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HANDLING NOISE!!!

Posted by joel peksujeff on April 8, 2016 at 2:07pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Hello everyone, i'm currently having a battle with my first build.

i have tried mounting piezo pickups in several places but i cant seem

to get rid off the exsessive handling noise. the body is made of powder coated metal

and a table leg runs through it keeping the neck in place.

so, if you all could give tips, advice and succestions how to

make the darn thing sound better.

thanx

IMG_20160331_213247.jpg

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Replies

jason fitzgibbons April 13, 2016 at 11:33pm

Mount the piezos internally in the bridge
Domino April 12, 2016 at 1:16pm

I put a 100nf capacitor in line on the positive side of piezos to reduce noise from knocks. Loosely based on a passive high pass filter: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/filter/filter_3.html though I can't remember why I didn't bother with a resistor :)

Full details of my crazy electronics are in the build thread comments: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profiles/blogs/rough-cuts-and-adjusta...

Mostly designed by experiment rather than any knowledge of what I was doing :)
- joel peksujeff > Domino April 12, 2016 at 3:02pm
  
  okay, i've finally settled with something... after ten different caps and discs i now have
  
  a 2cm brass piezo between two pieces of cork, cut from a wine bottle
  
  sandwiched between the soundboard and the tableleg by a lid from an old class container
  
  and a lid from a moustache wax tin.
  
  it sounds good, with as much handling noise you would get recording with a dynamic mic.
  
  demonstration coming soon(ish).
  
  the output level seems to increase soon as i clue/tape/what ever the thing to its place, maybe because less resonation?
  
  IMG_20160412_214959.jpg
  - JL > joel peksujeff April 13, 2016 at 8:13am
    
    piezo signal strength is in direct proportion to how solidly the vibrations are conducted to the crystal layer of the disk.
    - joel peksujeff > JL April 13, 2016 at 9:54am
      
      that would make sense, but WHY does it work the opposite.
      
      i am puzzled.....
Del Puckett April 12, 2016 at 11:19am

i have found that taking a "plastic water bottle cap" and hot glueing over the top of the piezo (creating an air gap) helps.
bemuzic April 12, 2016 at 6:59am

another option is to see the "unwanted noise" in a different way : - ) http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/unwanted-noise
Fomhorach April 12, 2016 at 6:31am

If you wire 2 in serial, they might cancel out the high frequencies. Since your box is metal I guess it's the high freq that are problematic. Also, make sure your lid is firmly attached. If it's moving about a bit then it might not be a piezo problem at all.
- joel peksujeff > Fomhorach April 12, 2016 at 6:48am
  
  hmmm, for some reason two piezos both in series and parallel cut only volume, i added a third one
  
  and that made things a bit better. still had a load of handling noise, though.
  
  so i rewired the whole damn thing just to be sure. now i have one stainless steel piezo,
  
  it's quite a bit hotter, but the handling noise somehow has'nt increased as much as one would expect. so i'll try to find a good spot for it now. we'll see what happens...
  
  and as for the lid i have window sealing tape keeping it in place :)
  - Fomhorach > joel peksujeff April 12, 2016 at 6:53am
    
    Good luck. Let us know how it comes along as good tips travel well.