Space or no space under Piezo; which sounds better?

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on November 14, 2009 at 2:06am

Really? No responses? And after I went through all that trouble to create the graphic.

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Permalink Reply by Tam Givens on November 14, 2009 at 2:18am

Looks good to me, do you think the box top will be strong enough under the bridge, or are you going to put bracing on it,
I may try that myself.

Tam

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on November 14, 2009 at 2:35am

Didn't think of that. Any suggestions?

Tam Givens said:

Looks good to me, do you think the box top will be strong enough under the bridge, or are you going to put bracing on it,
I may try that myself.

Tam

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on November 14, 2009 at 2:37am

Box lid won't need any bracing if you're going to anchor the strings to that tail. The setup you're showing here is actually the best way to do it (I know a lot of people like to say there's "no rules" and all the typical stuff but this really is the best for the best possible sound). The deal is that a piezo is basically just an acoustic mic. An acoustic guitar generates its sound by transferring vibration from the strings to the soundboard. If the soundboard floats (is not anchored to the neck, as shown here), you'll have the best possible sound and response for that guitar. You'll get even better sound and volume if you can get your bridge positioned in the center of the soundboard, which will produce the most even vibration in the surface.

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Permalink Reply by Jkevn on November 14, 2009 at 10:20am

Lovely graphic by the way...I was waiting on some of the more experienced builders to go first, not simply ignoring you.
This is exactly how I lay mine out. With a gob of rubbery adhesive sticking it to the top and a gob covering it. With yours sandwiched in wood, all you need to do is stick it in place and play that thing.

As Josh mentioned, there is no need for added support, and nothing much would be gained trying to capture any neck vibration.

I dont screw my lid to the neck, my necks are connected to the bottom of the box to leave the lid free-floating. Only the occasional screw to keep all corners closed.

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Permalink Reply by L.J. on November 14, 2009 at 11:21am

I would love to help. But I dont do piezos anymore. I was never happy with the tone or volume. I use tube amps and they just dont seem to respond well for me. If I go piezo ever again itll be a ted crocker designed brass bridge one ready to mount. other than that if its electric I would stick with nickel strings and magnetic pickups.
I would not fill the space.No way. the reason you use a piezo is so you can retain acoustic tone with bronze strings.filling the space would be against the properties of acoustic tone.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on November 14, 2009 at 12:14pm

Thanks for all the helpful responses. Jkevn....what type of adhesive do you use? I want something that I can peel off if necessary, but don't necessarily want to do hot glue. I don't see rubber cement in stores like I used to when I was a kid.

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Permalink Reply by Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments on November 14, 2009 at 1:09pm

I reckon the way you've got it drawn should work fine. You want to pickup vibrations from the soundboard and bridge and not from the neck. When I built a guitar with the piezo sandwiched between the neck and the top of the box I found the pickup was very sensitive to contact noise from the neck - ie. it was picking up tapping and scraping sounds when my fingers touched the neck even quite gently. When I built a tin banjo, where the soundboard was free and unsupported and the pickup was sandwiched between the bridge and the soundboard then I got no such problems.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan deVallance on November 14, 2009 at 3:50pm

If I were you I would try it both ways, see which works best. Put a block of wood under the piezo with out gluing it all in place then see how she sounds. Then compare it without the block. I cut a block of foam rubber that my piezo sits in and is the depth of the box. The foam presses the piezo against the box top. I realized that way i could easily move it to another location if it wasnt working right. I just hate gluing anything down for fear of having to rip it off.—B

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Permalink Reply by Jkevn on November 14, 2009 at 10:52pm

David, lately I've been trying run of the mill adhesive caulk, the cheap stuff in a squeeze tube. It's sticky as sh*t and it stays flexible. Did I mention cheap? Fairly easy to remove from the box, but you'd never rescue the piezo.

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Permalink Reply by Wes Yates on November 15, 2009 at 11:01am

David,
So can I use your graphic in my documentation (all credit given of course)? Thanks.

Oh and what did you do this in? Do you have the file handy?

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Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on November 15, 2009 at 11:51pm

Hey Wes. Yes, you are more than welcome to use the graphic. I did the original in Powerpoint. It's on my work computer, so I'll have to send it tomorrow. Feel free to modify or make any corections you seen fit.

Wes Yates said:

David,
So can I use your graphic in my documentation (all credit given of course)? Thanks.

Oh and what did you do this in? Do you have the file handy?

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