D Schubert wrote:I tried the blend knob (piezo and magnetic) setup on several resonator guitars, and the two pickup types do not like each other, do not blend well electronically. Ended up with two separate volume knobs and a tone knob for the magnetic, two separate 1/4" jacks. Mix externally with two-channel amp or mini-mixer.
This seems like a good solution, but I don't like the idea of 2 jacks. It seems tricky to make the blend knob work effectively, The Parker Fly mentioned earlier seems to have figured out a solution, but I can't find any specifics about the wiring. I found a number of great threads on this subject on upright bass, mandolin, ukulele and jazz guitar forums. Many discussion , very few schematics and diagrams. I like simple and cheap. Most of these solutions seem to get a bit complicated and expensive. I am confidant there is a way to achieve what I am after, but probably going to take some experimentation. My expectations are pretty low for my first attempt.
I was with Ken a lot when he was developing the Fly and Larry Fishman was designing the pickups in coordination with Ken. They had individual piezo pickups mounted in each saddle—it was a work of art. I never really checked out the Fly once they went into production, as I had only seen them in their development/prototype stage.
I was with Ken a lot when he was developing the Fly and Larry Fishman was designing the pickups in coordination with Ken. They had individual piezo pickups mounted in each saddle—it was a work of art. I never really checked out the Fly once they went into production, as I had only seen them in their development/prototype stage.
Thanks for the link! That is quite a lot to absorb. It is obvious they put in an enormous amount of time in developing these. I am not sure it would fall into my desire to keep it simple, but I think these are a great reference. I love the hand drawn diagrams. It gets you closer to the geniuses behind the instruments. Works of art.
Looking through these again the NiteFly Mojo wiring looks pretty simple. Uses a 5831 chip as a preamp it seems. One tone, one volume and a 3 way selector switch. One input. I could simplify it further by eliminating the bridge pickup. The 5831 chip seems unavailable unfortunately, but I am sure there is a replacement. This could be it though!
A mess of wires, but this is a flexible little wiring harness that would make easy work of the job. Even has an xlr output! https://www.ebay.com/itm/285025915364
