Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 14, 2014 at 12:50pm

rods  need    to  be  under pressure to work  effectively  , i  find  slightly    embeded   in the  bridge    but  still  (sandwitched ) against the    box top  works a treat  .  letting the string  pressure work    for you . 

rods are   10 steps  up  from   a disk in  sound quality   and usability .  

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Permalink Reply by George Forster on October 14, 2014 at 2:37pm

Is the rod sitting in a slot in the bridge that allows the rod to contact the box top, as well as the saddle? 

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 14, 2014 at 2:34pm

Here's what I do - the rod goes into this block and sits just below the surface. Then a wire, or rod, or piece of hardwood sits between the piezo rod and the strings. There is a hole for the wire to go down and thru.

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Permalink Reply by George Forster on October 14, 2014 at 2:52pm

Thanks for the picture.  That helps!

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on October 14, 2014 at 2:57pm

The slot goes all the way through the bridge base and rest on the lid. That way your picking up some sound from the box as well. Bone saddle on the rod picks up the string vibrations.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 14, 2014 at 6:57pm

ill  be  the  first  to disagree .  disks are shit  in  comparison , when   done  properly .

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on October 15, 2014 at 4:31am

I fully agree with Pick   minimal feedback, a much fuller sound, ease of installment.  Half my sales come from my custom rod bridges and all of my customers will tell you the same thing, the rods have a 10x better response and sound over a disc.

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on October 15, 2014 at 10:08am

I can stick a rod bridge on a cement block and it would sound great.....lol.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on October 15, 2014 at 10:09am

What I have done in the past is wire one rod and one disc in parallel - I'd appreciate any opinions - altho lately I've gone to mag's.

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Permalink Reply by Dale on October 15, 2014 at 2:49pm

I just made a rod piezo guitar... I hot glued the piezo under the bridge on the thru neck piece... it picks up great... you can't really trim them so I gave it a shot...

Attachments:

• 20141015_205857.jpg, 4.1 MB

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Permalink Reply by JL on October 16, 2014 at 3:24am

I'll apologize now for the physics 101...

Piezoelectric crystals generate electricity when hit with a vibration.  The more intense the vibration the stronger the voltage produced.  The more crystal used the more amperage produced.

Because disk piezos have more crystal on them, they produce more amperage so you get less loss through the pots/wires/connectors.  Because rods can easily be more easily placed between the bridge and the saddle where the vibrations are strongest, this can produce a higher voltage signal that has more fidelity.

Feedback has nothing to do with rod versus disk, it has to do with placement/shielding/dampening against unwanteed vibrations (another whole discussion itself)

I'll climb down from my podium and put away the mortarboard cap now...

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on October 16, 2014 at 5:15am

I think you are all right! How about that. A disc is very easy and flexible for placement, hot, loud , cheap,whatever. A rod will give a more refined and individual sound to each string and be less of an issue with touch sensitivity of the box etc. I believe that  some people have had poor performance from the rods due to inadequate string pressure on the rod. I have a 6 string classical guitar that I put a simple piezo disc in with a piece of velcro and wired straight to the jack, no volume or other controls. I play that out at open mics etc and have had  nothing but compliments, especially from the guys running the PA, that the pickup sounds so smooth and pure and really holds the delicate sound of the nylon strings and I have never had any negative feedback at all. They are in disbelief when I tell them it is a one dollar piezo disc stuck in with tape. I also have a rod piezo in a cigar box bass with the fat poly strings and when plugged into a bass amp sounds like a full size acoustic bass. It took me more trial and effort to get great sound out of the rod but it was worth it. Thanks to Randy Bretz for help and advice on that project by the way. He is the Rod Piezo Guru! So if anyone thinks that a disc sucks or a rod sucks, you just ain't doin' it right!

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