Hm, the link is still wrong, goes to the picture, not the datasheet. Can you correct, please?
It's a very cute thing!
It's a very cute thing!
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so I got a piezo buzzer from Radio Shack...
- Thread starter RyanHelms
- Start date
Have any of you tried "piezo cable"?
I bought a metre of this stuff for about 30 dollars.
I used it to make a pickup for a resonator guitar (round the cone).
A commercial pickup (using the same cable!) would be about 200 dollars or more!
It strikes me you would only need a few inches of this stuff to make an excellent under bridge or soundboard pick up.
http://www.ormal.co.uk/
I bought a metre of this stuff for about 30 dollars.
I used it to make a pickup for a resonator guitar (round the cone).
A commercial pickup (using the same cable!) would be about 200 dollars or more!
It strikes me you would only need a few inches of this stuff to make an excellent under bridge or soundboard pick up.
http://www.ormal.co.uk/
Invalid Link Removed and copy and paste this part# MSP1006-ND and click "search" to get to the product page, then you can click to the datasheet from there.
Dang, that DigiKey website is finicky when it comes to links and such....
edit
Paul A, that's something I absolutely have to check out, thanks for the link!
Maybe the mods could give this "sticky" consideration?
"The DIY piezo thread"?
Dang, that DigiKey website is finicky when it comes to links and such....
edit
Paul A, that's something I absolutely have to check out, thanks for the link!
Maybe the mods could give this "sticky" consideration?
"The DIY piezo thread"?
Did anyone here ever build the J. Donald Tillman FET preamp referenced earlier in this thread??
http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/
Sounds like a good solution for the impedance matching issue, and I have been wanting to build an onboard preamp/buffer for years.
http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/
Sounds like a good solution for the impedance matching issue, and I have been wanting to build an onboard preamp/buffer for years.
Yep, to use as a buffer to prevent treble loss. The circuit behaves great, adds presence and a touch of gain to your tone without noticable coloration.
I found that in order to get the piezo's volume to match your magnetic output, there needs to a gain of around 10. If my understanding is correct, Don's circuit provides a gain factor of 3. (should be Rcollector/Remitter = Gain. xyllion, you still here?)
My solution used a dual opamp with seperate buffer and gain stage, I don't if it's better practice to buffer and add gain seperately, or in the same block...
I found that in order to get the piezo's volume to match your magnetic output, there needs to a gain of around 10. If my understanding is correct, Don's circuit provides a gain factor of 3. (should be Rcollector/Remitter = Gain. xyllion, you still here?)
My solution used a dual opamp with seperate buffer and gain stage, I don't if it's better practice to buffer and add gain seperately, or in the same block...
Those would be the drain and source resistors, not emitter and colector as this is a FET circuit. Any way the gain of this circuit will be different with different fet's, a quick sim shows a 2n3819 at -3db.
Generally it's best to do all of your gain early on with one stage for lowest noise.
Generally it's best to do all of your gain early on with one stage for lowest noise.
came home from work to day ready the frist page of post all most craped my self. ran down the street to radio shack. came home and 20 mins latter i got a picup for my home made eub. thank u guys. i was going to buy a piezo pickup soon but i wasnt sure if it would work. i wasnt sur eif it would work with my bridge. well know i knwo it will. thank u guys so much.
Tim_X - Right you are, drain/source, not collector/emitter. How embarrassing 
I had just been glancing at a page on transistor theory and was in NPN mode...
-3dB for a 2N3819 eh? I know Don Tillman's JFET design gets +3db with a J201 just from reading the notes on his website. (I'm not up on the math yet, myself)
How did ya hook it up warwickben? Straight to a jack or are you using a preamp? Any feedback issues?
