Acoustic Guitar Diy Piezo Pickups

In this Instructable i will show you how to take an acoustic guitar and add one or more piezos to it so you can hook it up to an amplifier. 

Step 1 Items Needed

-1 or more piezos (you can find them at radioshack but you need to get the piezo out of the plastic case.)
-Tape (I used masking tape but you can use any tape)
-Guitar Cable Spliced on one end
-Acoustic Guitar
-Amplifier 

Comments

[sconner1]

allelectronics.com usually has piezo elements for cheap and not in a plasic case.
I don't work for them, I just get parts from them sometimes.
I've made piezo contact mics the same way. hook the piezo to a 1/4" plug with shielded cable and plug into an active direct box.
Great to suppliment a piano mic on the soundboard to add some twinkle to your mix.

[tlzaz]

I used a undersaddle pickup. I routed a groove in a strip of oak just deep enough for the top of the pickup to be slightly higher than the wood(I drilled a hole in the groove for the wire to pass through). and glued and clamped a flat piece of oak of the same size to the bottom piece. giving the pickup the compression it needs to work. and then I just wired it to a jack and glued the wooden "pickup" inside the guitar onto the soundboard directly under where the saddle rides. Works alone or with a pre amp. Actually sounds darn good.

[Steve Dallman]

Actually, polarity should be followed as out of phase piezos will cause strange cancellations. I've found the best place for the piezos is on the bridge plate, on each side of the plate. Inside the guitar is good.

Tack type poster putty, the blue or yellow kind, works good to attach these.

[RetroTechno]

Who knows…"strange cancellations" might be interesting if using several pickups. Since this setup is easy to rewire, it might be worth playing around with it.

[rbneville]

Ah thanks for the comment. I didn't think about wave interference while using multiple piezo's. If your using only a single piezo it doesn't matter.

[sconner1]

It's always good to keep everything in phase. Especially if recording or playing gigs with monitors.

[sdallman]

The brass disk attached to the piezo provides a ground plane and is best used for connecting the ground to. The hot should go to the piezo material. This is the common and accepted practice.

[zazenergy]

Fun and easy!

[rbneville]

Thanks, Glad you liked it :)