OK, I've finished my first CBG and I made tons of mistakes that I've learned from and will make much better ones in the future.
My question is: I used a peizo transducer and a stereo jack, now when I have it plugged in and try to use any gain what so ever on my amp, all I get is a high pitched feedback.
Have I used the wrong jack? Should I use mono? The peizo is glued to the back wall of the inside of the box, should it be somewhere else?
Who knew building one of these would be such a pain until you knew what you were doing? LOL
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Hey guys, just to put my 2 cents worth in here. I was having a terrible time with feedback, so much so I couldn't even play the dang guitar. Then I came across the idea ( I forget who I stole it from LOL ) of sandwiching the piezo between the neck and the top of the cigar box right under the bridge. I don't even glue it really, it stays in place because it's squeezed between the two surfaces. I can't even get feedback now, even if I put the guitar right in front of the amp. I turn the gain all the way up and the tone all the way up and it still won't feedback on me. It's absolutely the best tip I've stolen to date LOL
Crow said:
cool, thanks for all the tips!! i love the hot glue idea, it's fast to stick and removeable too. brilliant! i keep a hot glue gun in a cigar box, stacked underneath the -other- cigar box that holds my soldering iron... LOL
cigar box culture = me + smiles.
Wes Yates said:
Crow,
Remember, your results may vary. You may have to x'perment a little. Keep in mind that the lid is a big sound receiver too, so. I found that using hot glue allows me to remove and reposition easily. Oh and I also use the clear hot glue, not the white/cloudy hot glue.
cool, thanks for all the tips!! i love the hot glue idea, it's fast to stick and removeable too. brilliant! i keep a hot glue gun in a cigar box, stacked underneath the -other- cigar box that holds my soldering iron...
LOL
cigar box culture = me + smiles.
Wes Yates said:
Crow,
Remember, your results may vary. You may have to x'perment a little. Keep in mind that the lid is a big sound receiver too, so. I found that using hot glue allows me to remove and reposition easily. Oh and I also use the clear hot glue, not the white/cloudy hot glue.
Remember, your results may vary. You may have to x'perment a little. Keep in mind that the lid is a big sound receiver too, so. I found that using hot glue allows me to remove and reposition easily. Oh and I also use the clear hot glue, not the white/cloudy hot glue.
lol
no i said face, but i meant the front panel. of course inside the guitar.
no really i'm going home tonight and moving the pickup from the body block to the inside face surface. i'll be sure to post my results. thanks!!!
wes you may have just freed me to the land of distortion
YAY!!! :D
Wes Yates said:
Ding ding ding we have a winner. Body block is going to make that piezo pickup more body/handling noise for sure. I used to do that. Not any more!
Surface glue on the outside might damage the piezo or might pickup more feedback. The in-bridge design is supposed to eliminate most handling and feedback issues.
Even how i do it, the lid acts like a big eardrum. Hot glue dampens that and I don;t do but one side. I don't encase the piezo.
-WY
Crow said:
hmm.
i'll need to re-visit this idea, wes. i'm sure you know what you're talking about. i'll have to examine my pickup mounting...
i've been sandwiching them about halfway between my body block and the box, on the inside. maybe i should try a surface-glued approach, on the face of the guitar...
Wes Yates said:
Piezos certainly can do gain/distortion/OD if you mount them right. Done it many times. It all depends on how you mount them and where. Its not the gain that affects the pickup, its the volume, proximity and mounting that is key.
What they do best is pick up vibes like you said. Like I said earlier, I mount them under the lid near the bridge. I'm even experimenting with in/under the bridge like many others do.
-WY
Crow said:
i never use gain. it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups. these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
Ding ding ding we have a winner. Body block is going to make that piezo pickup more body/handling noise for sure. I used to do that. Not any more!
Surface glue on the outside might damage the piezo or might pickup more feedback. The in-bridge design is supposed to eliminate most handling and feedback issues.
Even how i do it, the lid acts like a big eardrum. Hot glue dampens that and I don;t do but one side. I don't encase the piezo.
