Chuck Remington Says:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 @4:28:19 PM

good version, I like your clawhammer style.
Paul

darryl k. Says:
Monday, June 2, 2008 @9:57:51 AM

you're doing some nice picking there.  What kind of piezo pick up is that, and where / how did you mount it ?  Sounds pretty good.

darryl

mattn Says:
Monday, June 2, 2008 @11:15:39 AM

Hey Darryl --- Here's how I built the pickup. I got the idea from somewhere on the internet, I think from a guitar mailing list. The main element is the piezo disc usually used for buzzers. I got one at Radio Shack (look for Piezo buzzer or even better, Piezo transducer which has less electronics to take off of it) for about $3. Get the plastic casing off and unsolder the two wires going to the disc, then solder some speaker cable where the wires used to be. The ceramic is really delicate and will crack with too much heat, so this part is a little hit or miss. I probably screw up 30% of the pickups I try to make, but at $3 for the piezo it isn't too painful. The other end of the speaker cable gets soldered to a 1/4 inch jack, and you are ready to go! I put a wad of epoxy putty on the back of the piezo disc after the wires are attached, fixing the wires in place. If you don't do this, the ceramic layer will probably flake off and break after a while from little motions of the wires. After that dries, I use contact cement to glue the pickup onto the back of the head, about an inch past the bridge. The speaker cable gets wrapped around the dowel stick and stuck in place with electrical tape. Better would be to drill through the rim and install a jack on the bottom side, but I haven't done that yet. If you look in my "Banjer lineup" photo album, you can see one of these pickups on the Gold Tone and another on the longneck (this was before I made one for the fretless).

mattn Says:
Monday, June 2, 2008 @11:28:17 AM

Forgot to add: the reason why I use contact cement is so that the pickup can be removed from the head. It stays put, but can be pulled up later using a knife to pry it up. Even on a skin head banjo you can remove the pickup without a problem.