Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by spencer on February 16, 2009 at 6:01pm

http://web.mit.edu/kumpf/www/Acoustics/main.html

hows this look if I stick this in a CBG?

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on February 16, 2009 at 7:15pm

Hi Spencer,

Yea, I know things seem complicated and confusing to a newbie, but hang in there. The piezo assembly you picture (and the instructions) is just fine. There is some difference of opinion about how/where to mount the piezo (that's the metal/ceramic disc thingy). In the beginning I would suggest that you glue it (CA/Crazy glue... same thing) to the underside to the lid under the bridge position. If you want to emphasize bass tones, move it to a position under the bass side of the bridge (that's the fat or top strings)... If you want to emphasize treble tones, move it to a position under the treble side of the bridge (that's the thin or bottom strings)... You will reduce feedback (that's the harmonic "squeal" you get when you have the gain too high on your amp and/or the CBG to close to the speaker) if you encase the back of the piezo in hotglue, mouse pad material or something else to dampen the piezo vibration and isolate it from the body cavity (I like 100% silicone caulk)....

Hope this helps.... did you know that the yahoo group "CigarBoxGuitarBuilders" specialize in Q&A about building and is a treasure trove of info? Check it out.... http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/CIGARBOXGUITARBUILDERS/

the best,

Wichita Sam

spencer said:

http://web.mit.edu/kumpf/www/Acoustics/main.html

hows this look if I stick this in a CBG?

Permalink Reply by spencer on February 17, 2009 at 4:40am

i signed up on yahoo...i think i got it now.

what exactly qualifies as "shielded" for cables? If I gank some vcr cable, does that count ? lol

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on February 17, 2009 at 6:36am

Hi Spencer,

"Shielded" cables have 1) the transmission wires that the signal travel on (+/- ) plus bare stranded wire surrounding the transmission wires that protects the transmission wires from EM (electro/magnetic) pulses, all this encased in a plastic sheaf coating to hold everything together. Usually the bear stranded wire wrapping is connected to the ground (or to the negative).

In theory, because piezo operate off vibrations, and not e/m waves to generated the signal, they are not susceptable to interference that causes "humming"... if you get humming with a piezo pup, look for stray wires contacting the opposite contact in the jack, a bad solder connection or a bad guitar cable connecting the guitar to the amp....

I used to use shield cable because that was what I had availabel thru RS, but, it was too much a hassle, so now I just use simple stranded wire.

hope this helps...

Wichita Sam

spencer said:

i signed up on yahoo...i think i got it now.

what exactly qualifies as "shielded" for cables? If I gank some vcr cable, does that count ? lol

Permalink Reply by spencer on February 19, 2009 at 11:45am

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062402
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103454&c...

I was reading on this stuff and...
is this what I'll need? RS has alot of others, but this was cheapest and highest rated...it does however say that the piezo will need an external driver circuit. I dont know what that means, but its my guess that that's only if you dont have an outside source of power such as an amp.

so will this work for me?

I got a soldering iron, some solder, and I'll just strip out some old wire...now I'm just waiting to order some of this since our local RS has nothing.

that's the plan anyway

Permalink Reply by Jake on March 9, 2009 at 9:52pm

I have those exact parts also Spencer. Take a look at this web page, it's extremely thorough and color coded. It explains the components of the jack.
http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/parts/connectors/14-phone-jacks-an...

Permalink Reply by Steve Pugh on March 26, 2009 at 3:23am

Hi all,

This is the "ask questions later" part of "shoot first, ask questions later"...while at the local Fry's Electronics, I checked out the audio electronic component section and they had a few small 'buzzer' components. Knowing that piezo pickups are often scrounged from buzzers, I bought one ($2.00).

However, it's not a disc - it's a rectangular block, maybe .5 * .75 * .25 inches. I haven't taken it apart yet to see what's inside, but might this work?

Like I said, "shoot first and ask questions later"....any ideas?

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on March 26, 2009 at 3:36am

You're probably going to find a piezo (they don't have to be discs, just cheaper to make that way). But, who knows until you do surgery?

Take a pic and let us know....

the best,

Wichita Sam


Steve Pugh said:

Hi all,

This is the "ask questions later" part of "shoot first, ask questions later"...while at the local Fry's Electronics, I checked out the audio electronic component section and they had a few small 'buzzer' components. Knowing that piezo pickups are often scrounged from buzzers, I bought one ($2.00).

However, it's not a disc - it's a rectangular block, maybe .5 * .75 * .25 inches. I haven't taken it apart yet to see what's inside, but might this work?

Like I said, "shoot first and ask questions later"....any ideas?

Permalink Reply by Steve Pugh on March 26, 2009 at 7:14am

Sage advice, Sam - apologies for my cellphone's irrational Macro focus (it draws a little box around the coil saying "I'm totally gonna focus here" and then doesn't...)

There's a wire-wrapped coil of some sort with thin discs at either end, one of which is attached to the circuit board and the other of which is attached to the thin metal plate which made one of the component's 'walls'. It looks neat-o to me, but I'll be darned if I know what any of it is ;-)

Attachments:

• Buzzer1.jpg, 377 KB

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on March 26, 2009 at 7:58am

Heck,

I don't know what it is either, but it looks cool even out of focus.....

the best,

Sam


Steve Pugh said:

Sage advice, Sam - apologies for my cellphone's irrational Macro focus (it draws a little box around the coil saying "I'm totally gonna focus here" and then doesn't...)

There's a wire-wrapped coil of some sort with thin discs at either end, one of which is attached to the circuit board and the other of which is attached to the thin metal plate which made one of the component's 'walls'. It looks neat-o to me, but I'll be darned if I know what any of it is ;-)

Permalink Reply by Steve Pugh on March 26, 2009 at 8:09am

Right on, Ted, will do - of course, I do need to build the rest of the CBG before getting too far ;-)

Thanks, y'all!


Ted Crocker said:

Steve, hard to tell from the pic but instead of a piezo this looks like an electromagnet. A little experimentation will tell you if this will work like a magnetic pickup. Attach the red wire to the positive lug on a jack and the black to negative. Plug it into an amp, hold the pup near a plucked string and tell us what happens.

Good luck!

Attachments:

• Buzzer1.jpg, 377 KB

Permalink Reply by Wade on April 16, 2009 at 1:21pm

Through use of a lead differential weight the ****** peizo reacts through compression rather than just bending. Interesting....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dean-Markley-ARTIST-KIT-Guitar-Instrument-Picku...

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