Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm getting by basement workshop set up to really get into building this summer. I would like to build one or two a month and experiment. Then I guess I will have to actually learn to play the guitar! HAHAHAAHAHAH. Well at least I know enough musicians that I can give them away to someone who can play 'em.
Actually, I think it looks pretty good Chris. I like that color DT box better than the yellow. I had the same deal with the piezo on my first build which i had mounted on the upper string side of the interior of the box so that it would be close to being underneath the bridge/saddle. Very microphonic and would get way too noisy before getting any kind of real volume when amped - not the gritty, bluesy sound i was after. I just finished doing an overhaul on that guitar. What i did with the pick up was to put a covering of silicone over the piezo, surrounded by a circle of urethane glue (gorrilla glue). I cut a small square out of the thin end of a piece of cedar shim and put that on top, then clamped it til dry. I put another bead of the gorilla glue around the perimeter of the cedar. The urethane puffs up a bit while drying and now the pick up is embedded. There is not a noticible drop in volume when played acoustically - when amped it is much more focused and can now be pushed to an overdriven bluesy sound without feeding back or sounding thin. It's a major improvement. Hope that helps. Now i have to figure out how to get rid of some new string buzz ... grrr. Always a learning experience.
Fretless with piezo pickup. You can see the crappy finish here pretty clearly. I just glued the piezo on the box, about where the "T" is. It really picks up every little touch on the guitar, hand sliding on the neck and so on, so I need to play around with trying to isolate/insulate that a bit to lose a bit of the sensitivity and focus on the strings. I think I am going to hollow a little dip out of the through neck and mount the piezo right under the strings to see if that helps, also may add foam back to help isolate sound . Would love any tips on this.
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