Ok, so I'm using a 1" (25mm) piezo sensor...I want it to go in my humbucker cavity...to pickup guitar body vibrations.
I'm using a preamp .....I've used both a charge amp and a basic fet preamp...each one was pretty much the same & revealed that the piezo is stupidly quirky wrt try to get maximum amplitude/fullest sound.
I've tried...
1. Gluing the sensor to the guitar body
2. drilling a hole in the centre of the piezo an putting a screw through to affix it firmly to the body
3. Attaching the sensor to a bit of fr4 then then screwing the fr4 into the guitar body (so the piezo sensor is wedged in between the fr4 & guitar body)....
all these ways have laughed in my face ...with poor fidelity being the outcome (with No2 being the most pesky - sometimes, if I screw the screw in just a little bit extra ithe piezo wouldn't even give anything out!
So I then experimented by randomly applying pressure directly to the piezo sensor with finger/plastic pens etc, whilst resting the sensor on my guitar surface & strumming...every now & then I get a sweet spot of sound (that I seek) when pressure is a applied in a certain way (Note: not a sweet spot of position...ie moving around the guitar body....a sweet s[pot of pressure), so this proves a decent signal can be had...but I'm damned if I can replicate it, with the non finger pressure method!
So that led me onto trying to establish the theory behind what the goal is....but short of lots & lots of duplication on the net about how the crystals expand & contract when voltage is a applied (or how voltage is output from the sensor when the piezo material picks up vibrations)...I'm struggling to work out the best way to get the largest & fullest sound.
I know most implementations involve mounting under the bridge...but I can't on my guitar...so I want to use the humbucker cavity...but like I say the piezo seems to be the most random thing I've ever dealt with.
I've read on a couple of sites that many seem to have success with the piezo disc half attached under the bridge & half hanging in free air...this ought to give me a clue as to what the piezo 'expects' (or rather how to give it what it expects)...but I can't grasp it! In particular, I'm wondering what part the brass disc plays when acting as a sensor (vs acting as output device) & therefore the best way to approach the mounting with that in mind
Any top tips towards the best implementation?
I'm using a preamp .....I've used both a charge amp and a basic fet preamp...each one was pretty much the same & revealed that the piezo is stupidly quirky wrt try to get maximum amplitude/fullest sound.
I've tried...
1. Gluing the sensor to the guitar body
2. drilling a hole in the centre of the piezo an putting a screw through to affix it firmly to the body
3. Attaching the sensor to a bit of fr4 then then screwing the fr4 into the guitar body (so the piezo sensor is wedged in between the fr4 & guitar body)....
all these ways have laughed in my face ...with poor fidelity being the outcome (with No2 being the most pesky - sometimes, if I screw the screw in just a little bit extra ithe piezo wouldn't even give anything out!
So I then experimented by randomly applying pressure directly to the piezo sensor with finger/plastic pens etc, whilst resting the sensor on my guitar surface & strumming...every now & then I get a sweet spot of sound (that I seek) when pressure is a applied in a certain way (Note: not a sweet spot of position...ie moving around the guitar body....a sweet s[pot of pressure), so this proves a decent signal can be had...but I'm damned if I can replicate it, with the non finger pressure method!
So that led me onto trying to establish the theory behind what the goal is....but short of lots & lots of duplication on the net about how the crystals expand & contract when voltage is a applied (or how voltage is output from the sensor when the piezo material picks up vibrations)...I'm struggling to work out the best way to get the largest & fullest sound.
I know most implementations involve mounting under the bridge...but I can't on my guitar...so I want to use the humbucker cavity...but like I say the piezo seems to be the most random thing I've ever dealt with.
I've read on a couple of sites that many seem to have success with the piezo disc half attached under the bridge & half hanging in free air...this ought to give me a clue as to what the piezo 'expects' (or rather how to give it what it expects)...but I can't grasp it! In particular, I'm wondering what part the brass disc plays when acting as a sensor (vs acting as output device) & therefore the best way to approach the mounting with that in mind
Any top tips towards the best implementation?
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