Question Maximum output of the Bongo 18v preamp?

[cellkirk74]

Well, yeah. Doesn't everybody?

Sure, at least over here in Germany that is state of the art....

 

[J Romano]

Do you floor your cars accellerator 100% of the time>

I tried that but kept seeing red and blue flashing lights behind me I think it was a flashback thing......

 

[maddog]

Sorry but ESD is an entirely different matter.

nope. same concept. get an over voltage that causes physical damage. Depends on the insulating material.

It is when you introduce static electricity, whose strength you cannot control, into components that weren't designed to be exposed to them.

ESD isn't static. It is static electricity that has gone dynamic. Voltage potential has gotten high enough that it overcomes the dielectric constant of air. A current is induced, electrons flow, air heats up and a spark happens transferring the electrons to the object at a lower potential. If it stayed static, there wouldn't be a problem. Hence the full term is static electricity discharge. The same phenomenon happens when you put 12V on a capacitor rated for 5V and it burns through the metallized film or other dielectric used to create the capacitance.

As for the strength, it is controllable. Throw on some wool socks and rub you're feet on the carpet more for more field strength. Use a 1000ohm resistor and ground yourself for a second or two for less field strength.

over voltage is over-voltage, regardless the source. If you break down the dielectric, you're hosed. transistors used in digital processing are not as robust as FETs and Tubes. However, I would hope the designer has built in some buffering and grounding schemes on the front end to prevent damage due to overzealous wool rubbing.

The Bongo's 18V system doesn't mean it's double the voltage at the output. It means the components in the preamp were designed to use 18V source. For the Bongo to work with the industry's amps and effects it still has to put out an instrument level signal.

I never said it was, nor the cause of the problem. Just pointing out that zapping something with a wrong voltage all depends on what the breakdown rating of the insulating materials of the components are as opposed to throwing out some random voltages and saying the voltages being used aren't as large as those. power-stage vacuum tubes can take voltage swings of 100s of volts on the anode and be fine. digital circuits aren't as robust.

I can go on all day about theoretical reasons for zapping sleeping people on dry winter days while wearing woolly socks but this is one of those things best left to those who really and deeply understand the designs to hash out.

 

[eno_hn]

One month ago, me and my good friend - electritian by the way, went to my rehersal place to test the Bongo signal out on ''oscilloscope''. I don't understaind the numbers and things on oscilloscope, but I remember what he said when I've turn on my bass pot - fully, he looked at me and told me that I don't want to use that full

 

[strummer]

Seems strange that a pedal should be that fragile. Having said that, my old EBS Octaver input stage couldn't handle the Bongo full volume (eq flat) when I went with thicker stainless strings. The extra output I got was too much for the 9 V stomp box, and the distortion wasn't nice sounding at all Didn't break down though, and a simple reduction of the bass volume solved the issue.
I am one of those knuckleheads who always dime my Bongo volume (don't use much eq though) and I just get equipment that can handle the output.
Finally, I fully agree with eno_hn, diming the bass knob is a bad idea every day of the week