#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

Piezo Choices?

Hello,

Im new here and have been lurking for awhile. I am wondering if there is a choice of peizo transducer to use. Everyone seems to use the little round one that fits close to the bridge and slightly in front and to the side of the bass string. Can you use the piezo that is typically for an acoustic guitar that looks like a 3 inch wire and fits under the saddle instead? (allparts catalog #PU-8060-000-piezo pickup). I would think that would work better because it would run the length of the bridge and pick up vibration of all strings equally. I would also think it would address the problem of excessive feed back so you could just wire it up and not worry about "sandwiching" it with wood. Now the price is $35 for one and $2 or $5 for the other.

Thanks for the help

0 members like this

Attachments:

PU-0860-000-1.jpg, 2 KB

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joe Scislowicz on April 20, 2010 at 2:38am

If you check with the www.windworld.com website, they have a variety that would allow flexibiltiy. They have wire and tape types for a variety of applications. I've bought tuners, etc, from them and they are good folks.

Joe

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 20, 2010 at 3:35am

Hi S,

Welcome to the Nation. Sure the film piezos will work fine..... You hit the issue of cost which most beginning builders just aren't ready to drop into a CBG. Heck, even today, I will build 2 CBGs for what you would have to spend for that piezo.

And, of course, it's a CBG.... When you over refine it, it loses some of the 'rawness" that make CBGs such a great fit for prim-rock and blues....

Of course, "no rules".... I've used a salvage film piezo from an Ovation... It worked OK, but donno if it would be worth $ 35 more....

Try it and let us know want you think...

the best,

Wichita Sam

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lawton on April 20, 2010 at 4:59am

Yeah, the sort of long thin flexible piezo you are talking of would work in a CBG fine - just as would specially making a custom box and neck from a fortune's worth of rosewood and using antique ivory for the nut and bridge, plus a carefully carved sitka-spruce sound-board. Shane has always said that there's 'no rules' with CBGs - but there is a certain spirit surrounding them. The spirit of using 'found objects' wherever possible or making / adapting whatever you can. A CBG is something a bit different from just a regular guitar with a boxy shape - it is an attempt to get in touch with the primal pioneering spirit of some of the orignal 'po' boy' blues players. The ideas is to use creativity and ingenuity instead of oodles of cash.
You can make a perfectly good piezo pickup if you take the piezo element out of a buzzer and mount it properly. Creating a 'sandwich' type of bridge, where a pair of piezoes form the 'filling' in the 'sandwich' is an excellent way of making an under-saddle pickup. You don't get any more feedback than you might with one of those expensive ones, but you do get to make it yourself. Making it yourself with the resources that you can muster is the challenge. Sometimes, along the way, you have to learn a whole new something just to make one part - - - that's GOOD. You learn something. Expect to do things 'wrong' and learn from that too, but there is no single 'right'. There's various shades of 'good'.
Any fool can buy stuff, given enough cash.

Permalink Reply by Mark on April 20, 2010 at 7:02am

Yup, $35 seems a lot of cash for a pickup for a CBG. However it's worth looking around to see if you can find a purpose-made guitar piezo for less than that. Over here in the UK I can get an Artec two part piezo for the equivalent of about $12 and I can split that into two separate pickups that effectively work out around $6 a piece. I find these significantly better in sound terms than the simple piezo buzzer disks (better tone and less problems with feedback)

Permalink Reply by Stuwern on April 20, 2010 at 3:24pm

Thanks everyone. Very helpful. Yes I will be using the $1 peizo. I'll post pic.s when done.

Permalink Reply by Deltahaze on June 17, 2010 at 7:03am

I've always used the ones from Radio Shack...I think they're a couple bucks....I also discovered that if you use them on a CBG that runs the neck through the box, attach it with duct tape to the neck rail...you get little to no feedback that way and it sounds pretty good...although you lose a little bit of bass that way, but that's what the eq on your amp is for...be sure to cover the whole thing in duct tape...at least that's what worked for me anyways....

Permalink Reply by nick tyson on July 10, 2010 at 11:34pm

Hi Mark.

Not seen these two part picks, were do you get them from?

Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments said:

Yup, $35 seems a lot of cash for a pickup for a CBG. However it's worth looking around to see if you can find a purpose-made guitar piezo for less than that. Over here in the UK I can get an Artec two part piezo for the equivalent of about $12 and I can split that into two separate pickups that effectively work out around $6 a piece. I find these significantly better in sound terms than the simple piezo buzzer disks (better tone and less problems with feedback)

Permalink Reply by nick tyson on July 10, 2010 at 11:57pm

hi Joe,

Have you ever tried thier film pick ups?

Joe Scislowicz said:

If you check with the www.windworld.com website, they have a variety that would allow flexibiltiy. They have wire and tape types for a variety of applications. I've bought tuners, etc, from them and they are good folks.

Joe

Permalink Reply by Joe Scislowicz on July 12, 2010 at 1:49am

I bought two of the film ones. I am going to install them in my reso that I am building. I will let you know, and post pics once I get it done. The size I bought was perfect 3/8th by 1" so it will fit without much modication. THey were $2.75 each. Shipping is dear so if you are going to some, buy some other stuff to save a little. They are quick to fix orders if there are problems. I ordered some closed tuners and they sent me open ones by mistake. I offered to send them back but they told me to keep them. Nice folks.

Joe

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on July 16, 2010 at 12:54am

I just got some of CB Gitty's "econo" piezos, 22mm I think. They work great, I've put in a single and a double in parallel and both sound good, plus they are cheap.

Permalink Reply by nick tyson on July 16, 2010 at 1:47am

may try them but the film pickups may be better for the metal slide storage box im thinking of using. Either in the lid or one down each of the sides, bit of an experiment i want to try. will be using a piece of white engling oak for a through the body but dont know whether to cut in sound holes or use just a pick up. Any opinions or ideas are welcome guys as it will only be my secound build.

MichaelS said:

I just got some of CB Gitty's "econo" piezos, 22mm I think. They work great, I've put in a single and a double in parallel and both sound good, plus they are cheap.

Permalink Reply by Jordan Burk on July 19, 2010 at 1:40pm