G'day all,

I received a cheap pre-amp in the mail today, & it came with a rod piezo. My question is, can this be glued to the bottom of the sound board like a disk, or would I be better off making a hardwood bridge & embedding it into that?  Or would it not make much difference either way?

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  • Hi again, this job came in yesterday, a mandolin with a bad sounding pickup system. Customer suggested replacing the pots, but I thought I would check the pickup first........this is what I found.

    Now to do the repair.

    1444307168?profile=RESIZE_710x 1444311061?profile=RESIZE_710x 1444317909?profile=RESIZE_710x

    • Wow! I'm guessing the string pressure caused the bridge & pickup piece to bend, all  which sort of floats, causing the rod to push out through the bottom?

      • Hi Mitch, yep you are dead right.

        Here are some photos of the repair.....

        1446081155?profile=RESIZE_710x 1446092752?profile=RESIZE_710x 1446101235?profile=RESIZE_710x 1446108547?profile=RESIZE_710x

    • That's exactly what I did with my ukulele set up, works well!

    • 1432591938?profile=RESIZE_710x

  • You can install a rod under the sound board, but like pick says " you need pressure on it". If the your using stick thorough design do this.

    15 for 3

    You can shim it on the back side if you need, make sure you use a hard wood bridge that isn't to high so the pickup is close to the sting. If the top is 3/16 and a bridge under 1/2 it should work fine. A capacitor on the input will help with feed back.  A rod under a saddle in a bridge would be better and in my mind make the best sounding electric acoustic CBG.

    • Gday, mate, I did make a ukulele a while ago, & I put a rod inside a hollowed out bridge with a saddle & it worked fine. I'm not too fussed about how this one sounds "un-plugged", I've got a few others to muck around with....!

  • Rods have a tiny fraction of the crystal that disks have, which is why they work better squished between the bridge and the bridge-saddle.

    Disks have a LOT more electricity producing crystal, so they work well enough glued to any surface that vibrates.

    • Gday JL, Thanks for the info mate, that makes sense.

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