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Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?
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Author:  rlrhett [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

I am so not an electric guitar guy, that I realized I don't know what to do with the darn plug on the thing!

So someone suggested I wire the SBT piezo and a floating magnetic pickup to a single stereo jack on the guitar. OK. Sounds super cool! So now what? [headinwall] idunno

The only amps I've ever owned have a single mono input. Where and how to I mix the signal to send it to an amp?

I know this must seem colossally stupid to most of you. But I just don't have much experience in the whole amp/electric world.

Author:  SteveCourtright [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

While I am no expert, I think these two pups produce very different signals. You can't just gang them together and hope for the best.

Here are some resources I found:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/top ... ic-pickups

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/show ... ic-pickups

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/show ... Mag-Pickup

Good luck

Author:  Freeman [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 4:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

What Steve says - they are very different and you really don't want to try to combine them on the guitar so your idea of a stereo (two output) jack is the way to go. You plug a split cable into that - there are lots of options but it has a stereo plug (guitar) and two mono plugs. Each mono plug goes to one channel of an amp or to two different amps or possibly to a two channel preamp. You can also have some effects in one or the other channel. Basically you are bringing both signals out thru one hole in the guitar and going to two amps (or inputs)

Most of the time people are looking for a more or less "electric" guitar sound with the magnetic pickup and an "acoustic" sound from the piezo - you may want to even consider an acoustic amp or DI.

We built a LP Jr style of guitar for my son with two humbuckers wired in the usual LP fashion and a piezo for the second channel. He comes out of the guitar with a stereo cable to what is called an A/B box which simply lets him select one or the other or both. There are two cables out of the A/B to two channels of his amp (which is fairly common). He runs the piezo to the clean channel and the 'buckers to the one with effects. When he sets the gain so both are equivalent he can switch from "electric" sound to acoustic by just tapping his foot.

Image

Author:  rlrhett [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

OK, I've been told I either need a fancy preamp, a fancy amp, or one of these:

http://saturnworkspedals.com/product/su ... xer-pedal/

and the splitter cable.

Author:  Freeman [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

rlrhett wrote:
OK, I've been told I either need a fancy preamp, a fancy amp, or one of these:

http://saturnworkspedals.com/product/su ... xer-pedal/

and the splitter cable.


I'm not sure you need that thing. My son uses a 50 dollar box with two stomp switches. You could make your own for ten.

The problem is that you need two input to your amp or preamp so you can diddle with each signal to get it to sound the best (and right volume). The other option is to simply play one pickup at a time - plug that cable in, then switch to the other.

Author:  rlrhett [ Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

???

That thing I linked to is under $30 and has two volume knobs to get the mix just right.

I could probably DIY that too, but $20 for someone else to wire up and source the bits seems reasonable to me.

I would probably feed the piezo to an acoustic preamp and the magnetic signal straight. Balance the signals with that little mix pedal. Then a single mono out to the amp.

IDK. Seems exactly what you are suggesting. Maybe I gave the wrong link?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Author:  SteveCourtright [ Fri Jun 30, 2017 12:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

"I would probably feed the piezo to an acoustic preamp and the magnetic signal straight."

That sounds right to me. The string's vibration induce a voltage in the coils of the magnetic pickup that is of a much larger value than the signals produced by the piezoelectric effect. My experience with piezos is small but I think they all (?) come with or require a preamp to raise the value of the signal such that it can be input to a common guitar amp, obviously not required with a magnetic pup.

It seems like it would not be tricky to have an onboard preamp for the piezo with a volume control and run the (volume controlled) output of the magnetic pickups and the output of the preamp and run the combined (mixed) signal to a mono jack.

Author:  Freeman [ Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Two pickups wired to a stereo plug, then what?

rlrhett wrote:
???

That thing I linked to is under $30 and has two volume knobs to get the mix just right.

I could probably DIY that too, but $20 for someone else to wire up and source the bits seems reasonable to me.

I would probably feed the piezo to an acoustic preamp and the magnetic signal straight. Balance the signals with that little mix pedal. Then a single mono out to the amp.

IDK. Seems exactly what you are suggesting. Maybe I gave the wrong link?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sorry, it looked like they were $19 to 127 and the one that popped up was $76. The thing my kid uses is simply one stereo input, two mono output and a switch to turn each one on or off (happen to be stomp switches). It may have a cap across the switch to kill the pop when you switch it on or off.

His idea was to have one or the other - to eliminate having both an acoustic and electric guitar on stage and dealing with muting one and unplugging it. I don't know if he ever did blend the two signals. He does have some effects in the electric side, I don't think anything in the "acoustic".

Edit to add, there is a discussion at the other lutherie forum about this problem, you might want to chime in and ask about his cables and wiring

http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5115

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