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ricdoug
`Olu`olu
USA
513 Posts |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
 Posted - 01/13/2009 : 05:51:36 AM
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I've used this method and it works. BUT, the resulting sound quality is somewhat unpredictable. The piezo buzzers are very "hot" volume-wise and sometimes you get too much sound from just touching the strings. It's all about the placement and the method of attachment (type of glue, putty or tape) to the underside of the soundboard.
Jesse Tinsley |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 08:17:22 AM
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| Heck, if you really want to save money, just tie a string between two tin cans.... |
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ricdoug
`Olu`olu
USA
513 Posts |
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ricdoug
`Olu`olu
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 09:50:57 AM
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Dave, from Waverly Street ukes has an easier method. He's a luthier and does this with his own creations. He does not even remove the piezo buzzer from it's plastic sase. I posted a question to him on another board, as to noise introduced by not using shielded cable. Here's Dave's photo tutorial:
http://www.wsukes.com/electric/electric.html
Here's video of the uke being played amplified:
http://www.wsukes.com/electric/piezodemo.wmv |
It's easier to ask for forgiveness, than permission! |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 3:08:21 PM
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quote:
I've had several ask me how to make their $30 buck to $50 buck ukulele electric and the $100 buck to $500 buck options just don't make sense. This does.
No worries... I shoulda stuck a smiley on there to let ya know I was kidding around.
The Radio Shack hack has been around for years, and, yes, it is an acceptable DYI solution. Once in a while they even sound pretty... much like any other peizo pick-up.
I'm afraid it does beg the question, tho-- does anybody want to hear an amplified $30 ukulele???
OK, now I'm in real trouble.
I use to do school programs with instruments made out of recycled stuff: bleach bottle banjos, cardboard guitars, etc. One trick I did to get the kid's attention: I played my card board diddly box..
then I stuck on a pickup (a John Pearse stick on-- John probaly used Radio shack elements...) and played it through a fuzz tone... all the kids sat up and took notice.
cheap tricks R us.
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 3:23:11 PM
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I once had to do inspection at a company that made piezo electric crystals for ultrasound transducers and also for ionizing radiation dection devices (x-rays). They grew crystals out of one grain of the classified mineral. One grain! It was the most amazing demonstration of science I have ever seen. Pure. Purer than pure. Very controlled environment and very controlled cooling of the crystal in order for it to remain one crystal. Thats all I can say or I might go to federal prison. I just wonder what kind of pick-ups one pure crystal would make.
But, yes, please use shielded cable. I hate bzzzz.
Sometimes it is just fun to try to do things without spending an arm and a leg. It makes for creativity. Almost like Miffbusters.
The best way is to take something that would be thrown away and figure a way to recycle it into something completely different. Good science and good for the environment. We throw away a lot of stuff. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 3:27:12 PM
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| PS: Also pretty darn cool is titanium from which turbine fan blades are made -- the cooling rate of the titanium is controlled so slowly that the fan blades are made of only one grain of titanium each, so no worry about intergranular oxidation or any problems with oxidation or fracture at the grain boundaries. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 4:31:57 PM
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| No, I get GERD. You left out the "R" |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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ricdoug
`Olu`olu
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2009 : 9:48:39 PM
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I hot rodded a painted dolphin bridge Makala today. I bought 7
Piezo Transducers and 8 1/4" phone jacks (they come in packs
of 2) to hot rod 6 ukes. I soldered the leads of the first one to a
jack and played around with it on various positions on the tops
of my guitars and ukes, playing through a small Kramer 10
combo amp. I drove over to Giacoletti Music in Carlsbad and
gave it to Roy Goode with a copy of Dave's (Waverly Street Ukes)
instructions that I printed out. Roy took a uke off the wall and
played it through a Roland Microcube while I held the pickup on
several positions on the top of the uke. One of Roy's employees
has a gig with his band coming up this weekend and he had not
entertained the thought to put a pickup in his baritone, as he did
not justify the expense of the electronics in his uke. Roy's going
to mount this pickup jig in that baritone for his employee. They
get a lot of requests from customers to put pickups in their ukes,
but the customers don't want to spring the scratch to double,
triple or quadruple the cost of their uke.
Here's the materials (I need a camera with a macro setting next
time I replace it):
First I soldered the pickup leads to the jack. The knife was used
to clean the tip of my old soldering gun. I can already tell I'm not
a fan of lead free rosin core solder. It does not make nice
concave fillets like 60/40 lead/tin solder, but the connections
read out zero ohms on the multimeter:
Next I placed the pickup on top of the uke and strummed it to
make sure it worked properly:
Now I picked the spot for mounting the jack and reamed that
hole out first with a lockblade knife. After that I started using
drill bits turning them only with my fingers one size at a time,
until the jack fit nicely. I don't remember the exact bit size that
worked, but it was one size shy of 3/8". I hand turned the drill bits
in small increments so as not to split the wood:
Then I loosened the strings on the uke and Scotch Taped them out
of the way and put the 1/4" diameter wooden dowell into the jack
snugly. Then I applied Scotch double sided foam mounting tape to
the side of the transducer that had the part number on it (this tape
is so strong that it can only be removed with a putty knife!):
I pressed the pickup firmly underneath the bridge between the G and
C string, as I had determined this the best position while testing.
