A Piezo on a Precison without hacking about... can it be done?

wateroftyne · #1 08-15-2008, 03:42 AM

Hi all

I have a beautiful '71 Precision, and I'm toying with the idea of adding a piezo to it. However, I'm reluctant to dig any holes in it! Can it be done?

I notice Ghost do saddles and complete bridges which look like they might do the job. Would a buffer preamp fit in the control cavity?

Also, I was thinking of keeping it two knobs only - vol & blend - so I dodn't have to drill the pickguard. Would that work?

Is this an impossible mission?

Thanks!

Georynn · #2 08-15-2008, 08:38 AM

I've look at doing something similar for a while, and I've found that you absolutely need a buffer to make it sound good. ( check out post #21 here... great sound samples! link )
I would think you could replace the volume with a stacked volume/volume knob without much modification, and have enough room for a 9v preamp with a buffer in the control cavity.

wateroftyne · #3 08-15-2008, 12:30 PM

Cheers, Georynn!

Hmm.. this is very tempting...

62bass · #4 08-15-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wateroftyne

Hi all

I have a beautiful '71 Precision, and I'm toying with the idea of adding a piezo to it. However, I'm reluctant to dig any holes in it! Can it be done?

I notice Ghost do saddles and complete bridges which look like they might do the job. Would a buffer preamp fit in the control cavity?

Also, I was thinking of keeping it two knobs only - vol & blend - so I dodn't have to drill the pickguard. Would that work?

Is this an impossible mission?

Thanks!

Shadow used to make a retro fit Fender style bridge with piezos imbedded in each saddle. It had a little buffer preamp and mixer in a tiny belt mounted box with a 9 volt battery. I went through 3 of them before giving up in disgust. The first one I returned because the intonation screws were cross threaded. The second one the E and A string piezo crystals failed, actually cracked and fell out as soon as I changed strings, which was a couple days after buying it. The third one the same thing happened within hours of installation. At this point my local music store and the Canadian distributor refused to replace them any more. Nor would they refund my money. I no longer will deal with that store or buy another piezo bridge or anything made by Shadow. I can understand if it had been caused by my misuse but it wasn't. Just a shoddy product.

Too bad as I was able to get one or two good sounds from the unit. The best was mostly magnetic with a bit of piezo added. All piezo was too harsh and over the top and sounded like Jaco on acid.

I understand that that was a Shadow and that was over 15 years ago and hopefully these things have improved some. I imagine they have as there are a couple companies making them now. In fact, my entire post probably should not influence you one bit. I just get angry every time I think of piezo bridges. I'm sure there are a couple companies making them that have integrity.

wateroftyne · #5 08-16-2008, 02:46 AM

Cheers, all!

Hmm... the battery is going to be the tricky bit. I've emailed the Ghost people. I'll see what they say.

PilbaraBass · #6 08-16-2008, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wateroftyne

Cheers, all!

Hmm... the battery is going to be the tricky bit. I've emailed the Ghost people. I'll see what they say.

for batteries you could opt to use a sandwich of those wafer batteries....

you may have to change them more often and at a slightly greater cost...but they'd probably help the space problem.

m.oreilly · #7 08-16-2008, 09:44 AM

the ghost system on a fretless is a must for me. it's been awhile since i had the P, but i recollect mounting an early model active system w/switch, battery and rather large module without issue (i think it was a '72?). that said, you could use the fishman pot/buffer, battery and stack a vol/tone. you would need to do a bit of under bridge channeling, not much, but some, though i see you use an ashtray, so you could just enlarge the ground wire channel, and route the saddle leads through a hole made in the bridge base (use an after market p bridge, so as not to alter your original.

i mounted ghost saddles in my fretless thumb, along w/the fishman, and am very pleased with the results. i would give the ghost people a call, as they are really helpful, and might be able to offer some invaluable guidance with this.

ps: you might also be able to fit the ghost buffer in there if the fishman pot looks to be too long. the ghost bass buffer will make it much easier to connect everything up. i personally went w/the fishman buffer because it was cheaper

SBassman · #8 08-16-2008, 09:48 AM

How about this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Electric-Bass-Br...d=p3286.c0.m14

with an external pre-amp?

m.oreilly · #9 08-16-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SBassman

How about this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Electric-Bass-Br...d=p3286.c0.m14

with an external pre-amp?

i've seen those around, i wonder what they sound like/how they hold up? cheap as chips, that is. i'd opt for an on board buffer, as it can get kinda noisy, and doing a passive blend of bridge and mags is not the most optimal in sound/signal quality.

fender_mod · #10 08-16-2008, 01:23 PM

you could go with the piezo bridge, fishman pot/preamp, and then a stacked vol/tone for your passive pups. though im not sure if you would have enough room in your control cavity for a stacked pot and battery, ill bet just the width of the cavity isnt enough for a larger stacked pot.

if you did have room i think this would be the way to to; no mods, everything would fit nicely in place and if you use the ashtray cover no one would see the different bridge keeping everything real vintage looking. and if you didnt like the sound you could completely reverse everything as long as you kept your original hardware.

wateroftyne · #11 08-17-2008, 06:23 AM

Wow... lots of great suggestions here.

I'll do a bit more research and speak to the Ghost people. I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks, everyone!

wateroftyne · #12 08-17-2008, 06:47 AM

Hmmm...

I've just looked into it a little further and I'm wondering where I would put the connector block. The FAQs on the Graphtech site suggest it's put in a cavity under the bridge. presumably that is something I would have to route out...

Saetia · #13 08-17-2008, 07:08 AM

IMO if you have to route I wouldn't, I mean you said it yourself "I have a beautiful '71 Precision," leave it a beauty.

If you can get away without routing then uber rad!

But again, if you have to route, what about getting a MIM P body and thowing the '71 parts on it? Minimal investment and you save the historic integrity and financial liquid solventness of the original '71 that you can just put back together.

-Benny

SBassman · #14 08-17-2008, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saetia

IMO if you have to route I wouldn't, I mean you said it yourself "I have a beautiful '71 Precision," leave it a beauty.

If you can get away without routing then uber rad!

But again, if you have to route, what about getting a MIM P body and thowing the '71 parts on it? Minimal investment and you save the historic integrity and financial liquid solventness of the original '71 that you can just put back together.

-Benny

+1. This is a good excuse to just get another P to mod and do this work to.

Georynn · #15 08-18-2008, 01:27 PM

I have to agree with the above post...

DavePlaysBass · #16 08-18-2008, 10:13 PM

The 50's P is a great bass. You should buy one and hack away.