Help with wiring setup

Posted by Brandon Rodgers on February 13, 2011 at 4:30pm

Ok first off I am new, so if this has been asked before I am sorry. I have searched and I haven't found an answer. So anyway on to my questions.

 

1. I am wanting to wire two piezos(Radio Shack Piezo Audio Transducer) to a tone pot and a volume pot then to the 1/4'' audio jack. I have seen a wiring diagram on this site that shows me how to do that but I don't know if and what kind of capacitor to use. Both pots are 250K if that helps. 

 

2. My local Radio Shack doesn't usually stock the piezo audio transducers, but they have the piezo buzzers. Do these still work like the audio transducers or do I need to modify them. 

 

Thanks in advance for any help. I have built three acoustic CBGs but this next one will be my first to wire up. I have zero experience with wiring things of this nature. 

 

Brandon

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Skeesix February 14, 2011 at 1:15am

    Due to the high impedance of the piezo, the tone pot won't have much, if any, effect on the sound. If you left out the volume pot, you might as well just wire the piezos straight to the jack.

    Wiring the two piezos in parallel, instead of series, will help lower the impedance, thus lowering the harsh screechy sound of the piezo.

    The one from Radio Shack everyone uses is called a Piezo Element: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062402 Catalog #: 273-073

    It works better if you break it out of the plastic case, then cover it with some kind of damping material. There are probably a thousand posts on how people mount and damp their piezos.

     


  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw February 13, 2011 at 6:31pm
    Hi Brandon. I read elsewhere on this site that tone pots don't work well with piezos, but that volume pots do. I hope that others with more experience will be able to give you more authoritative info.
  • Brandon Rodgers February 13, 2011 at 5:18pm
    Left one thing out. What would happen if I left the volume pot out and just did the two piezos and the tone pot? Would I need a capacitor? Do I need to ground it? Would it work at all?
This reply was deleted.