Slowly pulled the wooden dowell through the hole and tightened the
jack with its bolt while leaving the dowell inserted for restance to the
tightening:
Complete success! I tuned the uke and plugged it into the amp and
started jamming. It produces a warm and sweet tone:
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It's easier to ask for forgiveness, than permission! |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 01:26:08 AM
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Mobettah to use eutectic solder- 63/37 and paste or liquid flux. The eutectic goes directly from solid to liquid and has a lower melting point and consequently less potential for heat damage to the components. You will get better dihedral angle of wetting but the joint must be scrupulously clean -- use alcohol on a cotton swab to clean everything that you are going to solder. Make sure the solder iron is properly tinned and way mo bettah if you tin your wires or whatever else you are going to solder. But not too much, because you do not want the solder to wick up underneath the insulation. We always used solder pots to tin the wires. Clean the flux off after tinning with alcohol on a cotton swab. Prior to soldering, apply a wee bit of flux, heat the joint and apply the solder. If the soldered joint indicates a fillet that is not concave, the joint was not clean or the joint was not hot enough to get proper solder flow. But that is one mammer jammer soldering iron you used. Mobettah use a pencil type soldering iron for electronic components.
When you are pau soldering, clean the tip of the soldering iron by wiping it on a gauze sponge (can be slightly damp) and applyiing a goodly amount of solder before storing the iron. Then next time, you heat the iron and wipe off the dirty oxidized solder, but the tip of the iron will be nice and clean. But still go through the tinning of the tip every time you solder.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Clean the flux off. Don't make me come over there.
And re removing the foam tape - in scrapbooking stores or craft stores there is Un-Du brand sticker remover. It comes with a little plastic tool, also. Put a few drops of the liquid stuff and you should be able to remove whatever glued thing you got. If it sticks still, you can use the plastic tool thing to scrape it off. It will not hurt paper, photos so should not hurt the finish of your instrument.
I admire your creativity. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 06:31:20 AM
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Sometimes you've not got the money to spend on high end equipment. Your options are your options, y'know?
For many years, when I was a struggling musician with no day job, I used a cheap piezo mounted into a beer bottle cap with my (also cheap) mandolin. It sounded better than on a guitar, (higher range - not disimilar to a uke, really) but it still sounded a bit lousy. Thin, weedy - anyone who's used a piezo will know what I mean. However, when I used it with an (also cheap) battery powered pre-amp, it sounded ten times better. Also, there was a better signal to the PA, and a bit of tone control on the pre-amp as well. I'd definitely recommend people try this if they go down the piezo road. |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 08:37:25 AM
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Thanks for the step by step. I think you made it clear enough so most anyone could do it.
Just for completeness, here's the John Pearse pickup I mentioned previously: http://www.jpstrings.com/braccess.htm#Pickup
Yeah, it's more than $10 bucks... but I charge more than that for my time. 
And I whole-heartedly endorse Trev's comment about a pre-amp for a piezo pickup.
Happy soldering. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 5:26:13 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark
Thanks for the step by step. I think you made it clear enough so most anyone could do it.
Just for completeness, here's the John Pearse pickup I mentioned previously: http://www.jpstrings.com/braccess.htm#Pickup
Yeah, it's more than $10 bucks... but I charge more than that for my time.
And I whole-heartedly endorse Trev's comment about a pre-amp for a piezo pickup.
Happy soldering.
Eh, Mark - I've had a Barcus-Berry piezo in my D-18 since 1978, no preamp, and it works fine, still. What am I missing here? |
keaka |
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ricdoug
`Olu`olu
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 8:35:56 PM
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While a preamp's not required, Keaka, it really does help balance the tone of a piezo. Piezo pickups have serious rolloff of frequency response as is shown in graphs on the M.I.T. page. Even the best of piezo pickups don't have marked improvement over the generic piezo's. A properly compensated preamp flattens the frequency response, giving a sound that's closer to the natural tone of the instrument. My post just shows a cheap way to "get 'er done!". It sounds good, but a preamp makes sound more natural and less "electric" Ric:
http://web.mit.edu/kumpf/www/Acoustics/main.html
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It's easier to ask for forgiveness, than permission! |
Edited by - ricdoug on 01/14/2009 8:37:02 PM |
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