As many of you may already know. Piezos can be made into a simple and effective contact pickup. Did you also know many can be found cheaply or even free? Here are a few places I found piezo elements free because they were going for the trash:

 

Cards that play music

some talking stuffed animals

smoke detectors

games

I found 4 or 5 out of a broken rockband drumset

an old auto alarm system.

 

Hope this helps. Feel free to add to the list.

 

Views: 1958

Replies to This Discussion

These aren't Piezos-but that Dollar Tree mentioned earlier for the window alarms? They also sell headphones...two tiny speakers for a dollar.  Still working on my first build(might finish this weekend I hope) and I aim to try the speaker route and see what happens...

o99...  how did the headphone speakers work out for you???

:-)

rc

$ store had 0 door alarm buzzers available...  I had only bought a couple, many months ago to use for scaring deer in my garden...  they are hopelessly lost, now.

just found 6 of em at a yardsale...   all wrapped up in a bundle of packing tape..lol..  a buck for all of em!

:-)

Just a reminder, this is prime yard sale time. Around here, I'm finding a lot of toys that make noise for 10 to 25 cents.

 

Tnx for suggesting the possibilities!

rc

The headphones didn't work out as well as i'd hoped Rusty-too tiny and too cheaply made, with cellophane heads, they weren't receptive enough. Now I did get a faint signal when I used it in my godawful-loud Piepan Dulcimer-banjo, but not enough to justify trying again. So far, i'm sticking with the simple Piezo and Mono jacks when I bother to electrify at all-most of my latest Tennis-racket specials are nearly as loud as a full-sized Classical (i'm betting it's the maple-veneer chamber) so i'm not electrifying unless it's for a client and they want the option...

Seems a lot of the modern musical cards aren't using piezos anymore they're using some kind of tiny flat dynamic speaker, usually in black plastic, stamped 16 ohms.

Howsoever, if you're prepared to wait around a couple of weeks, you can order a bag of 15 for $3 and change from these guys, they've always been reliable for me, but they're never very fast. Expect a month and you won't be dissappointed.

I too stocked up on the Dollar Tree alarms, before finding this.

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Discussion Forum

The Effects of Coffee, in a good way, folks........

Started by BrianQ.. Last reply by Wilda Connell Aug 5, 2020. 7 Replies

Low Budget Sanding Tool

Started by BrianQ.. Last reply by Order99 Jun 9, 2020. 3 Replies

Nails for frets?

Started by Mike. Last reply by Alan Robinson Aug 1, 2017. 8 Replies

Flea market finds

Started by Mike Jul 24, 2017. 0 Replies

Not just a lolly stick

Started by Wade Jan 2, 2015. 0 Replies

Save that box screw up!

Started by Wade. Last reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry Dec 3, 2014. 2 Replies

CB string height gauge

Started by Wade. Last reply by Wade Jul 9, 2014. 2 Replies

Recycled stuff

Started by Keith 66 Jun 11, 2014. 0 Replies

Free recycled Piezo pickups

Started by Wade. Last reply by Rob Brighton Jul 2, 2013. 19 Replies

Joining Lumber

Started by Where's Uranus?. Last reply by Mark Lindsay Jun 4, 2013. 8 Replies

Fretboard radius

Started by Wade. Last reply by rusty case Feb 11, 2013. 1 Reply

Free grounding foil

Started by Wade Feb 10, 2013. 0 Replies

Free Fret dot markers

Started by Wade. Last reply by Mark Lindsay Feb 3, 2013. 23 Replies

Recycled tonewood

Started by rusty case. Last reply by rusty case Nov 21, 2012. 13 Replies

Low $ substitute for banjo face?

Started by rusty case. Last reply by rusty case Nov 18, 2012. 6 Replies

Cheapo strings

Started by Karl G. Siewert. Last reply by rusty case Aug 27, 2012. 4 Replies

Hand saw.

Started by Wade. Last reply by rusty case Aug 27, 2012. 2 Replies

Tennis, anyone?

Started by Order99. Last reply by Order99 Aug 17, 2012. 4 Replies

1/2 Priced Nuts and Saddles

Started by Claude. Last reply by Order99 Apr 8, 2012. 10 Replies

Events

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->