Comments

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  Mark Bliss March 17, 2012 at 8:20pm

  Hello again Dan!

  Hey, the piezo thing is a mixed bag. I have done some discs under the bridge and would consider them very rudementary and minimalistic at best. They work, but I am not crazy about them for anything more than lo-fi amplification.

  Under saddle rods are far better in my opinion for capturing any resemblance of decent acoustic sound, and have far better range of sound.

  Either way, a preamp of some sort really helps if you want any control over the sound, and the only reliable way I have found to have a tone control that works.

  The best deal going for builds of the quality I see you are doing, is the combination of a rod piezo and preamp in my opinion, and you can get them dirt cheap. There are several different types of rod, but the basic ones are leaps and bounds better than discs I think.

  The only trick to them really is fitting them in a slot with a very flat bottom for even pressure distribution, and fitting the saddle so it is just snug (no sloppiness and not so tight as to bind or stick.) The best results I have seen seems to be about where the saddle wont fall out of the slot when you turn it over, but you can easily pull it out with just your fingers.

  Back to the discs, I have been wiring two in parallel and just sticking them to the inside of the top, on either side of the bridge with foam mounting tape, and using a dab of hot glue if needed to add extra security to the wires where they attach. On the most recent one I added a layer of duct tape over the whole assembly and that worked out fairly well. It doesnt have a bright acoustic sound, but kind of has a character of its own. There is a picture here somewhere......

  About half way through the first page of this build
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  Mark Bliss March 17, 2012 at 2:55pm

  Thanks for the invite Dan, love your stuff and look foward to more!
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  darren brown March 15, 2012 at 10:49am

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7FNCM26t8
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  darren brown March 15, 2012 at 10:48am

  thanks dan ,that 8 string looks mighty fine to me .