Making An Electric Violin Part 13 Making The Pickup

[@ajbrown]

I'd like to hear a blend of mag/piezo.

[@picksalot1]

Piezo Pickups are very bright. EQ is pretty much a necessity to tame their harsh high frequencies. Putting the Piezo Pickups inside the Violin under the soundboard would probably produce a better tone/more even and balanced tone, and a more elegant solution, though it would require an access cavity and cover. In my tests with Piezo Pickups, one Pickup works better than multiple Pickups, as there is no chance of phase cancellation. A electric pickup under the strings is going to get covered in Bow Rosin, and can't be used with Gut and other non-metal/magnetic strings.

[@HighlineGuitars]

What great information. I never thought about the rosin depositing on the humbucker, but I think you're right. The suggestion regarding phase cancellation makes sense. I wondered why so many piezo options for acoustic instruments include 3 pickups. After reading your comment, I can't help but wonder if phase cancellation might be happening with my set up. Time for more testing!

[@HandlebarWorkshops]

I liked the pickup better than either of the two piezo positions. The piezo options sounded very screechy and the pickup was more mellow and more pleasant to listen to. But I guess some EQ-ing could fix that. Otherwise I thought the piezo pickups on the back sounded better than on the front. Edited to add: And that is exactly what you said! I guess I should have waited until the end.

[@viberge]

Piezo on front make more clear and bright sound as single coil, humbucker make more mid-high frequensies, sounds more friendly and happy. Backside too boxy.

[@violinhemanth]

supper. sir. thank you

[@turquoiseturkey6710]

This makes me want a violin with active emg pickups

[@sgt.grinch3299]

With my bad hearing it all sounded very similar to me. Sorry that I’m no help as usual. I’m 17 hours late, family business to take care of.

[@dalgguitars]

That new PU winder looks fantastic!

[@jacobdantzer4996]

what if the pole pieces stood tall up past the strings but closer to the fingerboard to stay out of the way of the bow? i think your humbucker had the most natural sound.

[@dalgguitars]

I would think that the pole pieces could be much, much closer to the strings than a guitar because there is only bowing. But this is truly uncharted territory.

[@timbeaton5045]

The Piezos sounded rather distorted, but all piezos need to see a high impedance input (anywhere from 1 to 5 M ohms). I have made several impedance buffers for my piezo violin pickups, and they all made my amplified violin sound much better. Better bass, and meant i could easily tailor the top end to my personal taste. Difficult for me to tell also how they sound comparatively speaking, without hearing someone who can actually play the violin! No disrespect intended. I would love to try out this instrument, but alas, as I live in France, i guess this is impractical!

[@Arwndr]

For me the best sound would be when both piezo and humbacker pickups blended together ✨🌿☀️

[@HighlineGuitars]

I tried it. Yuck.

[@Arwndr]

​@@HighlineGuitars Interesting )

[@jpjay1584]

I saw some gradually add 10% Piezo (up to 30ish%) to the Humbucker. @@HighlineGuitars same as tone and volume on a guitar. (0 or 100is not always optimal)

[@owenmayes2128]

Please be aware that resin is highly toxic if you breath it in, so ideally you should wet-sand it or at least wear a mask, then damp-down and vacuum clean any resin dust.

[@willhoren9200]

I've been playing guitar 25 years, and never liked piezo pickups. I preferred your humbucker.

[@EatScrabbleGoo]

For when you test the sounds: You should get someone who knows how to play violin if you are going to test how well the pickups are. Bow stroke is very important for tone. Take a look at the Schelleng diagram. There's a sweet spot for bow strokes that isn't wispy or raucous. Also, piezo pickups on the bridge are notorious for favoring sharp treble-y sound. Virtually all violinists use a preamp, especially for piezo pickups.

[@HighlineGuitars]

I don’t know anyone who plays violin.

[@EatScrabbleGoo]

​@@HighlineGuitars Reach out to your local orchestra. I bet a violinist would be willing to play it for you! I cannot recommend that enough for the sake of getting a realistic tone out of the violin. I think it would be a great testament to those who are weary of magnetic pickups on a violin!

[@UseTheForceUke-tj7fl]

Hey Chris, Thanks for another great video! Always a pleasure to watch your craftsmanship in action. Just wondering - as an ex school orchestra amateur violin player - will the resin dust from the bow get into the pickup? Will that cause any longterm problems?

[@HighlineGuitars]

🤷‍♂️

[@UseTheForceUke-tj7fl]

@@HighlineGuitars I guess they can carry a small dustbuster vac

[@theluthiersapprentice3309]

Did you consider an acoustic guitar under the bridge piezo pickup mounted under the violin bridge? Possibly with a specially designed violin bridge where the base of the bridge is continuous rather than with "feet" at each end. Impressive build. Cheers an Well done!

[@HighlineGuitars]

Yes, I did consider that, but I felt it would be more work than it would be worth.

[@argi0774]

The coils of the pickup are too far away from the strings

[@kdakan]

Can you recommend good pickups for an acoustic guitar? I don't like piezzos on the acoustic guitar, they sound sharp.

[@harveyd_5-11under]

Does your violin use regular strings, as far as material goes?

[@HighlineGuitars]

They are steel strings.

[@harveyd_5-11under]

@@HighlineGuitars I'm guessing that's abnormal?

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@harveyd_5-11under They are readily available as an option. Violin strings can be made from natural and synthetic materials as well as steel. It all depends on what the violinist wants for their tone and volume. I chose steel core strings to maximise their presence to the humbucker's magnetic field. Natural (gut) or synthetic (plastic) core strings would not have yielded results with a magnetic coil pickup. However, any type of core works with piezo pickups.

[@cockysonuvaB]

Somewhere, Jimmy Page is rolling over in his grave...