Dig this new travel vibe with custom pickups :-)

Great R&D! Well done! Congratulations, Steve! Thanks for sharing!

Barry

Hello Steve,

I would like to add a few issues to your very good information on building the piezo unit yourself:

The use of a plastic cable management system is only recommended if you always leave the bars on the frame for transport. If the bars are removed more often, a more stable aluminum U-profile (25 mm x 25 mm x 1.5 mm) is recommended. Simple holes are then drilled into it to accommodate the audio jacks. If the ground contact is placed on the U-profile, no further shielding is required.

I have not had good experiences with the audio jacks you use. If the plugs are removed frequently, contact problems occur over time because the main contact is only pressed against the pin on one side. The more expensive jack from Tensility International Coorp. 839-1410-ND (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/tensility-international-corp…) has a two-sided contact and is therefore better.

After soldering the audio jacks I spray construction foam into the U-profile so that the cables are silently fixed in it.

Very interesting I find your tip with the Behringer MX400. Since in my suitcase folding frames the two piezo strips are each divided, I can merge the 4 strips to one output. There I would then add a logarithmic poti as a common volume control from the instrument. I definitely have to test this.

Thank you very much.
Paul