Closer Control of a Piezoelectric Pickup for Double Bass

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Introduction

  • Hi! I am tsaphririm, based in Berlin, Germany

  • I usually play Klezmer, East European Folk and Jazz

  • My instrument is a double bass, model Eminence – which needs amplification to play along with louder instruments

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Lesson

  • Double bass is often amplfied using a Piezoelectric sensor, which is…

  • “…a device that uses the piezoelectric effect, to measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain, or force by converting them to an electrical charge'' (source: Wikipedia)

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Lesson

  • The voltage V at the source is directly proportional to the applied force, pressure, or strain

  • It converts the vibration of the top (and body) of the instrument to an electrical signal

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“SchemaPiezo” by Tizeff - Template:Ownnn. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

Lesson

In my case: I use the David Gage The Realist Bass Copperhead (upper picture):

  • it is installed under the bridge and the top of the instrument (lower picture left, black arrow)

  • output is an analog electric signal, through a common instrument connector (lower picture right, red arrow)

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Lesson

  • Very good quality, price is OK

  • Small “problem”: there is no volume control, also no on/off switch

    • not very comfortable for a pause, (re-)tuning the instrument while on stage, pluging/unpluging, or similar
    • the output is VERY high – this may be surprising for some technicians and make life difficult sometimes

  • A practical solution: a combined on/off switch, volume and cable

Lesson

  • I found a ready solution in a music shop of Berlin:

    • A good quality cable
    • A “volume'' control, which on the lowest position also switches the signal off

  • Following slide contains a video showing its working with my instrument

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Lesson

Reflection

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