B-Band Crescent Series Preamps for Acoustic Guitars

B-Band announces the Crescent preamp series, featuring four new soundhole preamps for acoustic guitar and ukulele.

B-Band Crescent Series

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The series features three preamp systems for acoustic guitars including one with USB digital connectivity, and a small sized version for ukulele.

Common to the four Crescent preamp series is their crescent shape, designed to fit the typical round soundhole of acoustic guitars. It is mounted to the guitar’s top near the soundhole via double-sided adhesive.

This simple design allows for non-destructive and non-intrusive installations on acoustic guitars. The preamp itself is made of plastic which is both lightweight and sturdy, making it very easy to setup and reliable.

The preamp houses the controls, which can be accessed by your fingers through the soundhole. It will require some getting used to because you won’t be seeing the labels, but this compromise in design allows it to be discretely installed without making changes to your acoustic guitar.

The first and most basic of the four new preamps is Crescent 1 . It has only one input for either a B-Band UST undersaddle or AST soundboard pickup. Controllable parameters include volume, bass and treble controls and phase button. A low battery LED also acts as a “flash” ON indicator. Power is supplied by a 9-volt battery.

The B-Band Crescent 2 XOM (cross-over-mix) model allows you to mix of multiple inputs. It has two inputs for UST and AST pickups which you can blend to get your preferred amplified sound. It features B-Band’s XOM circuit which helps provide quality acoustic sounds. Controls include volume; XOM blend control, UST and AST input gain controls and phase button. Other features include low battery / “flash” ON indicator LED, and it is also 9-volt battery powered.

The flagship model of the series is the Crescent U model. It has the same features as the Crescent 2 but adds in USB connectivity. With this, you can literally connect your acoustic directly to your computer for use in digital audio workstations, removing the need for extra audio interface hardware. The unit is said to be compatible with all formats and like the other two are powered by a 9-volt battery.

Finally, the B-Band Crescent Little C is described as the “honey-I-shrunk-the-kids” model, designed to to fit the smaller soundhole of a ukulele. It is a straightforward preamp with basic controls for adjusting volume and tone. The unit is powered by two 3-volt coin-type batteries, and has a low battery / ON indicator LED.

The four preamp models come complete with mounting hardware, output jack, battery holder and a set of instructions for installation. Pricing and availability information will soon be announced. You can visit B-Band for more information.

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