Posted by Mal Chilvers on February 16, 2011 at 1:44am
I 've just started to build my first ever cbg,wich will habve a resonator cone.I sent for a rod piezo and tone control plus volume contraole.My question is where is the best place to fit it and how.Mal(UK)
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Haven't tried it myself yet (guitar sized rod piezo on is en route) but I asked the same question and the concensus was "yes" you can chop these rods to size.
You may want to double check before you try it, but I'm going to do it when mine arrives :)
Mal Chilvers said:
Is it possible to make the rod piezo shorter by cutting it or will it damage the rod. Mal
carverman said:
I also have one of those with a preamp from CB Gitty. I haven't mounted mine yet, but as others have mentioned,
rod piezos require string pressure to function. You cannot just glue it to the underside of a CB like a conventional
round piezo, but it has to be fitted in some kind of bridge and underneath the string saddle.
Yes you could go acoustic -Resonators came into being because they sound louder than a "normal" guitar and it was how a guitarist could make themselves heard over the louder instruments before amps were invented. There is a bit about the history here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonator_guitar.
You could always add a piezo later easily - the only thing you need to consider is if you decide you might want to add a magnetic pickup later is to make sure there will be enough space between the box lid and neck (if you are going for a through neck design).
Cheers John I know in mjy own mind your right and I must say my son always tells me I always go over the top.I there a need to use a pick up at all, just go acoustic Mal
Mal..there's no "have to" about this...it's just an example of what someone has tried. A hardwood biscuit and saddle are pretty easy to make and it works...it just depends on how experimental you want to get.
One thing I would say, with your first guitar, expect to have to write it off or re-do it and mash it up in order to get it to work, treat it as a bit of fun, and don't invest too much agonising over decisions about how to do things. Too much thinking can be a bad thing. My view is that it's best to have a fair idea in your mind or a very simple sketch of the overall thing, then just get stuck in and make it. If something doesn't work or doesn't go right, just hack it about until it gets better. This is still the approach I use after building nearly 300 guitars..the design is in my head or the critical parts sketched out...then the rest of the design is done under by eye and hand on the bench.
Making a resonator guitar as a first go is pretty ambitious, especially using a proper cone rather than a 'found object' like a tin lid. Don't get obsessed about having to amplify it or how you do that. A piezo pickup would be the last on my list of choices, but if you insist in it, try just gluing a piezo disk on the underside of the biscuit or the cone and seeing what happens. If you've bought the under saddle kit, I'd put it aside for another project (there will be more.....) As I said earlier, personally I''d put a simple magnetic pickup on it and it would be easy, it would work, and there's a fighting chance it will sound good.
David the addy you posted to reso hang out is great but can any one tell me why you have to use circuit board , why not hard wood and why a plstic bolt.Why can't you just put a piezo rod directly under the saddle. Sorry but not very technical Mal
The rod type piezo installed under the saddle is very popular in acoustic/electric guitars, but that doesnt really apply when using a resonator cone. All the piezo setups I have seen for use with resonator cones use a disc bolted to the back of the cone.
I used an under-saddle piezo in my first CBG. It was intended for a ukulele and so was a bit shorter than the guitar ones. I've not made a reso (yet) but as John says fitting it may not be easy.
On my normal one I made an ebony bridge with a deep slot for the piezo to sit in and put a brass rod over the top as a saddle with slight grooves cut for the strings. The sound was full and rich compared to the piezo discs (although that may be my inexperience with the discs). One thing that I did learn is that they need as much pressure as possible or else they sound quite soft, although mine only has a passive preamp (no battery power).
If it can't be fitted to the reso then I'm sure it will be of use in a future instrument. Good luck.
Replies
Haven't tried it myself yet (guitar sized rod piezo on is en route) but I asked the same question and the concensus was "yes" you can chop these rods to size.
You may want to double check before you try it, but I'm going to do it when mine arrives :)
Mal Chilvers said:
carverman said:
Hi Mal,
Yes you could go acoustic -Resonators came into being because they sound louder than a "normal" guitar and it was how a guitarist could make themselves heard over the louder instruments before amps were invented. There is a bit about the history here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonator_guitar.
You could always add a piezo later easily - the only thing you need to consider is if you decide you might want to add a magnetic pickup later is to make sure there will be enough space between the box lid and neck (if you are going for a through neck design).
Regards,
David
One thing I would say, with your first guitar, expect to have to write it off or re-do it and mash it up in order to get it to work, treat it as a bit of fun, and don't invest too much agonising over decisions about how to do things. Too much thinking can be a bad thing. My view is that it's best to have a fair idea in your mind or a very simple sketch of the overall thing, then just get stuck in and make it. If something doesn't work or doesn't go right, just hack it about until it gets better. This is still the approach I use after building nearly 300 guitars..the design is in my head or the critical parts sketched out...then the rest of the design is done under by eye and hand on the bench.
Making a resonator guitar as a first go is pretty ambitious, especially using a proper cone rather than a 'found object' like a tin lid. Don't get obsessed about having to amplify it or how you do that. A piezo pickup would be the last on my list of choices, but if you insist in it, try just gluing a piezo disk on the underside of the biscuit or the cone and seeing what happens. If you've bought the under saddle kit, I'd put it aside for another project (there will be more.....) As I said earlier, personally I''d put a simple magnetic pickup on it and it would be easy, it would work, and there's a fighting chance it will sound good.
I also have one of those with a preamp from CB Gitty. I haven't mounted mine yet, but as others have mentioned,
rod piezos require string pressure to function. You cannot just glue it to the underside of a CB like a conventional
round piezo, but it has to be fitted in some kind of bridge and underneath the string saddle.
Hi Mal,
Here are a couple of links that might be helpful.
This one outlines your choices http://www.online-guitarist.com/instruments/resonator-guitar/pickup...
This is where someone has used piezo discs attached to the cone http://www.resohangout.com/archive/10905.
Regards,
David
The rod type piezo installed under the saddle is very popular in acoustic/electric guitars, but that doesnt really apply when using a resonator cone. All the piezo setups I have seen for use with resonator cones use a disc bolted to the back of the cone.
I used an under-saddle piezo in my first CBG. It was intended for a ukulele and so was a bit shorter than the guitar ones. I've not made a reso (yet) but as John says fitting it may not be easy.
On my normal one I made an ebony bridge with a deep slot for the piezo to sit in and put a brass rod over the top as a saddle with slight grooves cut for the strings. The sound was full and rich compared to the piezo discs (although that may be my inexperience with the discs). One thing that I did learn is that they need as much pressure as possible or else they sound quite soft, although mine only has a passive preamp (no battery power).
If it can't be fitted to the reso then I'm sure it will be of use in a future instrument. Good luck.
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