Piezo pickup

[Heft]

I'd like to add a piezo pickup to my telecaster. Is it possible to do this with just one pot that dials in the signal and maybe a separate toggle to turn on/off a preamp?
Thanks,
Heft

 

[mayfly]

Anything is possible. I don't know of any electronics out there that is ready made for that, but it would not be much work to put together a PCB with a FET style preamp for that Piezo with a sub-mini toggle to activate it. Should be able to fit it on a standard telecaster control plate with the extra knob / switch in the middle between the original volume and tone. To make sure the new piezo volume control would not interfere with the original tone/vol I would use one of those 9mm pots that just have a black plastic shaft and use that as is.

Would have to find a different place for the battery mind you...

 

[Heft]

Was looking at this pre amp, https://www.emgpickups.com/guitar/pa2.html is there anything special for a wiring diagram? I don't know what it would look like.

 

[mayfly]

Well that thing is cute! A couple of issues that I see off the bat:
1 - piezo pickups require a high impedance load, like 1M plus. Not sure what the input impedance is on that little guy, but might be higher than you expect.
2 - are you planning on running the piezo directly into that guy then into the pickup selector switch? That might work well (at least the low impedance of the volume / tone of the telecaster won't cause tone suck), and I see it's got a little trim-pot for adjusting the level. Might work out....

 

[Heft]

I'd rather keep it off the pickup selector and stick with a 3-way selector. I'll look into the impedance of the preamp.

 

[Rick]

Doesn't that Canadian company that makes TUSQ saddles do a strat piezo?

 

[Heft]

They do. I have one of their piezos on my other tele. I don't want to use that one again because they require a specific pre amp and have really complicated wiring. I would stay away from the Graphtec ghost system. IMO it sounds great but is a hassle to get working, I also want to use the pre amp by itself to drive an amp. The Graphtec doesn't do that.

 

[TBurst Std]

Before you start thinking preamps, think about your signal downstream. Are you planning on separate mag and piezo sends, some switch into a single send, or a pot to dial in the sends.
I have 2 piezo guitars, had a 3rd I traded.
First consider your amplifier streams, that will narrow down you pre amp selection.

 

[Heft]

It would be the pot that dials in the piezo. Like a blend if possible.

 

[mayfly]

It would be the pot that dials in the piezo. Like a blend if possible.

So a blend between the Piezo and the magnetic pickups? That's disabled (back to stock) when you flick the switch?

That's doable, we'd have to design and make it ourselves I think. BTW, I have done a PCB that fits under a tele control plate to do a switchable boost with a third knob to control the amount. This is not the same thing, but it's in the same wheelhouse...

 

[Heft]

So a blend between the Piezo and the magnetic pickups? That's disabled (back to stock) when you flick the switch?

That's doable, we'd have to design and make it ourselves I think. BTW, I have done a PCB that fits under a tele control plate to do a switchable boost with a third knob to control the amount. This is not the same thing, but it's in the same wheelhouse...

No. I'd like a blend when I turn up the dial. When I dial back to 0 its back to stock.
When I hit the switch it kicks in the preamp to boost the signal. The preamp could function independently I think. I really just want the diagram to dial in a pickup. I checked and the preamp has 500k input impedance and 2k output. So it may not work.

 

[stratamania]

I don't think the EMG PA2 would be suitable for Piezos as it is designed as a boost for Active or Passive mag pickups.

Perhaps something like a a Fishman Powerchip may be closer to, or what you are looking for.

Fishman | Powerchip

www.fishman.com

 

[Heft]

that looks perfect!

 

[TBurst Std]

Still thing about your outs. Also a piezo without a preamp is pretty meaningless. Also think about onboard EQ for the piezo as it will want something different than the mags.

 

[Rick]

Yep, the piezo gits i've used have a pre-amp, and on board eq. I have no idea how they're wired. Like driving a car, I just know it works.

 

[stratamania]

that looks perfect!

It is designed for use with the Fishman Powerbridges (which have Piezo in them). It may work with others but I cannot say for sure.