Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Korrigan on April 1, 2018 at 3:32pm

The closer to the strings the better, directly under the saddle being the best. Consider getting a preamp, they make a world of difference and can be found for less than $20 nowadays.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Cezanne on April 3, 2018 at 1:12pm

I've done it directly under the saddle, I'm happy, but I wonder, like Korrigan said, if I should have added a pre-amp. I was unable to get it to work with old-radio-amp and I think signal strength was the issue.

The sound is great, but I've got a great amp (Vox Mini modeling) and that helps a lot.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Korrigan on April 3, 2018 at 2:08pm

I've only tried one rod piezo so I'm no expert but I've read that rods can have have less output than disks so a preamp is recommended. The preamp I bought came with a rod piezo so that's what I used but I didn't think to try it with and without the preamp.

Another thing to know is that the saddle and rod should be perfectly parallel, touching each other along their entire length and no glue in between. Also the slot for the saddle needs to be wide enough that it's not keeping the saddle suspended, hovering over the piezo, i.e the full tension of the strings needs to be transferred, through the saddle, to the rod.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 3, 2018 at 3:38pm

I usually make a wood saddle with a slot deep enough and wide enough to accomodate the rod, with a hole out the bottom for the wire, topped by 3" common nail trimmed down to match the length of the rod - with enough clearance at the top to provide good pressure from your strings.

• ▶ Reply