Acoustic Wooden Stompbox

[K.Boxingham]

Not really a bass question, I know, but I hope someone might be able to give me some quick advice. I am going to make a solid timber stompbox - the type that you would tap your foot on to give a bass type rhythm, which I will plug into my amp when... "gasp" ... I play my acoustic 6 string, because my band has just broken up and I don't have a new one to play bass in...anyway, it's a long and sad story.

So, my plan is this. I will cut off a slice of hardwood that I have in the shed. I am heading to the Sunshine Coast tomorrow and I am planning on going into Jaycar or Dick Smiths to get a 6.5 mm female plug and (this is the bit I need help with) a microphone (maybe a tie clip type as it is small), OR, do I get a guitar pickup, like a single coil off a strat and connect it? WOULD THIS WORK BETTER THAN A LITTLE MIC?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Have a Happy New Year punters!

Knuckles Boxingham

 

[AndyPathosis]

I'd stick with a microphone. I don't know if a guitar pickup would work for a stompbox, stick with the microphone.

 

[Nev375]

I think most of them use a piezo pickup like those ones that just silicone on the inside of cheap acoustics. Probably 10 or 15 bucks from your local radio shack.

 

[praisegig]

I've built a stompbox as a trigger for different addition to an electronic drum set. I built hollow boxes, added a piezo disc as the pickup, soldered to a output jack. The setup can be plugged into an amp. I'm sure you will have to build the box to fit your foot and be comfortable stomping to you. Experimenting part of the fun. There are all kinds of info on Google for wooden stomp boxes, for reference.

I bought this type of disc from eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/10-Piezo-Disc-C...049?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c13fd32f9

Here is a simple stomp box video

 

[Sam Hain]

I made a kickazz stomp box for 10$ USD.

Go to a cigar shop and get the biggest box you can. Then go to your local electronic store (My Aussie wife says there's a place called Jaycar that's similar to the US's Radio Shack) and 1/4" input jack and a round piezo pick up. Drill a hole for the jack and glue or screw the piezo in. Add bumpers to the bottom and your done.

Like I said mine came out great and only cost me $10 usd.

 

[bassbenj]

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-Piezo-Disc-Cigar-Box-Guitar-Pickup-Drum-Trigger-15mm-/120594445049?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c13fd32f9[/url]

Here is a simple stomp box video


I bought one of these. It truly sucks for some reason. But I can describe how it works. It has a strat style pickup in there. There is a layer of rubber over the top of the pickups (it's a dual humbucker type) with a steel plate glued to that which is attached to the wood. Hence when you stomp the wood the plate and pickup separate and vibrate and make a really nice thump that reproduces well in an amp. Bad news is my Rondo pedal hums like MAD and I've been unable to fix it. I think the problem is in the pickup design somehow. And even worse, in spite of being magnetic it still has a preamp in there and takes a battery! Duh.

Another method would be to mount a small speaker on the wood. It will work in reverse like a microphone. Only problem is that usually speakers are low impedance (8 ohms etc.) so you need a transformer to raise it up. And old tube radio output transformer would do the job. This won't take batteries like the Fishman and also will sound great.

But I've pretty much given up on this quick and dirty stuff. My current plan is to get a lot of piezo buzzers. Use the elements to trigger one of my DM5s with multiple pedals or a single board with multiple sections. That way I can program various kinds of drum sounds on the various triggers. No buffers needed to use piezos as just triggers.

By the way, I have used a standard Bass drum pedal and e-drum trigger too. (I also play drums) Perfect sound. But WAY too complex. Big pedal is way overkill for just foot tapping. Plus it's sort of prone to coming loose and looks hideous as well. About the only thing I still use is my bass drumb pedal with the tambourine on it (not electronic) or the cowbell (more cowbell!) or the claves. But those are all pure acoustic.

Hence the electronic trigger idea to have ALL those instruments on ONE pedal!

That's what I know. Basically, what is needed is a bunch of trial and error experiments here. Right. Fun stuff!

 

[K.Boxingham]

Thanks for the feedback guys - you're awesome. I will see what bits and pieces I can get today. Might take me a couple of days to get back, but I will post my results when I have some worthy of talking about.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! WHOOOOT