Thought I would share with y'all something that I think works pretty well with the piezo disk pick up from C.B. Gitty. I've always thought that even with the disks buried in leather/foam/etc. was still a bit too "boomy" for my tastes so I started experimenting and came up with this.
Since most of my builds are through body, solid neck I thought why not put that sucker in close where the vibrations are coming into the body? Kind of like putting a bar piezo under the bridge, but with a twist. So the first three pics show the start of that process.
1. Mark where the bridge will be based on the scale length you've chosen.
2. Scribble a circle on it so you can aim your drill bit.
3. Drill a hole about 1/4" to 3/8" deep.
Replies
Thats been done years ago here
What's old is new......
That's the problem when these forums get really big. These little tidbits get lost. I did a search on piezo placement and got 8,562 hits..... well, maybe not that many, but it was more than I wanted to sift through :)
Gene
I almost always use two pick ups now. One buried like this, and I suspend one in high density foam just under the neck at the fret end of the neck inside the box. With the C.B. Gitty gold three way switch, you can have the best of both worlds! The jangly acoustic pickup, the more mellow buried pickup or both!
Gene
Gene,, this is just a super cool idea .. Never woulda thought of this ,, but u can betcha i"m a gonna use it !!!
always did not like the cut out in the neck to make the piezo fit .. tks man !!
Gene, thank you for the photos. I didn't realize that the piezo can be coated with glue and still function. Yeah, I know, new guy ...
;-)
Shoot, Bill..... I consider myself to be pretty dang new to this too! But these guys keep saying the same thing over and over. "There are no rules, just try it!"
I think one of the plans I saw, or maybe it was here where they recommended getting a bottle cap and filling that with glue and embedding the piezo in that - then gluing that to the inside of the box. I just decided to make my own hole instead of adding something else!
Gene
Gene, makes sense. I used the Radio Shack piezo transducer and just screwed the plastic case to the bottom of the neck under the bridge. I have David Sutton's book, and he said the take the piezo out of the plastic, so I might be in error. I know the thing sure creates feedback!
Try to fill up the hole so it will be even with the top of the neck surface. Get a piece of clear mylar plastic and lay over the still warm hot glue. Try to get it as flat as possible with the neck. Let the excess squeeze out of the hole the wire exits.
Squirt some hot glue in the hole and get ready to stick it all together
Then you can add your nicely soldered pick up with wires
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