The Red-Eye Instrument Preamp offers a simple direct-connect solution for musicians playing instruments with high-impedance piezoelectric pickups.

The Red-Eye Preamp works well with instruments having passive or active piezo pickups or those with magnetic pickups such as electric guitars and electric basses.

The Red-Eye Preamp’s impedance-matching field-effect transistor input circuit is designed especially to match and track the impedance of passive piezoelectric pickups. That results in a smooth, natural, balanced, acoustic instrument tone. Low distortion, low noise, and generous headroom mean that clear tone comes through even when an instrument is played percussively and loudly.

• Input: Impedance-matching, accepts up to 2 volt peak-to-peak level without distortion.
• Low-impedance, balanced, XLR output, 600 ohms with ground-lift switch,
• Boost button with volume control for amplifying solos.
• Treble control to boost or reduce treble. Response is flat when control is centered.
• Usually powered by 48-volt XLR phantom power but has an internal 9-volt battery and a 9 to 18-volt center-negative, center-ground, power jack as alternatives.
• Long 9-volt battery life (~200 hours). Battery is not used if other power is present.
• Plugging an instrument in or connecting external power turns the Red-Eye on.
• Pwr Chk Light illuminates for about a second if power is good when the preamp is powered up. When powered up on the battery, the light will appear if the battery is in thefirst 3⁄4 of its life.
• 1⁄4 inch output and input for effects accessory loop, suitable for stomp-tuners or effects pedals or for output to on-stage guitar amps or PAs.
• Internal filtering to reject radio-frequency interference from neon lights and cell phones.
• Small Chassis Size: 1.25 x 2.25 x 4.25 inches. Weight: 10 ounces.