Bigtone pickup

guit_box · January 2005

I'm interested in general comments about this style of pickup.

specific questions:

1. It looks like from the pictures that it probably has an under-saddle peizo element glued to the hollow underside of the bridge. Can someone flip their bridge over and tell me what the element looks like?

2. Where can I find one for a good price?

3.Is a preamp required or is there a preamp in the jack?

4. How does it sound direct thru a PA?

langleydjango · January 2005

guit_box wrote:

I'm interested in general comments about this style of pickup.

specific questions:

1. It looks like from the pictures that it probably has an under-saddle peizo element glued to the hollow underside of the bridge. Can someone flip their bridge over and tell me what the element looks like?

Bigtones are installed inside the bridge. Most people who have bigtones have no idea what the actual element looks like. It's a thin rod, like most piezo element.

You have to buy the whole bridge with the bigtone installed

guit_box wrote:

2. Where can I find one for a good price?

**** at Dell Arte is a great source. www.****

guit_box wrote:

3.Is a preamp required or is there a preamp in the jack?

No preamp required

guit_box wrote:

4. How does it sound direct thru a PA?

It sounds like a piezo. Not fantastic like a microphone. Some people can live with it because of the lack of feedback and simplicity. Others hate it. The only way to know is to try it yourself.

troy

Archtop Eddy · January 2005

As Troy said, the Bigtone is a piezo bar pickup. It looks very much like other bar piezos, however, I've noticed that its a bit "thicker" with a slighter heavy gauge wire. I don't know if this added robustness contributes to its tone, but as far as piezo pickups go, it seems to have less quack than others (note: it still has quack...).

I actually have an uninstalled Bigtone laying around here somewhere. Back in the early days ( a whole six years ago!), you couldn't find pre-installed piezo bridges. It is actually a bit tricky to install them yourself as you have to slice off the top of your bridge horizontally, slot out a spot for the Bigtone, and then glue it all back together. If it isn't done correctly, then there isn't enough pressure on the Bigtone when the strings are reinstated and the Bigtone sounds weak in both volume and tone.

Today, many great luthiers offer pre-Bigtone installed bridges, and I think this is a much better route to go than trying to put one in yourself. But to each their own... 'cause I know some people just love to tinker.

A.E.

guit_box · January 2005

It's interesting that they slice the bridge apart and glue the element inside, I just assumed the element was glued into the hollowed-out underside of the bridge. I have several Selmer style bridges laying around and one has a bone saddle. Perhaps I will try to install a piezo element under the bone saddle and just see how it sounds. $250 for a Bigtone pickup seems like way too much money if all it uses is a simple piezo bar element--you can get those on ebay for 50 bucks or less.

SONIC · June 2006

About the BIGTONE, the big difference between the BIGTONE and a PIEZZO is that :

the BIGTONE has much more gain than a classic PIEZZO.

I compared 2 equivalent selmer type guitars :
one with a FISHMAN PIEZZO in the bridge,
another one with a BIGTONE PICKUP in the bridge.

To have the same volume on my amp, I needed to put the volume on 10 with the FISHMAN, and only on 1 with the BIGTONE.

That means BIGTONE has more that 10x the gain of a fishman.

And then, the signal/noise ratio is better with the BIGTONE.

BIGTONE doesn't need a preamp, whereas classical PIEZZOs need a preamp.

Josh Hegg · June 2006

SONIC is correct. The reason being is that the big tone has a bigtone piezo under each string rather then a single piezo film. Also not all bigtones are placed by splitting the bridge. In fact the better sounding ones are not. There are some modifications that need to be made to the bridge to install a bigtone but splitting is not my preferred method of installation. Also there are about 3 styles of what are being called "bigtone" and they all sound different and have different gain and sensitivity. The installation has some to do with this but the actual piezo construction makes 80% of the difference in gain and tone. The problem with splitting the bridge is that you need to build the bridge heavy to be able to do this and this kills your acoustic tone. I like installing the pickup so that the acoustic / unamplified tone is unharmed as little a posable.

Cheers,
Josh

Duozona · June 2006

Josh

You mention three styles of Big-Tone and different sounds. How does one know what they are ordering or hearing?

Where would you get yours or where do you know they know the difference?

I did not realize there was more than one style of bigtone, thanks for the info, great thread.

Chuck

Josh Hegg · June 2006

There is the Dupont, DellArt' and I have seen one other that might have been a Park but I'm not sure. I know she has made bridge pickups. All three where a bit different and sounded different.

If you order a Dupont you are getting a Bigtone. If you order a DellArte' your will be getting a DellArte' version of the Dupont Bigtone. From the research I have done Dupont set the ground work and others have followed. Myself included.

I know all this because I have been crazy enough to tear them apart. Not the cheapest way to learn. :roll: I have built a few of my own design and have found that the design of the pickup in the Dupont Bigtone is the best. I'm talking about the actual piezo element that is installed. There is a pickup under each strings. I have seen some that are 3 pickups spread across the bridge as well as a single piezo. There are many ways that you could build a pickup so it really depends on the need of the player. I like to use the same style of "guts" as Dupont for my pickups but do not split the bridge to install it. This allows for a better unamplified sound and also sounds warmer when amplified. In the most recent most of the "bigtones" be them from Dupont, DellArte' or other builds have been very similar and it looks as though there has been some common practices installed in the pickup building for these guitars. I'm sure there are even more variations out there. I can only speak on what I have had come through my shop and what I have made myself.

Cheers,
Josh

Jared Burrows · June 2006

Hi Josh
So do you route a slot on the underside of the bridge and glue it in? I have a Bigtone coming from **** and it seemed to me from looking at Ross bliss' Park guitar that there was a slot routed and the pickup glued in.
Any info on installing these things would be very much appreciated. I have built a lot of Sel-macc style guitars, but never installed a pickup.
Cheers
Jared