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A speaker as a cbg pickup?

There is a post on low budget land that you can use a speaker as a cbg pickup....kinda like a peizo.....is there someone here on the nation tha is doing this? And if so, could they post some pics. Thanks. Do they sound better the peizo's?

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on January 26, 2010 at 2:50am

YEP! I used a speaker (real speaker, not piezo) from one of those musical greeting cards. You know, the kind where when you open it up, it plays music, sounds, etc. Worked really well. Had to use a preamp (minty amp) but it did work. Take a look at my pics on my page. Below is an earlier pic of my Oliva with the speaker installed on the neck.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Jerryrig240 on January 26, 2010 at 2:55am

Would a old computer speaker work for this? I have like 4 computer speakers siting around, and more speakers to choose from in other places. So, do I just mount this speaker where it can touch the box, as in, face downl, or face up on the lid. Oooooo......I am geting idea's now....I bet I could do a two speaker set up with the small computer speakers, Once facing the lid and the other facing down on the back of the box.....you could make a switch and shut one of, and the other one on, or either or.....man, I could get in trouble with all of this info.... as for as a mini amp, could I just run the speaker in the box by itself and use my pedal to boost the signal?

Wes Yates said:

YEP! I used a speaker (real speaker, not piezo) from one of those musical greeting cards. You know, the kind where when you open it up, it plays music, sounds, etc. Worked really well. Had to use a preamp (minty amp) but it did work.

Take a look at my pics on my page.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on January 26, 2010 at 3:05am

I would say so, but they would be awfully large. Plus the feedback -- ooooof.

Here's an idea. Use one of those card speakers as the 'mic' and use the other speakers as amp speakers mounted in another CB. Use a preamp/amp circuit to drive it. That way you can use the speakers you have.

Sure you could put the preamp in a pedal, but you might lose signal from the guit to the pedal. The speakers might be low impedance thus may lose signal over distance. I would put the preamp in the box -- it's about 1.5"x1", then run it to an effect pedal or other amp.

-WY

Jerryrig240 said:

Would a old computer speaker work for this? I have like 4 computer speakers siting around, and more speakers to choose from in other places. So, do I just mount this speaker where it can touch the box, as in, face downl, or face up on the lid. Oooooo......I am geting idea's now....I bet I could do a two speaker set up with the small computer speakers, Once facing the lid and the other facing down on the back of the box.....you could make a switch and shut one of, and the other one on, or either or.....man, I could get in trouble with all of this info.... as for as a mini amp, could I just run the speaker in the box by itself and use my pedal to boost the signal?
Wes Yates said:
YEP! I used a speaker (real speaker, not piezo) from one of those musical greeting cards. You know, the kind where when you open it up, it plays music, sounds, etc. Worked really well. Had to use a preamp (minty amp) but it did work.

Take a look at my pics on my page.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Jerryrig240 on January 26, 2010 at 4:09am

As of now in a test phase, I just hooked up a old computer speaker to a jack and hooked it into my zoom 2 peda, and it's really loud, it kinda has a lot of bass, but nothing I can not work with. I have a smaller speaker I am geting ready to try, it would fit better in a box.....I am thinking if I guess this all said and done I might do a dual source system, one my transducer pickup and two a speaker. I am thinking of adding a switch to power on and off what I want when I want. That will give me a different spectrum of sound. If I get the bugs worked out, I might add the speaker to my cbg, "The Wanderer", there is plenty of room in there for a speaker I would say.

Wes Yates said:

I would say so, but they would be awfully large. Plus the feedback -- ooooof.

Here's an idea. Use one of those card speakers as the 'mic' and use the other speakers as amp speakers mounted in another CB. Use a preamp/amp circuit to drive it. That way you can use the speakers you have.

Sure you could put the preamp in a pedal, but you might lose signal from the guit to the pedal. The speakers might be low impedance thus may lose signal over distance. I would put the preamp in the box -- it's about 1.5"x1", then run it to an effect pedal or other amp.

-WY

Jerryrig240 said:
Would a old computer speaker work for this? I have like 4 computer speakers siting around, and more speakers to choose from in other places. So, do I just mount this speaker where it can touch the box, as in, face downl, or face up on the lid. Oooooo......I am geting idea's now....I bet I could do a two speaker set up with the small computer speakers, Once facing the lid and the other facing down on the back of the box.....you could make a switch and shut one of, and the other one on, or either or.....man, I could get in trouble with all of this info.... as for as a mini amp, could I just run the speaker in the box by itself and use my pedal to boost the signal?
Wes Yates said:
YEP! I used a speaker (real speaker, not piezo) from one of those musical greeting cards. You know, the kind where when you open it up, it plays music, sounds, etc. Worked really well. Had to use a preamp (minty amp) but it did work.

Take a look at my pics on my page.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Jerryrig240 on January 27, 2010 at 1:15pm

I just did a test with some pretty good results....someone has most likley all ready have done this, but I have been working on a diddley bow for a while now. I had most of it done the other day, just no electronics set up on it yet. Well, it's made of a 2x4 with a string.....I was going to use a homemade pickup on it, but I had a comptuer speaker I have been messing with and I screwed it dirictley on the bottom of the 2x4 facing upside down, so the speaker is facing the board and I hooked it up to a 1/4 inch jack to test it and it sounds really good......it does get some mean feed back on the real dirty seting on my zoom pedal, but turn down the gain a bit and it sounds really well....so, with this said....how could I get the squeal out of this design? I think this sounds way better then a peizo though, not as much feed back, it's a cleaner sound.....more like a pickup.

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Permalink Reply by W.M. Peterson on February 9, 2010 at 10:49pm

Hey ! the buzzer from any alarmclock works just fine for a CBG and I used it also for a stompbox.
A tweeter-speaker works the best i believe if you're talking 'bout speakers.
Well, that's my experience.

Grtz and Cheerz. Werner.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Pistilli on May 6, 2019 at 6:07am

I was looking to use a speaker for a pickup for a stompbox! Great to hear you've done it. Any issues or tricks I would need to know about? how and where did you mount it?