be slightly lower (~1dB). If 25K-ohm controls are
used at the output lead the unboosted gain will be lowered by 6dB (half the output) without distortion.
The maximum undistorted signal level of all the TC preamps is 2.5 volts r.m.s. The maximum input level for undistorted
pickups output (unboosted) is 2.5 volts r.m.s. divided by the unboosted gain. This means 250 to 300 millivolts for the TC1
and TC2 preamps. The TC1 and TC2 should be used only with pickups that have very low output levels, otherwise the
pickups will overdrive the input stage of the preamp.
Battery Drain
TC1, TC3, and TC5: 160 microamperes - 4 month of continuous playing (~ 1 year of enthusiastic playing)
TC2, TC4, and TC6: 320 microamperes - 2 month of continuous playing (~ 6 month of enthusiastic playing)
TC1-6 NSTALLATION NOTES
PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICSPICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS TC Preamps