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Can I cover my build with cloth?

Perhaps this is a weird question but, then again, being a beginner I tend to think questions should be asked lol. I'm building an lap steel type instrument but with a tin and a piezo pickup inside the tin. The bridge is going to sit atop the tin and the piezo inside the tin lid. I like pretty things, in the traditional sense of the word, and I'm wondering could I cover my build with material glued around the bottom, sides, under the tin, nut, bridge and strings? I suspect this would affect the acoustic sound but would it affect the amped sound? I live in a ground floor apartment too so a quieter acoustic sound that doesn't affect the amped sound would only be a good thing because I could use headphones late at night when I'd usually be unable to play. I'm genuinely intrigued as to whether this could work.

Thanks in advance for all help and advice.

Dani 'Still Need A Cool Nickname' Garside :)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 8, 2016 at 3:07am

Those are phenomenal builds, Anonymous Pick! That last one blows me away, and I thought I had a cool idea with the cloth lol I'm seriously impressed.

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 8, 2016 at 4:58am

thanx Dani . keep in mind that the answers here pertained to your specific example ( piezo in a tin ) , and mine with mag pickups etc .. this would not pose a problem .

but if you were to make a cbg with a piezo reading the wooden lid , then covering the lid (even paint ) would defiantly effect the sound . could be good or bad , but most likely muffling it .

ps , you can cover a mag pickup with cloth . wood etc too , it will still read the strings even through the lid .

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 8, 2016 at 5:11am

Thanks for clarifying, Pick. I'm building the tin lap stell right now but without the knowledge you've just freely offered up I could have made a booboo quite easily. You're a genius and wonderfully giving with your knowledge. Let's face it too, who doesn't love a genius?!

Thanks again :)

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 8, 2016 at 5:20am

genius is just crazy , glorified ;-)

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 8, 2016 at 9:39am

If you were using a magnet pickup like ZZ Top then it wouldn't make a difference. A piezo will be picking up the vibrations of the tin only. So if you dampen those vibrations with a attached cover, it will have an effect on the instrument. Might be a good thing or a bad thing. Some CBG boxes have paper glued to them and they sound different from the bare box types, but not in a bad way.

Be the experimental Guinea Pig. I've seen some other CBG's with fabric covering so it'll probably work okay.

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 9, 2016 at 7:44am

Another busy day with the build today (build day three) and I've got around 75% of the build physically in place, or at least most of the wood in place. Today was largely about decorating and, even though you were all so massively helpful, I've backtracked and decided to wrap it in wallpaper, ala Christmas present wrapping. It looks not too bad at the moment! I still need to drill the tiny holes for the strings to go through the end and install the dual piezo thingymabob in the tin but it's getting close to finished. Seeing all the wonderfully decorated builds on here I've decided that I'm going to try and put some weird stuff on mine too. Not sure what yet but I AM sure that it's Anonymous Pick's fault haha. I'll definitely post images once it's complete and I'll try to post a recording of how it sounds too. Thanks again everyone and hope you're all well.

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 9, 2016 at 8:16am

weird ? who ? moi ?...

ok . guilty as charged ;-)

lol good luck . anxious to see what ya come up with . ;-)

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 11, 2016 at 8:31am

Second from last pic, should be called: Got Pickup's?

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 9, 2016 at 1:21pm

lol that would be a great ice breaker for certain. I've been thinking about some fairy lights powered by a 9v battery this evening. Must be able to get something similar in a motorhome/RV supplies store?

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 11, 2016 at 6:09am

Finally finished the build. Here's a photomagraph:

I eventually went for a wallpaper covering rather than cloth. Not because I wasn't listening to you all, and I really do appreciate all the comments you made and the advice you so kindly gave, but more because I fell in love with the wallpaper when I went looking for a covering at the shops. It's quite thick as far as wallpaper coverings go and the design is love letters, musical staffs with notes and postcards. Anyway, I hope that you all like it and thank you all so very much for all the help you gave. You're all awesome.

Permalink Reply by Seasick Mick on January 11, 2016 at 6:16am

Looks good enough to be in the Tate gallery...

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on January 11, 2016 at 6:20am

You're far too kind, Micky. Maybe in a small corner, inaccessible to the general public, right next to the trash can lol. Either way, thank you and I am very happy with how it turned out. Very surprised but very happy :)