-WY
Crow said:
hmm.
i'll need to re-visit this idea, wes. i'm sure you know what you're talking about. i'll have to examine my pickup mounting...
i've been sandwiching them about halfway between my body block and the box, on the inside. maybe i should try a surface-glued approach, on the face of the guitar...
Wes Yates said:
Piezos certainly can do gain/distortion/OD if you mount them right. Done it many times. It all depends on how you mount them and where. Its not the gain that affects the pickup, its the volume, proximity and mounting that is key.
What they do best is pick up vibes like you said. Like I said earlier, I mount them under the lid near the bridge. I'm even experimenting with in/under the bridge like many others do.
-WY
Crow said:
i never use gain. it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups. these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
i'll need to re-visit this idea, wes. i'm sure you know what you're talking about. i'll have to examine my pickup mounting...
i've been sandwiching them about halfway between my body block and the box, on the inside. maybe i should try a surface-glued approach, on the face of the guitar...
Wes Yates said:
Piezos certainly can do gain/distortion/OD if you mount them right. Done it many times. It all depends on how you mount them and where. Its not the gain that affects the pickup, its the volume, proximity and mounting that is key.
What they do best is pick up vibes like you said. Like I said earlier, I mount them under the lid near the bridge. I'm even experimenting with in/under the bridge like many others do.
-WY
Crow said:
i never use gain. it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups. these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
Piezos certainly can do gain/distortion/OD if you mount them right. Done it many times. It all depends on how you mount them and where. Its not the gain that affects the pickup, its the volume, proximity and mounting that is key.
What they do best is pick up vibes like you said. Like I said earlier, I mount them under the lid near the bridge. I'm even experimenting with in/under the bridge like many others do.
-WY
Crow said:
i never use gain. it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups.
these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups.
these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
Piezos are notoriously fickle and very prone to feedback...their frequency response is very important if they are to be the least bit useable (I always go for the ones with the lowest frequency response on the specifications). Mono or stereo jack should make no difference to tone or gain..if you are getting a signal from the piezo then it's wired OK. Set the amp tone controls flat and start from there.
You may be able to tame it a bit by putting on a volume control - I use a regular 250K pot wired in the normal way and it works, but trying to put a tone control is another game that I haven't won yet.
Replies
Crow said:
LOL
cigar box culture = me + smiles.
Wes Yates said:
Remember, your results may vary. You may have to x'perment a little. Keep in mind that the lid is a big sound receiver too, so. I found that using hot glue allows me to remove and reposition easily. Oh and I also use the clear hot glue, not the white/cloudy hot glue.
-WY
no i said face, but i meant the front panel. of course inside the guitar.
no really i'm going home tonight and moving the pickup from the body block to the inside face surface. i'll be sure to post my results. thanks!!!
wes you may have just freed me to the land of distortion
YAY!!! :D
Wes Yates said:
-WY
Surface glue on the outside might damage the piezo or might pickup more feedback. The in-bridge design is supposed to eliminate most handling and feedback issues.
Even how i do it, the lid acts like a big eardrum. Hot glue dampens that and I don;t do but one side. I don't encase the piezo.
-WY
Crow said:
i'll need to re-visit this idea, wes. i'm sure you know what you're talking about. i'll have to examine my pickup mounting...
i've been sandwiching them about halfway between my body block and the box, on the inside. maybe i should try a surface-glued approach, on the face of the guitar...
Wes Yates said:
What they do best is pick up vibes like you said. Like I said earlier, I mount them under the lid near the bridge. I'm even experimenting with in/under the bridge like many others do.
-WY
Crow said:
it almost always results in a feedback issue with my piezo pickups.
these pickups are GREAT for a completely acoustic sound, just picking up the vibrations from the surface it's mounted on. but they don't do distortion, overdrive, or gain very well.
just the nature of the beast.
You may be able to tame it a bit by putting on a volume control - I use a regular 250K pot wired in the normal way and it works, but trying to put a tone control is another game that I haven't won yet.
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