-Ryan
I had just been glancing at a page on transistor theory and was in NPN mode...-3dB for a 2N3819 eh? I know Don Tillman's JFET design gets +3db with a J201 just from reading the notes on his website. (I'm not up on the math yet, myself)
So you'ld want to bring the piezo output up, then lower the impedance? Or would the gain stage naturally take care of the Z?Tim_X said:
How did ya hook it up warwickben? Straight to a jack or are you using a preamp? Any feedback issues?
-Ryan
stright to a jack no preamp there is feedback.only if iam faceing the amp and i dotn turn the highs down. i got a piezo tranducer from radio shack for 3.99 the buzzer was more money. i tried doing it with both but i broke the buzzer lol. i wasnt sure if a piezo pickup would work with my bridge. i plan on buying a good pickup now. if u wnana see pics im me on monky119
So what exactly would I need to do if I wanted to install this on a P-bass copy?
Put it under the bridge and bolt the bridge on top of it? Wouldn't this crush the piezo element?
I would need to install a blend knob. How would I wire that?
Put it under the bridge and bolt the bridge on top of it? Wouldn't this crush the piezo element?
I would need to install a blend knob. How would I wire that?
RyanHelms said:IIRC it was the 273-079 for $1.99
Regardless, make sure you get a two wire buzzer and one that doesn't
have the "buzzer driver circuit" included since you'll be using just the disc.
So does it matter which of the many size Radio Shack piezo buzzers you try? Is the $2.99 smaller one better than the $9.99 larger one?
Also, has anyone tried experimenting with a Radio Shack PZM microphone and attaching that somewhere on/in the body of the bass?
Is there any way to attach a piezo buzzer as a pickup to something other than a bass guitar, like say a tuba. I'm doing a little experiment for school. It doesen't have to sound great, just has to work.
Well, I tried making a pickup out of a piezo buzzer for a tuba and guess what?
It worked!
Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, just not very loud. Is there anyway to make it active or boost the signal before it goes to the amp?
It worked!
Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, just not very loud. Is there anyway to make it active or boost the signal before it goes to the amp?
I've got a Lightwave with a piezo. Rarely play the bass and when I did I didn't use the piezo much at first but would add a tad toward the last few sessions. It has a piezo underneath the monoliths (saddles) of each string.
When I first noticed this thread I didn't pay any attention to it cause the piezo thing didn't interest me. Kept seeing the hits increase and kept meaning to skim through it and finally got around to it.
Some interesting stuff, espcially the URB aspect cause I defretted a bass a few months back and acoustically it had some quality URB tones I liked but any mag pup I threw in it would not cop the sound. I thought maybe a microphone would be the way to go but seemed they were fairly pricey for something to be experimenting around with. Then I missed the bass fretted and refretted it.
A peizo never crossed my mind. Doesn't suprise me that something cheap like that could hang with a quality pup though cause it happens. And I've never tried a piezo with a mag pup but looks like something to look into.
Good thread.
When I first noticed this thread I didn't pay any attention to it cause the piezo thing didn't interest me. Kept seeing the hits increase and kept meaning to skim through it and finally got around to it.
Some interesting stuff, espcially the URB aspect cause I defretted a bass a few months back and acoustically it had some quality URB tones I liked but any mag pup I threw in it would not cop the sound. I thought maybe a microphone would be the way to go but seemed they were fairly pricey for something to be experimenting around with. Then I missed the bass fretted and refretted it.
A peizo never crossed my mind. Doesn't suprise me that something cheap like that could hang with a quality pup though cause it happens. And I've never tried a piezo with a mag pup but looks like something to look into.
Good thread.
If anybody is still strying these, All Electronics sells piezo buzzers that are about .5" in diameter and cost about $0.90. I tried them yesterday and to me they sound better than the radio shack buzzers. I need a preamp, though. I think I'm gonna use the MIMF piezo preamp (has a magnetic blend built in, although I'm not gonna use mags on this bass).
cods said:
A piezo is a crystal. It has electrical qualities. Put current into it, and it vibrates...conversely, you put vibrations into it, and current comes out.
In other words; much like a speaker, it also works in reverse as a mic.
