Piezo pickup for electric bass?

Electricblue · #1 06-22-2011, 05:33 AM

Ok, I'm itching to experiment with new tones for some reason, would a Piezo pickup sound good? I put one on my acoustic guitar, it sounded good until I got a ****-ton of feedback.

Anyone tried one of these?

Bass-Adrenaline · #2 06-22-2011, 07:27 AM

Thats not the type of piezo you want for a bass. Id do a search here on talkbass since this has been asked by a ton of people (including myself). Graphtech, RMC, and others make piezo pickups. Youll also need a buffer/preamp as well.

DanSwain · #3 06-22-2011, 01:05 PM

I too have been interested in this approach, and am working on finishing off a Bass I'm building that's piezo only.

For the bridge, I'm using an allparts ABM-style bridge with piezo saddles, and then that will be coupled with the mint box buffer to get the right impedance signal to my amplifier.

Using the piezo buzzer type of transducer doesn't really work that well on a solid body instrument (at least in my experience), as there's little or no resonance for it to capture. I'd agree with Bass-Adrenaline - the results from Graphtec and RMC are pretty impressive!

I've got a thread that is (slowly) going in the Luthier's Corner, so feel free to follow it!

The diary of a procrastinator's second DIY Bass

Also, check out some of the work by Tom Clement, a luthier who makes good use of piezo 'pickups' in his Basses.

Hope that helps!

Dan

**line6man** · #4 06-22-2011, 01:27 PM

Yeah, I really don't see a piezo buzzer element working well on a solid body instrument. People put those on acoustic basses and guitars, but an acoustic instrument is quite a bit different from an electric. You would get much better results with proper piezo saddles.

Electricblue · #5 06-22-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

Yeah, I really don't see a piezo buzzer element working well on a solid body instrument. People put those on acoustic basses and guitars, but an acoustic instrument is quite a bit different from an electric. You would get much better results with proper piezo saddles.

Fair enough, I did think about the solid body vs hollow body thing. I guess the acoustic's body is meant to vibrate a lot, so would give better results...

mozarwasagenius · #6 06-22-2011, 05:48 PM

I have a Musicman Bongo with a piezo bridge. I can (and always do) blend piezo signal with magnetic pickup signal. The piezo adds an "air", "punch" and "zing" that the magnetic pickups just don't possess. The only downside is that my technique has to be cleaned up as ending a righthand downstroke on an adjacent string comes through LOUD and clear now.

I *highly* recommend a piezo option on a Bongo bass. I couldn't live without it. In fact, given a choice I would run piezo only before I would run magnetic pickup only. It sounds that good. Plus the piezo allows me to get more life out of strings. As they die I blend in more piezo zing.

YMMV

chuck norriss · #7 07-05-2011, 10:45 AM

thanks moz-genius
ever see one of these?--
4 String Gold Piezo Bass Bridge + screws and wrench - eBay (item 290457262765 end time Jul-19-11 00:53:46 PDT)
Is this similar to wwhat you have on your bongo? I'm intrigued. If it's only a matter of replacing the bridge & one soldering one wire, I'm in.
I asked the seller if it comes with wiring instructions. Haven't heard back yet.

chuck norriss · #8 07-05-2011, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanSwain

I too have been interested in this approach, and am working on finishing off a Bass I'm building that's piezo only.

For the bridge, I'm using an allparts ABM-style bridge with piezo saddles, and then that will be coupled with the mint box buffer to get the right impedance signal to my amplifier.

Using the piezo buzzer type of transducer doesn't really work that well on a solid body instrument (at least in my experience), as there's little or no resonance for it to capture. I'd agree with Bass-Adrenaline - the results from Graphtec and RMC are pretty impressive!

I've got a thread that is (slowly) going in the Luthier's Corner, so feel free to follow it!

The diary of a procrastinator's second DIY Bass

Also, check out some of the work by Tom Clement, a luthier who makes good use of piezo 'pickups' in his Basses.

Hope that helps!

Dan

do you think bridges with piezo-saddles aren't worth it/getting into?