Piezo Pickup

[NonSilentKiller]

"old alarm clock that I broke trying to do something else with it", classic lols

[Goatboy44spl]

Nice workshop!

[bluey20]

will i find on of these in my alarm clock? or are they only in some?

[howycwap]

@bluey20

itll come in any thing with speakers. or you can get one for like 5 bucks a radioshack/the source

[eb1791]

I have a question, I'm installing a guitar pickup on my acoustic, does it matter where you install it?, like is it like an electric where if its more towards the neck it's more bassy and towards the bridge = more treble?.

I'm a beginner when it comes to mods, so any help (without being mean/sarcasm :P) Would be appreciated :).

[sk8erboirobrob]

Haha! Looks like it is wired to a bottle of beer!! That would be awesome!

[noobsterxD]

@sk8erboirobrob LOLOLOL

[back2themusic]

good sh**

[mrmusaka]

I have made myself one, it works great!

The best is to stick it on the bridge!

Can anyone tellme if it would recive louder signal from the guitar if i stick few piezo transmittors togheter ?

Hope someone can tell me othewise i'll just try, its so izy and fun :D

[Bertziethegreat]

Just try it and find out!

[Rizukane]

Tetris theme? really? you're awesome dude...

[JohnMalcolm]

Don't leave the full length of unshielded wire. They will pick up a lot of radio interference and hum.

Cut them short and solder carefully.

Don't have the weight of the lead pulling on the pickup; the connections on the disk are very delicate.

Try sandwiching the disk between rubber sheets first.

Also try getting a block of foam that squeezes between the top and back of the guitar inside. Imbed the piezo in that, and wire to an endpin socket.

[JohnMalcolm]

When using transducers in this way, reverse the phase. Solder the red wire to the lead's shielding and the black wire to the core.

I checked this by looking at the wave form of the recorded sound.

It is almost impossible to get the "quack" out of a piezo sound, especially if you hit hard. The Quack Buster is not all that expensive, but I still prefer a magnetic pickup in the soundhole. For a quick, cheap pickup this piezo idea is kool, but for pros, a Sunrise, or Rare Earth is hard to beat.

[ptschafer]

Whoever said "piezo electrics are in old speakers" that is not necessarily true. I would recommed asking someone fluent in electronics to help you with DIY stuff like this. I love the idea of it... I would suggest hitting Radio Shack or an online industrial website for good information and supply of piezo-electric transducers, they can be found very cheap (or very expensive for a great one). However, with things these days like POD farm, it wouldn't be too hard to find the right tone from it.

[quickmantan]

old anology stuff sounds better anyway its the real sound rather thean digitalize shit we get these days,, i think the piezo sounds amazing if you get a good one..

[ant314]

does it matter where the piezo is installed? i'm making a cigar box guitar and i'm trying to make it a semi hollow... so i'm not sure if i should go about putting the piezo on the inside or outside of the guitar to get the most out of the sound, thanks.

p.s. nice vid

[deaucey]

tape them in and try both ways to see whitch one is better

[billm90]

yes, the tone will change every place you put it.

[dragossh]

I want to make one too but I have a question. Do you need a mono or stereo audio cable? And where exactly do you solder each wire in the cable on the piezo element?

[behlers]

I am making one now.

The element is a ceramic bonded to a brass disc. There should be a soldering point on the ceramic part and on the brass part. I actually wired mine to a 1/4" audio jack which I mounted on the body of the guitar. (which was the toughest part). Since it is just a single element you only need a mono cable. Most guitar amps and effects only accept a mono signal anway.

[mechaghostman2]

If you hook it up into an electric guitar amp, could you have distortion on it?

[stef0307]

yup

[conor1148]

stef, you dont know what you're talking about.

if you did a homemade one like this and put it into a guitar amp with distortion, it would shrill like a mother fucker.

[stef0307]

i got one in mine and i got distortion on, i was playing it not so long ago with HEAVY GAIN and it didnt shrill like a mother fucker at all

[conor1148]

then either it wasnt home made, there was some sort of preamp, or you're a liar.

[Vladis112]

good job!

[Moleman0]

Quite nice, and well done. I liked the wave-graph in the background :)

Anyway, for a non-electricity-oriented person it would be a bit difficult, it's easier to buy one such thing in any music store for 15 bucks (at least here it costs that much), and it already has a 1/4 jack plug with a long cable, making it a little bit less damagable.

[Quake227]

that´s just boor

[IanKusekSoloArtist]

i have a piezo in my ibanez montage acousitc/hybrid, because all Ibanez Montage's come with the best piezo pickups. piezo pickups sound great.

[11mainca]

Piezo electrics are in Old Speakers or as he said "Alarm Clock" (if u were listening, lolz) or u can bu them, but i tried looking at the walmarts here, and they didn't have anything

[dbingamon]

You can get these piezo's from Radio Shack P# 273-073A, they work better with a 0.001 MFD Capacitor to keep the DC component of the signal from bothering the AMP.

The also work better mounted inside with half of the element glued to the instrument and the other half free in space - this stops it from squealing.

[JimmyPageWannaBe]

What could I get A Piezoelectric thing from. Like something that would be laying around my house

[jian2069]

you could go to radio shack and buy one for cheap

[dtoplak666]

You could take one out of an old greeting card...you know, the ones that play that anoying music when you open them.

cheers!

[JimmyPageWannaBe]

What other things would have the Piezoelectric thing in them. Like stuff I'd have laying around my house.

[ekserchina]

I wonder if you can use more than one pickup and wire them together to a input jack so the sound is stronger.

[cactus445566]

What's the approximate gain you're getting on the amp?

[coondogtheman1234]

nice one, tetris theme song from the gameboy i like it

[enologico]

I built that one on 90's and used in the band for years!!!

[woodypoopoo]

Piezo Transducers work well but to make it work properly you have to use the right bonding, the best material is Blue Tack or Yellow Tack, the stuff that you use to stick paper to a wall. The best Pizo is 20mm diameter as larger piezo cause an enhanced bass response and can sound boomy.

[KVblowYouDown]

This is really cool man. What's your profession?

[lukealpha]

i bought a piezo and i soldered and to audio stereo jack and when i plugged into the amp it didnt work anyone help me with this?

[QuadDamage82]

i think you need to preamplify it cause the output is really weak.

[Tom405]

gotta use a mono jack,

[Richarditong]

that's the bomb man! lol i want one for my guitar...