I was wondering if anyone knows, I want to use a Chrome Hard tail bridge ( strings through rear not through box ) , from a electric guitar on my next Cigar box build.
Would this be ok to use as Acoustic guitar and Piezo under bridge pick up?
Wondered if it would get enough "vibration" for acoustic/piezo?
Thanks..Pete
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http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/montecristocaster-bridge
That shot shows how I anchored the bridge to the neck with a hefty bolt (the box is omitted in that pic but I hope you can see how the soundboard would go between the neck and the bridge plate). The bolt takes all the tension load from the strings. However there's still an issue with torsion - the bolt acts like a fulcrum and the pull of the strings results in the horizontal bit of the plate exerting a downward pressure on the soundboard. This necessitated a couple of bracing pieces on the underside of the soundboard to stop it flexing inward. In the end it has turned out very well but it definitely highlights the structural problems of putting a Fender-style bridge on a hollow body.
Incidentally, I designed my bridge like that so I could fit a piezo disc underneath the plate. The plan is to use it as a driver rather than a pickup. It does work OK as a pickup but I find it a bit "trebley".
If you're wanting something to play acoustic then for optimum energy transfer from the strings to the soundboard you generally want a relatively light bridge - ie. not a hefty lump of metal off an electric guitar. You just have to look at how traditional guitar designs have evolved. Instruments for acoustic playing generally have one of two arrangements: Traditional guitars tend to have a wooden bridge attached to the soundboard. The alternative is a light "floating" bridge with the strings anchored to a separate and substantial tailpiece (in CBG building the tailpiece is often the tail end of the neck sticking out the bottom of the box). And remember, a big part of the art of traditional guitar making is in balancing the conflicting needs for the soundboard to be strong enough to take the loads placed on it while also being light.
I know a lot of CBG builders use bolts and other ironwork as bridges, and those will work to a degree, but often those people are playing their guitar through an amp and using distortion rather than playing acoustic. I guess it all depends on what sort of sound you want.
You're going to need to fix that bridge down pretty secure if you are using a conventional Fender-style 6 string hardtail, and they are usually screwed to a solid body or centreblock. If you fix it to the top of an acoustic box, that's lot of mass to get vibrating, so expect far less acoustic performance than a lighter pin bridge or floating bridge, and the top will need to be braced to take the direct pull and torsion exerted by the bridge. An expensive route would be to use a proprietary piezo-equipped hardtail "Powerbridge" but that's a pretty hi-tech, high dollar option.