Comment

Comment by G.S.Monroe on January 2, 2014 at 4:04am

My method for shielding is to dip the piezo in Plasti Dip

Then I use a good brand of RTV rubber adhesive to attach it to the inside of the instrument.

Comment by Uncle John on January 2, 2014 at 3:30am

Ahh.  Cypress is said to be a great wood.   Very interesting and accurate, I think, on the piezos.   Yeah, some of mine are fantastic and some do get too much referred sound from say bumping the neck.   may try some shielding.   Like a dense foam?

Comment by G.S.Monroe on January 1, 2014 at 10:52am

Thanks Uncle John, first the neck is Gulf Coast Bald Cypress ( 98% of my builds use recovered Cypress).

and, Yes I do switch between disk piezos, rod piezos, and mag pups. What I use depends on the concept of build I'm going for. Disk piezos are often underrated, but they are also just as commonly misused. A disk piezo requires careful mounting to be effective. More often than not they end up being an unshielded drum trigger/stomp box that transmits as much distracting handling noise & feedback as they do instrument resonance. I highly recommend sandwiching and/or encasing the disk in a soft shielding medium before mounting them in an instrument. Rule of Thumb.... if you have to turn the Gain all the way down then your Disk Piezo requires better shielding. You get better "clean tone" and less bumping & scratching if you sound proof it a bit and add a few decibels of Gain at the Amp. 

Comment by Uncle John on January 1, 2014 at 10:21am

I went back and looked at your photos.   You go back and forth between mag pups and piezos as do I.   I think piezos are underrated.   What are your thoughts on that?

Comment by Uncle John on January 1, 2014 at 10:17am

Very classy top and diddlly,  Southern yellow pine neck?