View showing how the movable bridge pieces are held in place and the positioning of the height adjustable saddle. The tread on the saddle is very fine (80tpi) for fine adjustment. The saddle is made to lean back slightly to give a better break angle for the strings. The wood under the bridge is coloured black to blend in with the colour of the box. This design allows the strings to be terminated at the tail (unlike most other adjustable designs) but could easily be modified to terminate the strings at the bridge if that was preferred.
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Yes. The bridges are ebony. The piezos are cut so as to fit them into quite a small space. I used fairly sharp scissors. I didn't cut into the piezo surface, but you can do apparently. There are people here who have actually cut them into strips and soldered wires to the strips that were cut off. Two (or more) for the price of one - can't be bad. The thing to be careful about is not to bend the piezo material much. If you do it may come away from the brass a bit and that ruins the sound (actually it might improve the sound for some who like the really harsh buzzy sound).
Doug. The saddles were not exactly screws. They are adapted from the eyes that are used on violin and viola bows. If you imagine studding with a rectangular block on one end with a threaded hole running though. I turned part of the block off (including the bit with the hole). Then I filed a V section for the strings (deeper for the larger strings). The advantage of using these (I was originally going to use small brass cheese head screws) was that I had taps and dies to cut them to a light interference fit so that there is no play in them. If you use standard screws and tap the hole they will normally have some slack and they can wobble back and forth, which didn't seem like a great idea.
Brickdust. I thought you were talking about me for a moment.
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Hi Kevin.
Yes. The bridges are ebony. The piezos are cut so as to fit them into quite a small space. I used fairly sharp scissors. I didn't cut into the piezo surface, but you can do apparently. There are people here who have actually cut them into strips and soldered wires to the strips that were cut off. Two (or more) for the price of one - can't be bad. The thing to be careful about is not to bend the piezo material much. If you do it may come away from the brass a bit and that ruins the sound (actually it might improve the sound for some who like the really harsh buzzy sound).
Hi Doug, Godzilla and Brickdust.
Doug. The saddles were not exactly screws. They are adapted from the eyes that are used on violin and viola bows. If you imagine studding with a rectangular block on one end with a threaded hole running though. I turned part of the block off (including the bit with the hole). Then I filed a V section for the strings (deeper for the larger strings). The advantage of using these (I was originally going to use small brass cheese head screws) was that I had taps and dies to cut them to a light interference fit so that there is no play in them. If you use standard screws and tap the hole they will normally have some slack and they can wobble back and forth, which didn't seem like a great idea.
Brickdust. I thought you were talking about me for a moment.
John
Outstanding design. Where did you get the screws for the adjustable saddles?
Doug