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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on October 23, 2013 at 2:37am

Mag pup under the resonator. If its not magnetic add a screw or clip of electric string on the resonator. Right under the bridge. It is how I do license plate guitars.

Another option is a cheap iRig mic plugged into a preamp. You can get some great creamy overdrive this way.

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 23, 2013 at 3:23am

Another vote for mag pup under the resonator. Works a treat, I use a ring magnet and just make a large single pole pickup that is circular and fits well under the reso.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 23, 2013 at 3:44am

Hey - the Finger brothers!! I have a "P bass pickup" that I got from CBGitty - would I put that under the pan or between the drain cover and the pan?
I have some mic elements left over from when I was making Harp Mics - would that work?? Sounz like I got some experimenting to do!!!!! :-)

One other thing I should mention - the drain cover legs (8) sit on the parts pan so that the vibrations transfer to it.

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Permalink Reply by Suspect Device on October 23, 2013 at 4:04am

The fingers have got it. Try installing the pup under the pan ...close, but not touching. Attach it to the neck. I sometimes do this type of thing with my kodakanjo film can builds. I just strap the pup to the neck with zip-ties.

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Permalink Reply by Will King on October 23, 2013 at 4:32am

Rod Piezo!  Very twangy and loud.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 23, 2013 at 6:44am

Would you place the rod up against the pan? I would think placing in the bridge like normal would negate the reso part of the sound.

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Permalink Reply by Suspect Device on October 23, 2013 at 6:54am

I think the idea would be to put the rod under the saddle of a biscuit bridge. It does work quite well. Randy Bretz has been building some really nice rod piezo biscuit bridges using that method and his sound great.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 23, 2013 at 9:11am

Hey Thanx SD - Yeah, that's the way I build them as well - I'm just looking for any ideas that would get more "reso" sound - I must sound like those customers that say - "I don't know what I want - I just know what I don't want"
I've tried a variety of mic elements - no good sounds there - I'm just about to try the P bass pickup mounted about 1/8" below the pan - I'll report soon!!

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 23, 2013 at 10:32am

Don't forget to make sure the pan is magnetic! If it isn't you need to glue/attach something magnetic to it. I use those crappy magnetic strips off big fridge magnets and glue them to the bottom of the cone in line with the pup

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 26, 2013 at 8:24am

Well, I tried a few things and ended up back with the tried and true - Rod in the bridge in parallel with a disc embedded in silicone and then with a switch I can add another disc embedded in the neck. The double rod idea didn't seem to work very well.

You guys are supposed to be talking me down from these ledges!!!!!!    :-)

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