Cheap Contact mics?

[Bunnyboy]

okay this is kinda aping Whyterabbyt, but here goes.

I cannot - cannot - play the guitar at all. Four years of lessons made me realise that i cannot play chords

But anyway, I still have my old kiddy acoustic in posession for some reason.

So in the spirit of MBV and the Mary Chain, I though "hell i'll record it into my laptop using 1000s of effects and see what it sounds like!!"

I dont have a pre-amp but i can borrow my mates pre-amp USB soundcard to record. However, instead of using a normal mic, i fancy using those sucktion-cup mics you can get - but where? I cannot find out what they are correctly called, so cannot search. I guess they will sell them in town, but will be more expensive than online. Plus i want a couple or maybe four - stick them in places on the body and mix them down.

So, can you still buy them, what are they actually called, and is this madness or a fairly okay idea

[whyterabbyt]

Basic cheap piezo contacts...

http://www.knowledgeofbugs.co.uk/bugbra ... orsale.htm

Lots of transducers and mics and associated bits

http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/cartmics.htm

[Bunnyboy]

Basic cheap piezo contacts...

http://www.knowledgeofbugs.co.uk/bugbra ... orsale.htm

Lots of transducers and mics and associated bits

http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/cartmics.htm

Thank you very much just what i was looking for!!!

[whyterabbyt]

No problem.

[respirator]

Make them yourself. It's really easy. Use computer piezo speakers or even piezo speakers from old ear plugs. Solder an jam away!

[dystonia_ek]

Clock radio piezos work really well too.
What you need to use depends a lot on what sort of dynamic/frequency range you want to capture. I use cheap/homemade contact mics for certain things, but for others it's expensive classical instrument piezos all the way.

[respirator]

...I use cheap/homemade contact mics for certain things, but for others it's expensive classical instrument piezos all the way.

Where do you use the expensive piezos? And how? And which? And perhaps even Why?

[dystonia_ek]

I use Fishman classical instrument piezos for any metal/glass/ceramic/stone amplification that doesn't involve heavy distortion, as well as for any acoustic stringed instruments. I have two of these mics, paid about $80 CDN each, but the sound is amazingly clear. Looking to get a cello bridge pickup for use with an instrument I'm building presently.

[rockstar_not]

For all the money and sweat and tears you might expend in making your own, you might want to look into some purposely made contact pickups for your acoustic. K+K are well-loved contact pickups and will not set you back too much.

http://www.kksound.com/findpickup.html

Everything there from relativley inexpensive contact only setups to 'blender' systems. I think that you can try installing the contact mics on the TOP of the guitar,down by where the bridge is located, using some of that '3M pull-away when you want to' stickem stuff. If that doesn't work, you can try using bees-wax to mount them temporarily, and that won't ruin the finish on your axe.

-Scott