araspadecia Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hello everyone, This is my first post here. I'm asking around to see what the community thinks about an idea I have. I'm making strings that have a unique piezoelectric winding in them, which means that the string can sense its own vibration and convert it to an electrical signal. These strings could replace conventional pickup systems and possibly produce a sound that is more 'acoustic' than current technology can create. What do you think of this idea? Would you buy a set and use them? One opinion I have noted is that a lot of players may think that a novel technology such as this could not hope to compete with the traditional acoustic sound, or may think that current strings and pickup systems do the job just fine. With this in mind they may be hesitant to invest in a set of these new strings. Thoughts? Whatever you may think of this idea, I'm eager to hear it. All of your thoughts are valuable and can only help me make a better product. Thanks in advance - I'm looking forwards to the discussion! Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBouquet Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Stross Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hello everyone, This is my first post here. I'm asking around to see what the community thinks about an idea I have. I'm making strings that have a unique piezoelectric winding in them, which means that the string can sense its own vibration and convert it to an electrical signal. These strings could replace conventional pickup systems and possibly produce a sound that is more 'acoustic' than current technology can create. What do you think of this idea? The better you pick up the string vibrations the less "acoustic" it'll sound. That's because there is a lot of garbage on the string which gets filtered by the bridge / violin body. "Piezoelectric" winding might be a bit of a stretch. I'm not current with these things anymore but "piezo" used to mean crystals. However something on the lines your are thinking exists. The interfacing electronics is costly and it doesn't sound "acoustic" at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franciscus Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 If I understood well, you intend to make the strings that work as piezo cable (co-axial piezo). Besides all other possible issues, I do not think that's possible to make the E string that could do such job and be playable in the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Kasprzyk Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I assume you have good patent protection. Otherwise it may not be a good to discuss it here unless you want to give it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleDoug Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 A couple of potential problems that I see: What would your wireing scheme be? Probably one of the last things that players want is some kind of wiring harness on the top of the fiddle. Strings wear out! Peizos in the body or bridge don't wear out (very often). Could you make a quality peizo string that would be comparable in price to regular strings? String manufacturers spend big bucks developing new strings. Can you afford that kind of initial outlay? Different strings sound, and play differently on different fiddles, even electric fiddles. Can your proposed strings compete with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Jones Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Interesting concept! I would think a modified tailpiece could be used as a harness . I do think generating an 'acoustic' response might be hard to accomplish as noted above because of the fact that what we hear is not the strings vibrating at all , we hear the violin responding to the strings . This response is layered with resonance and wave reflection in a very quantum way, unique to each instrument What price point ? if it is $4,000 dollars a set it might be a hard sell.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Yacey Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 You would need to have a very high input impedance buffer for every string, leading to weight and bulk. The strings would be very prone to reproducing "thump" from the fingers contacting the strings. I do believe the bowed tone would be very shrill and sterile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_oa Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 It seems to me that you will be sensing string bending. That would see high frequency more than low. The string is already producing a lot of unpleasant high frequency, most of which is removed by the bridge. So this would require a lot of electronic filtering. Filtering that luthiers cannot adjust. After the bridge sensing, at the bass bridge foot, really seems like the best place to put a sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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