Electric guitar to Foreplay to Tivoli radio??

[htsmatt]

Hello. I have forgotten most of the little I knew about electronics in general and tube amps in particular but I got interested for a time and assembled a Foreplay (first generation, I'm pretty sure - EDIT/CORRECTION: It's a Foreplay 2.0) that worked. I never incorporated it into a system so it's been powered up no more than a few hours.

I moved and got rid of most of my audio gear. Now I use three Tivoli radios in the three main rooms. They can play independently or I can Bluetooth them into a system.

I play some guitar (electric) but don't want a guitar amp out in the room and don't really have a good place to store one out of sight.

I can put a guitar straight into a Tivoli's AUX input, and hear it, but I guess the signal from the pickups is much weaker than that from an iPod, etc., that the Tivoli is made to take, so I can't get enough volume.

You see where this is going. The Foreplay would be a nice addition to the room decor, and I'm assuming it could easily bring the signal up enough and more.

Is this nuts? If not, how should I go about doing it? Just put the guitar into one side of the Foreplay, and output that side to the Tivoli? (My guitars, and the Tivoli, are mono.) Or get splitters to use both sides? Or is it more complicated, with soldering involved?

Thanks in advance bottleheads.

[Grainger49]

Guitars like magnetic phono cartridges need a boosting stage before being amplified.  You are spot on using the FP 2.  However, it might not have enough gain.  Don't get me wrong, all iterations of the Foreplay have a copious amount of gain.  But they are for "Line Level" devices.  A guitar needs a boost to get to line level. 

But it is worth a try.  Let us know how it works. Using only one channel won't hurt anything.

[xcortes]

Maybe use both channels in series to boost the gain? There may even be a chance of the second being overdriven?

[htsmatt]

Ordered a 1/4-to-RCA adapter and will report back here. Thanks for the info, reassurance, and imagination. Series! But will try each side alone first. Cheers G&X

[Paul Birkeland]

Maybe use both channels in series to boost the gain? There may even be a chance of the second being overdriven?

This is probably the only reasonable way to attempt to use the FP-2 in this manner.  If it still has the two dual mono carbon pot potentiometers, you should be able to get enough gain to at least hear the guitar through your radio.

[htsmatt]

Success. I've only tried one channel but that boosts the signal beyond what the Tivoli will handle cleanly. (FWIW, I was able to hear the guitar fine with just the Tivoli, it just wasn't loud enough.) I like the tone better through the Foreplay. I may try series to compare that tone. Thanks to you all.(https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/11879164_10205017187978353_5625803217277207093_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9)

[Paul Joppa]

Cool! I love it when people find novel uses for things!

[htsmatt]

It's nice to put the thing to good use. Coolest practice setup on the block. Thanks again everyone. M

[htsmatt]

Running in series now. Turning both sides, and the guitar, all the way up (adjusting volume at the Tivoli) makes a killer crunch (distortion). Really nice sound. Thanks again all.