Duncan Turner Acoustic Research (DTAR) - Wave-Length Under-Saddle Pickup and Mama Bear Acoustic Guitar Preamp

Wave-Length Under-Saddle pickup

Combines a thin, piezo under-saddle transducer with an 18v, low-noise, high input impedance preamp, to create a system with twice the dynamic range of typical 9v systems. The 18v preamp is powered by two “AA” batteries. With 18 volts, your signal has more headroom, so hard strumming won’t distort as easily. The preamp has an input for a second source, like a magnetic pickup or a soundboard transducer.
Two adjustable trim pots, one low frequency shelving and one high frequency shelving, allow you to fine tune and “set and forget” the bass and treble frequencies to optimize the Wave-Length for your instrument’s size and shape; enabling you transparently amplify the natural timbre of your acoustic guitar with minimal coloration. Includes 1/4 ” jack (jack 6,35) and detailed installation instructions.

Unitary full length pickup Accommodates virtually all 6-string spacings and gets a more even response from the guitar’s top.

Thin cable design Easy to install in guitars with either 1/8” or 3/32” saddles, often with no modification to the saddle slot.

High Headroom Allows for twice the dynamic range of a 9-volt system. This means you can strum extra hard without piezo “quackiness.”

Uses two “AA” batteries “AA” batteries weigh less and result in lower user cost than 9-volts.

Dual Source Capability Allows the user to combine the Wave-Length with a magnetic pickup or soundboard transducer for greater complexity of signal.

Adjustable Bass and Treble Trim Controls Simulates the air resonance of a variety of acoustic guitar bodies for natural sound.

MAMA BEAR

For years, acoustic guitars have relied on pickups for amplification. One problem: using pickups, even the best acoustic guitars deliver an over-simplification of true acoustic tone complexity when amplified. D-TAR has solved that problem with a revolutionary new product called Mama Bear™. Using proprietary technology called Acoustic Guitar Emulation (AGE™), Mama Bear takes the guitar signal into the digital realm through its 32-bit digital signal processor. Then it restores the natural body resonance and provides the player with a broad range of sonic enhancements that make the guitar's tone its absolute best: whether amplified or recorded.

Using a very simple interface - no menus or scrolling - Mama Bear allows the player to use two 16-position knobs to determine their Input Source and Target Instrument. The Input Source is a "set and forget" digital filter selector that tells Mama Bear what kind of pickup it's sensing; for example, piezo film, piezo ceramic, magnetic, solid body electric with piezo bridge, etc. It is designed to work with all acoustic guitars outfitted with magnetic pickups, under-saddle transducers, and even electric guitars with piezo bridge saddles.

Mama Bear's AGE technology is activated with the Target Instrument knob. Here, the player tells Mama Bear what kind acoustic guitar they want to emulate. There are 16 "sonic signatures" that range from a parlor to orchestra models to dreadnoughts to jumbos. In choosing the guitars to represent in Mama Bear, D-TAR was fortunate to have the help of some very talented luthiers, guitar collectors, and recording engineers, including D-TAR co-founder Rick Turner who conceived of Mama Bear. According to Turner, "Our aim was to record a broad spectrum of world class vintage and newer instruments covering a range of body sizes and different wood combinations as well as including some specialty instruments such as a jazz box, a couple of resonator guitars, and even a gypsy jazz model. There's over $250,000 worth of guitars inside Mama Bear!"

The player can experiment with the various emulations to get amazing versatility out of their pickup-equipped acoustic guitar. Or, they can choose the sonic signature that most closely matches their own instrument. The result: now the finest acoustic guitars can sound like, well... themselves. Only louder.

D-TAR is duncan | turner acoustic research, and marks the union of Seymour Duncan Pickups with noted luthier and acoustic amplification expert, Rick Turner. In addition to Mama Bear, D-TAR's product slate includes a full line of pickups and off-board electronics for acoustic musicians. The entire range of D-TAR products can be viewed on their website: www.d-tar.com.

Mama Bear Technical Specifications

Size
- Width 8.5" / 216mm
- Depth 6.25" / 159mm
- Height 2.72" / 69mm
- Unit Weight 2.7 lbs. / 1.2 kg
- Shipping Weight 4.5 lbs. / 2.1 kg

Analog Characteristics
- Nominal Input Level -10dBu
- Input Impedance 4.4M Ohm
- Gain, input to output 15.5dB, bypassed
- Maximum signal level before input stage clipping 2.0Vrms
- Nominal Output Level *
Single ended 0dBu
XLR Balanced -20dBu
- Maximum Output Level before clipping **
Single ended
7.2Vrms, bypassed;
3.5Vrms through processor
Balanced XLR
1 Vrms, bypassed;
0.5Vrms through processor
Noise, 20 Hz to 20 KHz, bypass mode, referenced to input:
109 dBv, input shorted
97.5 dBv, input open

Digital Characteristics
- Microprocessor 32 bit, 100MHz, floating point, 600 MFLOPS
Sample Rate: 44.1 KHz
Latency: 3ms
A/D Conversion 24 bit 64x oversampling
S/(N+D): 94dB
Dynamic Range, S/N: 108 dB

- D/A Conversion 24 bit 128x oversampling 24 bit 8 times digital filter
Ripple: +/-0.005dB,
Attenuation: 75dB
S/(N+D): 94dB Differential outputs
Dynamic Range: 110dB, A weighted

Power Supply External wall mounted transformer 16 VAC/560mA
Current Draw: 200mA @ power jack

* Nominal levels measured using pink noise generator set to 250mV rms. Input level control set to produce flickering of overload indicator; output level control set to maximum.

**Maximum output levels in bypass mode measured using 1KHz sine wave. Maximum output levels through processor measured using sine waves of various frequencies from 800Hz to 1.2KHz.