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My Secret for getting quality sound out of Disk Piezo pickups.

One of the hardest things it seems is to effectively shield your wiring & solder joints. I found that liberally coating your disks & solder joints with this stuff is the quickest and easiest way. It's surprisingly cheap and goes a long way.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick "Mik" Moretti on February 4, 2014 at 10:34am

G. S., are you dipping the disc, or just coating the exposed back after you attach it?

Permalink Reply by G.S.Monroe on February 4, 2014 at 11:00am

After I solder the harness, I dip the disks to completely coat them. The stuff works well as an adhesive and rubberized shielding. After I put the harness into place I add a second coat overall, and hit all the exposed solder connections.

Permalink Reply by Rick "Mik" Moretti on February 4, 2014 at 11:02am

Thanks much. I'll be picking me up some plastic dip.

Permalink Reply by Dave Lynas on February 4, 2014 at 3:41pm

Thanks for the tip. Would you coat a pot with this stuff, capacitors?

Permalink Reply by G.S.Monroe on February 4, 2014 at 4:20pm

Yes, I cover the outside casing, but I'm careful about not getting any of it inside the pot. I certainly do not recommend dipping a pot in this stuff, just cover what is necessary to avoid shorting out the wiring.

Permalink Reply by David McQueen on February 4, 2014 at 3:57pm

Ok...I can see where you are insulating with this so nothng will short out. I don't see it as actually shielding though. That needs something that stops electromagnetic fields from getting to your components, typically a grounded metal cage or covering of some sort.

Permalink Reply by G.S.Monroe on February 4, 2014 at 4:17pm

What I mean by shielding is it suppresses ambient vibrations and feedback loops. Piezo Transducers are not affected by electromagnetism like magnetic pickups are. To shield a piezo you need electric and sonic insulation.

Permalink Reply by David McQueen on February 5, 2014 at 12:01am

Ok. Now I know. I was using different terms. Sheilding for electrical and damping for acoustic control. I dipped a piezo for use on a standard acoustic guitar. It worked very well. Now I know why.

Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on February 4, 2014 at 4:13pm