T. Hallenbeck: Projects: Electric Cello 4 (Page 8)

thallenbeck.com :: Projects :: Electric Cello #4

March 31, 2008: Tailpiece, bridge, transducer, again

This is the tailpiece after I applied a blackener solution. I use a room-temperature gel called Tool-Black made by somebody named Precision Brand. The stuff is kind of expensive so I have to be judicious about how I use it. I figured this was worth it. After applying the blackener, I wiped the tailpiece down with a rust sealant.

Taipiece, brand-spankin'-new transducer, and brand-spankin'-new bridge. This transducer uses a Neutrik 1/4-inch phono jack and also has a ground wire because the Neutrik jack has a plastic (not metal) casing. I shielded the jack with copper foil tape just like the piezo end. Since the jack's shielding makes contact with both the jack's ground terminal and the tailpiece, the ground wire isn't really necessary, but I thought it would be good to have in case the shielding gets munched. Eventually, I'll replace the alligator clip on the end of the ground wire with something less unsightly.

Another view of the tailpiece/transducer/bridge assembly. I had to move the piezo tab around for about an hour to find the best position for it. Placement is very important for a piezo pickup - moving it a couple of millimeters can radically alter the signal it sends to an amplifier. Between the ebony piece and the body, under the D and A strings, the response is strong and even all across all four strings. Beats me why that's the sweet spot, but anything piezo-related is funny that way.

This bridge is probably too thick and I may swap it out with something better in the future... but it seems to work and I'll keep it for now to see how it goes.

I made the bridge a two-piece assembly (maple upper, ebony lower) to maxmize the number of possible positions for the piezo film tab, which can be positioned between the ebony piece and the body, or somewhere between the upper and lower pieces, which are not glued together. The ebony piece has feet to reduce interaction with the body, and is notched on the top of both short sides to allow the piezo tab to be inserted parallel to the bridge, if necessary, without damage to the contact plugs at the end of the tab.

The bridge assembly is not glued or fastened to the body in any way - it's held in place only by the tension of the strings. For bowed strings and mandolin-style instruments, that's how you want it. Fixing the bridge in place would be bad because it would prevent any adjustments for intonation (unless the bridge were to have moveable string mounts, like a Gibson Les Paul bridge).

Since I wound up placing the piezo tab under the foot of the lower piece, I didn't really need to make the bridge a two-piece mousetrap. But I'm glad I did, because I learned a lot about how (not) to do it next time.