Piezo pickup question

[snowdog2]

Hey everyone,

I am building a unique stringed instrument and am wondering if using 3 piezo pickups is possible? Would it be wired just like regular pickups? I would like a volume, tone and 5 way selector...Seems easy enough am I missing anything?

[Keriwena]

You may want to ask here: GuitarNutz 2 - Home

A bunch of guys who go nuts over radical wiring schemes.


Piezos have problems, they're hardly the ideal pickup. Most high end acoustic guitar setups use mics to augment the piezos. Talyor uses a magnetic pickup under the fretboard with their "Expression" system. So, if you're considering three pickups to get varying sounds, you might consider other options to augment one or two well placed piezos.

Also, consider most piezos work best with an onboard amplifier which includes some EQ. And no, you can't simply use the wiring from a Strat. The impedances of piezos are quite different and need different values.

[snowdog2]

Thanks for the info...Im going to try to avoid piezos but I cant use traditional pickups because I only have 1/2 inch of clearance from the strings to the body. Furthermore the width of the project is only 3" wide. I do have access to the underside of the fretboard and the fretboard thickness will be half inch as well. I considered putting 3 piezos in the fretboard but I dont think it will sound good...any ideas

[Keriwena]

Since you're building an electric instrument, keep in mind that electric guitars only sound good through electric guitar amplifiers. That is, you might need an amp (or preamp) dedicated to your instrument that solves various problems.

You can buy a pickup called "The Cap" which can be placed anywhere, and this might be a good way to test various positions. You might also look at Fishman's "Rare Earth" series, which are very small for magnetic pickups. Perhaps they could fit under the strings.

[snowdog2]

Thanks for the info. I checked out the rare earth series and it may work, but I forgot to mention Im building a fretless bass project. I may mount a humbucker on top of the strings with a fabricated bracket of some sort, but Im trying to avoid the eyesore of that...

[formula 22]

Hi!
Buffer that is required for piezo pickup CS-29 (turntable Ziphona MA 224)?
thank you!

[Nigel Goodwin]

A simple FET (wired as a source follower) and two resistors - doubled for stereo.

[formula 22]

Hi people!
I solved the problem with the preamplifier for the piezo pickup CS-29!
Let's just go ahead!
Cheers!