Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on November 10, 2014 at 1:52am

Much debate about this topic, but if I were using a rod piezo, I would include a preamp. 

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on November 10, 2014 at 2:23am

I'm going to second Scott on this one.

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on November 10, 2014 at 4:01am

I never have

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Permalink Reply by Will King on November 10, 2014 at 4:26am

I ALWAYS buy a pre-amp for my rod piezo setups on the ukes & mandolins.  The amped sound is very real and the pre-amp gives me lots of control without having to reach down and change things on the amp.  Never tried it with pots with no controls, so I am not sure that it wouldn't work just fine.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on November 17, 2014 at 4:54am

I do not use a pre-amp for my rod piezo builds when I am using a guitar amp ( Fender mustang ).  Sounds fine to my untrained ear.

My Cigar Box amps have a pfet preamp in the circuit.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on November 17, 2014 at 5:43am

Wayfinder,

There are a few "cigar box amp" circuits available online, including the 2.5 watt unit from Gitty. If you want to make your own, a few options. Runoffgroove.com has schematics for the Ruby amp, and two versions of the Little Gem. Both use easy to find, inexpensive components, and are 1/2 watt circuits that use a 9 volt power supply with one 9v battery, or 6 AA batteries. I make my own (and use another online version). I set mine up as a combo, with one or two recycled stereo speakers, along with a line out switch and jack so I can connect to a larger external speaker cabinet...bigger sound.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on November 17, 2014 at 5:47am

The idea of using a pre amp with piezo is simply fof personal preference. Some use them, some do not. The ones you would find on an acoutic-electric guitar are standard, and are inexpensive. The circuit allows you to refine the tone by adjusting treble and bass responses.

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Permalink Reply by Will King on November 17, 2014 at 5:59am

I buy my passive pre-amps for my ukes from www.Suntekstore.com, search for pickup and on the 1st page you click on EG 2 Band....., and then you will see the Item# 15007359 at the top.  They are $8.02 each with free shipping.  They even work good with my cat bowl resonator ukes.  Very good clear sound.  I try to get a lot of pressure on the saddle by keeping a good string angle.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on November 17, 2014 at 9:03am

The purpose of a pre amp is to boost the voltage going into the amp. The reason for this is that piezos have a higher impedance than mag pups, and thus transmit lower voltages; most guitar amps are expecting a low impedance input such as you get with standard electric guitar mag pups. Which does not mean you can't run a piezo straight into a standard amp; plenty of people do. But if you do use a preamp, your piezo-equipped guitar will sound more "natural," or "acoustic." You will the also have the capability to tweak your tone for bass, mids and treble before sending the signal to the amp for further amplification. All of my commercial gits fitted with piezos (under-saddle rods, BTW) also have a pre amp circuit powered by an internal 9V battery.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on November 19, 2014 at 1:19am

I put my 5-channel preamp (with 9V battery) EQ in a separate little cigar box with a 1/4" jack on the input side. It sits on the floor when I'm playing like a stomp box (but don't stomp on it!).  I use it for a few guitars that have either disc or rod piezos, but sometimes with my mag pups too.  I like to use it to boost my guitars that use Flatpups.  My daughter and I also use it a lot for the electric upright we built to shape the tone.  It uses a cable piezo.

Between rod and disc piezos, I find that the discs need more tone adjustment than the rods, at least in my experience.  I can accept the tone from a rod piezo through my tube amp that has only volume control, but the discs sound worse, in my opinion.

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