I'll tell you what you need to use instead of the lil gem. Its cheaper and MUCH easier to build. Try Minty Amps (www.mintyamps.com -- currently under maintenance). I think they were about $5 or so, but you could get a few to make the shipping good.
To answer the question tho, Yes, its that simple. Did it. Works well. You might want to add a volume control tho. Here's one thing I found, you don't need the preamp. I use two piezos wired in parallel with no preamp and it will blow me out of the room (depending on the amp). Duals in parallel will divide the impedance which is why you would use a preamp to begin with. Sounds cleaner in my opinion. I let the Amp do the drive and vol/tone control.
Welcome aboard, Cleetus! You will find lots of helpful folks and information here on all things CBG (CBU, CBB, etc.) Feel free to poke around, ask questions, and post your stuff (photos, recordings, videos, etc.).
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http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/cbgwiringelectronics/forum/topi...
To answer the question tho, Yes, its that simple. Did it. Works well. You might want to add a volume control tho. Here's one thing I found, you don't need the preamp. I use two piezos wired in parallel with no preamp and it will blow me out of the room (depending on the amp). Duals in parallel will divide the impedance which is why you would use a preamp to begin with. Sounds cleaner in my opinion. I let the Amp do the drive and vol/tone control.
You can see the diagram on the CBG wiring group.
-Wes
Most of all, have fun!
Tres