Just need a good confidence boost here chaps.
This is my project, I have put a maple centre block in a cut my neck joint which I am worried it too shallow?
I have a cone to put in place and a gibson style bridge to go towards the back.
My electrical plan is to have a blending pot betweena p90 and a piezo on the cone; tone and volume too.
Paint job, thinking high gloss Pelham blue apart from the back of the box where the origional cigar details are... Painted headstock too to match.
Can you guys have a look? Let me know your thoughts? I am worried about setting out with a poor chance of a good action... but I am trying.
Replies
I wired a piezo and magnetic pickup to a switch and got a popping noise when switching to the piezo due to the impedance mismatch. So a blender knob or just a separate volume for each pickup would eliminate that noise problem of switching back and forth.
Piezo placement would be louder on the cone or under the bridge, but somewhere on the soundboard would even out the loudness difference between the pickups and still get good reso tone.
Passive works okay, but both hooked into a onboard preamp that handles the impedance mismatch will always sound better.
Hi Rob, you might try mounting a piezo in/or under the biscuit bridge. If it was me I would mount a few piezo,s in a few pre made biscuits and try them once the guitar assembled. There are a variety of ways to mount to get different tones, that I can think of.
also I always use a blend pot or two volume pots, this way I can temper any harshness from the cone with the warmth of the mag pickup.
i run my earth to the tailpiece, and never earthed a cone, ever. Sometimes you can get hum from the amp via household electrical circuits. Try a different power outlet. Or a new guitar lead.
Taff
I realize this may be different in a resonator, where a piezo on the cone might be very loud, but as a general matter, am I incorrect? Is there much benefit in using a blend pot with a mag pickup and a piezo with no preamp?
Hi, I find that a mismatch of the two pickups could be attributed to number of factors, such as quality and placement of the pickups.
I also find that a piezo fitted in the "sweet spot" position on the top can be as loud as, if not louder, than a magnetic pickup. The reason I use a pre amp is not to make the piezo pickup louder but to add other/better tonal qualities, and send them to the amp with minimal loss.
i have also used a blend pot and sometimes a master volume with mag and piezo and had good balance even without a preamp. However the high frequencies of the piezo are a lot harsher without one. But as I mentioned earlier blend in a humbucker to warm it up.
Bottom line for me, I have guitars here with louder piezo's (no preamp) than a guitar fitted with a Les Paul humbucker, and far louder than one with a single coil.
And although my preamped CBG is not that much louder than my un amped CBG, it does sound a whole lot better.
cheers Taff
Thanks both of you, I will let you know how I get on...
Im concerned at the moment I have something wrong as I get a hum until I touch a metal piece and then it stops ( I think..... Too may beers to remmeber right now!)
I will try and get it all together this weekend and see how I get on... :)
I have pretty much finished now, pictures to come!
Im struggling a little with Piezo placement... I have two wired in and dont know how to mount/where...
Also, I am getting a lot of poor earth noise through the amp. I have not earthed the cone yet but will do.... Do you have any other ideas as to why I am getting so much noise?
Kind regards
Rob
Hi,you may not have enough downward pressure on the saddle/cone, but in any case you will nead grooves in the saddle top edge, which should be about 1/8" wide on top at most.
Slots are best if they are a size that suits each string. String about half their diameter deep in the slot, unwound strings a bit more.
I stain scrap timber the same as the guitar to test.
That action looks very low to me?? Raising the saddle height would make the saddle a bit week I think, so maybe a thicker biscuit, or reset the neck angle. You'll have to get that right before setting intonation.
Taff
Hey Taff,
Thanks for all your help.
The action seems OK to me, pretty playable... no fret buzz at all and feels nice (ish, its not fender).
However, I feel that it will be nicer once the strings are set in place a bit better, so slots will help and possibly radiusing the saddle?
It seems to sound OK too which is good.
As far as finish goes, I have no wood similar so I will get a finisher at work to give me his thoughts and just accpet what I have got :)
Its been really really fun and I am ready to get it all wired up and plugged in... just need to learn the art of slide now!
Rob
Ok Rob, sorry mate when I see a reso guitar I think of "slide playing", so I based my comments on that. The way I play I find it harder to get a clean slide sound with a low string action and a radiused nut and saddle. Looks like you've got it nailed. Enjoy.
You could use an orange shellac, that will deepen the colour and bring out the grain, then wax it if needed.
Taff
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