making piezo pickups for acoustic instruments, held on with magnets

[GalenH]

I have no suggestions.....but had to see what an Oud was/is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oud
Interesting instrument and wish I could hear an example!

Bri

Check out Anouar Brahem, the astounding eyes of rita, for some of my favorite playing

 

[GalenH]

I don’t know what you mean, the Shadow Tripleducer I showed is “completely removable” and “requires no modification to the instrument”.
The white putty comes of very easily and leaves no marks on the instrument.

I use this with many different musicians and different instruments all the time

You use a DI Box for that.
Connect the unbalanced Hi-Z signal from the piezo to the DI Box, and the it converts the signal to Balanced Microphone Level

re balancing, I was talking to terry setter regarding using a fet mic circuit.
As for the white putty, it has been my experience that over time the putty can leave marks on finishes. A piezo element attached with magnets on either side of the soundboard would have zero risk of that, plus I could take it off and on easily without dealing with putty losing its stickiness.

It really is done, I posted a link to a company making them, I was simply asking on this forum how I could make such a magnetic piezo pickup, which I am pretty clear on at this point, thanks to some others helping.

I am trying to make it clear that what you are suggesting is something i am well aware of the existence of but is not what I am looking to make, but rather I am wanting to make something slightly different.

 

[GalenH]

Most of

I don’t know what you mean, the Shadow Tripleducer I showed is “completely removable” and “requires no modification to the instrument”.
The white putty comes of very easily and leaves no marks on the instrument.

I use this with many different musicians and different instruments all the time

most of the time I don't need a pickup, so I would just attach it for shows I need high gain before feedback and leave it off the rest of the time. Can you see how a magnetic attachment would work more effectively for this particular purpose?


Here is a link i posted earlier showing a product that works the same. This is what I am working on making.
https://www.123sound.jp/enindex/pro...HnvwfDK-qEuRBRAlvUh0xuW3okL1vDh4tIRixEkDBJEyY

 

[Whoops]

Can you see how a magnetic attachment would work more effectively for this particular purpose?

Honestly,
No, I can't.

I've been using the Ehrlund pickup and the Shadow tripleducer for years with their own adhesive putty and it never left any mark on any instrument, sometimes I work with people with 200 years old Double-bass or Cellos that are highly valuable instruments, so couldn't risk at all leaving a mark of them, the putty supplied is safe.

Anyway, far from me trying to divert you from your goal and motivation,
do whatever you feel it's better for you.

Good luck with the build, have fun, and show us photos after

Best Regards

 

[terry setter]

Isn't the output of a piezo element unbalanced? how would you balance it?

Yes. It's unbalanced. The circuit I'd send you is the guts of a phantom powered MXL microphone. The piezo goes to the FET input, just like the capsule of a condenser mic would. The circuit is a pseudo-Schoeps design that creates a balanced, low impdeance output. Using a direct box will not load the piezo with nearly as high an input impedance as they like to see (compared to a FET).

 

[GalenH]

Honestly,
No, I can't.

I've been using the Ehrlund pickup and the Shadow tripleducer for years with their own adhesive putty and it never left any mark on any instrument, sometimes I work with people with 200 years old Double-bass or Cellos that are highly valuable instruments, so couldn't risk at all leaving a mark of them, the putty supplied is safe.

Anyway, far from me trying to divert you from your goal and motivation,
do whatever you feel it's better for you.

Good luck with the build, have fun, and show us photos after

Best Regards

sorry for my grumpiness, I understand you are not seeing how what I am looking to do would work better for me. I got a bit grumpy because I simply came here seeking guidance on building a very particular thing and you continued to suggest I just do something else. I understand what you are suggesting could work better, as I have a guitar with piezo pickup installed under the bridge. It's alright, anyway, don't mean to be rude.

 

[GalenH]

Honestly,
No, I can't.

I've been using the Ehrlund pickup and the Shadow tripleducer for years with their own adhesive putty and it never left any mark on any instrument, sometimes I work with people with 200 years old Double-bass or Cellos that are highly valuable instruments, so couldn't risk at all leaving a mark of them, the putty supplied is safe.

Anyway, far from me trying to divert you from your goal and motivation,
do whatever you feel it's better for you.

Good luck with the build, have fun, and show us photos after

Best Regards

on another note, I did look up the ehrlund contact mic pickup system, and though it's more than I'm looking to spend right now, the reviews are compelling, so thank you for mentioning it.

 

[Whoops]

Using a direct box will not load the piezo with nearly as high an input impedance as they like to see (compared to a FET).

That's not completely correct,
although the most common input impedance on Active DI boxes is 1M, there's plenty of DI boxes with 5M to 10M input impedance which is perfect for Piezo pickups, I always use those for Piezo's.

Some small list (there's many more):
- Countryman Type 85 (10Mega)
- Radial PZ-DI (10Mega)
- Radial Stagebug SB-4 (5Mega)
- Canford Active DI Box 20-041 (10Mega)
- Phoenix NiceDI (10Mega)
- Avenson Audio IsoDI (10Mega)

But the circuit you talked about is for sure useful and if it works well then no DI box at all is needed

 

[terry setter]

Whoops, you're quite correct. I should have specified what type of circuit and input impedance a direct box presents before dissing the idea. There are now so many designs available...