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Permalink Reply by JP Lace Master on November 29, 2016 at 12:32pm

The first option seems to be a good option, but my construction method may not allow for it. Under the Neck and bridge, I tend to have a length of Mahogany which serves as a mounting point and rigidity. under the bridge I have extra layers of wood that wedge the area between the bridge, the tin lid and length of Mahogany which will all be held firmly together with at least 5 2-inch screws, much are likely to go through the piezos if they are under the bridge itself.

Plus I'd prefer to keep the Piezos either near the centre of the tin or at least 1 under each set of strings so I can pickup the guitar and bass strings. in all fairness I could just get a lot of piezos and wire them all up to a single jack.

Would mounting the Piezos on the Length of Mahogany itself be a suitable alternative. Whenever I was Piezos, I do wire them in parallel usually and got often just wire them directly into the jack so I don't think the wiring is going to be an issue there.

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Permalink Reply by JL on December 2, 2016 at 1:52am

As long as the piezos are sandwiched in solid material to avoid microphone feedback, you should be good to put them along the through neck

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Permalink Reply by Vinsanity on December 3, 2016 at 8:08am

I've attached the piezo to the neck and it picks up every little sound, including sliding my hand up and down the neck. It's cool for effect (Frank Zappa used to add piezos to various parts of a guitar) but gets annoying. In the future I'm going to add a piezo with a switch and volume control (the extra noise is at the same volume as the strings almost) on the neck in addition to the regular one on the soundboard, or a mag pup. I wouldn't like that neck noise all the time.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on December 4, 2016 at 7:29am

That is the Piezo problem... They are contact microphones.  Now for some reason, Piezo cables/Rods don't seem to be as bad, but they also have much lower output power than a 25mm piezo...  If you're using the piezo for a bass, you might be able to run a small (.022uf) capacitor across the leads of the piezo to cut down some of the high end.  Keep in mind, they pickup everything going on in the box...

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Permalink Reply by JP Lace Master on December 14, 2016 at 12:40pm

As I am building this one, not for myself, but for the purposes of resale, making sure the bass and guitars necks sound good is a priority, The Piezos are likely to be secondary in terms of amplification. I will most likely use Humbuckers or Mini Humbuckers for the main amplification and have a separate set of controls and even a second jack for he use of the Piezos.

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Permalink Reply by JP Lace Master on December 15, 2016 at 10:56pm

I have updates people, I have acquired the Tin required to make this thing. In fact I've got 2 of them, both are the same as the first except one of them is Black with Gold trim and the other is Red with Gold.

Now I have to decide which one to use or at the least, which one to use first.

I think if I use the Red one, I will use chrome hardware and Maple necks with Maple fretboards, I think it will look good with the bright Red Tin.

I know what you guys are going to say, that it would look better with Gold hardware because of the Gold trim of the Tin, but I can't find all the parts I need in gold at a reasonable price, remembering I'm in the UK. Not as many parts over here.

Any thoughts on this one guys.

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Permalink Reply by JP Lace Master on December 21, 2016 at 1:14am

Ok guys at this moment this build is on hold as I have a couple other projects to complete, got Mint Tin Diddley Bows to build and I am working on a purely Bass Biscuit Tin build next.

I've been looking at what others have done for Cigar Box Basses to see what the sound of the Piezos are like. From what I've heard so far, using a pair of 27mm Piezos, mounted near the bridge on the wood opposed to the Tin itself will give the best results and avoid too much feedback.

I'm working on getting a cheap 34 inch scale Bass neck with everything I need already on it, once I've got it, I can start building this thing, I even have a suitable Biscuit Tin lined up ready.

Amy thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by graham hall on December 21, 2016 at 5:42am

how much would one of these be I would be very interested in a purchase of one.

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Permalink Reply by JP Lace Master on December 21, 2016 at 1:58pm

Well, the last one I built, sold the other day for £60, but the bass I'm going build will cost at least that to build. I am still deciding on the price for the Biscuit Tin Bass, but it depends on how much work needs doing to it to make it a playable instrument and how well it comes out.

I was lucky with the last build as I had a guitar teacher as a neighbour, who tested the last one and found it played beautifully.

for reference, what kind of price would you be willing to pay. Do keep in mind, that I live in the UK and shipping a bass of that size is likely to be expensive.

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