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How to get rid of highs from ETS piezos & Noll electronics?

T

teppotyrvainen

Oct 18, 2004
20
0
61
Finland, Toijala
#1
Hello,

I have an almost ready 5-string fretless bass project with one Bartolini pickup and MK05 piezo bridge by ETS. I have following active electronics by Noll Electronics:

- PA 5/1 for the piezos
- Mixpot2 to blend the piezos and magnetic signal
- TCM 3 (bass,mid,treble) for both signals.

My problem is that the piezo sound amplified with that electronics is very, very trebly. If I keep EQ flat, all small movements from fingering hand (even a small vibrato!) cause terrible high noise (10.000Hz?) which should not be there. Also there seems to be some distortion.

The piezo sound as it is currently is not usable by any means - not blended with magnetic nor at it's own.

Are there some common reasons or wrong configurations / connections that cause this kind of sound (grounding was suggested in some earlier threads)?

At least the suppliers (ETS & Noll) seem to be well respected in TB community (and they are not the cheapest) so I wouldn't blame them in the first place.

I guess strings shouldn't affect too much this high piezo sound, but I have Thomastk Infeld flatwounds attached through the body.

Thanks for any advice!

-T-
 
#2
sounds like an impedance issue: is the TCM 3 set to handle the blended signals? i'm not familiar w/ the buffer(?) you're using, or the "mixpot2": the buffers i've knowledge of usually combine the mag out (after tone circuit/any eq) with the straight piezo signal.
 
#3
PA 5/1 is a pre-amp for 5 piezos. Each one is wired separately and has own volume adjustment. There is no tone control. This is designed for usage between the piezos and mixer so I suppose there shouldn't be any impedance issues. (?)

MixPot2 is a mixer designed for blending two signals: Invalid Link Removed

One signal comes from magnetic Bartolini and the other from PA 5/1. TCM 3 pre-amp is then between MixPot2 and output.
Electronics is driven with 18 volts (!).

This combination seems good "on a paper" but there must be something wrong because the piezo sound is so horrible.

-T-
 
#4
My problem is that the piezo sound amplified with that electronics is very, very trebly. If I keep EQ flat, all small movements from fingering hand (even a small vibrato!) cause terrible high noise (10.000Hz?) which should not be there. Also there seems to be some distortion.
Click to expand...

PA 5/1 is a pre-amp for 5 piezos. Each one is wired separately and has own volume adjustment. There is no tone control. This is designed for usage between the piezos and mixer so I suppose there shouldn't be any impedance issues. (?)
Click to expand...

This is just a guess, but it is something to try. How does it sound if all the volumes on the PA5/1 are set between 30 to 50%? It seems to me you have too much gain on the piezo channel (Piezos can give really high voltage peaks compared to a magnetic pickup)
 
#8
DavidMP said:
This is just a guess, but it is something to try. How does it sound if all the volumes on the PA5/1 are set between 30 to 50%? It seems to me you have too much gain on the piezo channel (Piezos can give really high voltage peaks compared to a magnetic pickup)
Click to expand...

I have earlier tried different combinations of volume levels on PA5/1 and on the MixPot2 but have not found good combination. Anyway I have not done it so systemically - I will try again with your approach.

-T-
 
#9
m.oreilly said:
do you guys have a link to the PA 5/1 specs?
Click to expand...

I have at least instructions on paper (somewhere). Need to clean up my shop to find those :hmm: .

m.oreilly said:
teppotyrvainen, looks like you do need to run the mag through the bart pre before connecting to the mixpot. the mixpot output is intended to terminate at your output jack.
Click to expand...

The system was prewired (without ETS-piezos) when I got it from Noll. I suppose they know (?) how to interface those. Of cause I might have damaged some wire joint or even some component in the fitting process. I guess I need to take a loup and inspect all parts before continuing.

-T-
 

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