Electronic Hardware

The SDT1 is a piezo film pickup, fully shielded, in a nicely configured ready-to use form. The film itself is 5/8" by 1-1/8". We sell it two ways: 1) Plug-and-play ready, including a standard 1/4" jack at end of the 18" cable ($39). 2) No jack -- the end of the cable is left bare, so you can run it to any sort of jack, plug, or other destination you wish ($32).

Piezo-electric film has several advantages over traditional rigid contact pickups: It shows an extraordinarily broad and flat frequency response; it is free of self-resonance; it mounts readily on all sorts of surfaces whether flat or curved without inhibiting vibration; it can extend over a larger portion of the vibrating body to give a more balanced response; and it is sensitive enough to capture some of the air resonance tone when mounted inside the soundboard of instruments with air chambers. It is made of thin, flexible polymer, so it makes for pickups that are lightweight yet durable. It can work on any instrument with a solid vibrating surface, such as string instruments with soundboards, drum heads, marimba bars, etc. (It has even been used on some wind instruments, usually placed just inside the bell where air movement amplitudes are large.)

We'll include an information sheet along with your order with full instructions, including tips on using these pickups with different instruments.
For more general information on different types of pickups, click here.

Piezos benefit from having a local preamplifier in cases where the cable run from the pickup will be long. For information on this question, click here.

In addition to this product, we offer piezo films which are not prewired, in several sizes. The advantage of these is, they're available in a wider range of sizes, at lower prices. You can custom wire them to suit your purposes, but they do require you to do your own soldering). We also sell piezos in cable form. You'll find these products listed below the SDT1s on the main catalog pages.

Discounts are available on large orders of piezo film and cable. Call or email for information.

EMI item #118

For those who want to wire up their own contact pickups, we offer these piezo films come in three sizes:

3/8" x 1"
1/2" x 2-1/2"
3/4" x 6"

The two larger sizes (2-1/2" and 6") come with 12" wires attached, and you can easily solder your lead wires to these wires (full instructions are included).

The small size (1") doesn't have the wires; instead it has a pair of small metal terminals. You can solder to these, but this requires great care to avoid overheating; alternatively you can attach to them using conductive epoxy (again, instructions included).

Piezo-electric film has several advantages over traditional rigid contact pickups: It shows an extraordinarily broad and flat frequency response; it is free of self-resonance; it mounts readily on all sorts of surfaces whether flat or curved without inhibiting vibration; it can extend over a larger portion of the vibrating body to give a more balanced response; and it is sensitive enough to capture some of the air resonance tone when mounted inside the soundboard of instruments with air chambers. The actual pieazo film is coated with a thin layer of tough, flexible polymer, so it makes for pickups that are lightweight yet durable. It can work on any instrument with a solid vibrating surface, such as string instruments with soundboards, drum heads, marimba bars, etc.

How to choose which size? You might be surprised at how well the small piezo tabs (5/8" x 1") can work, but larger films will usually produce a more balanced response. Some customers like to use the largest film that there's room for on the vibrating surface they intend to apply it to. However, in some cases you might prefer the sound of the 2.5 inch films even when there's room for the 6 inch, because you can expect the 2.5 inchers to have a slightly brighter sound than the 6 inchers. (The reasons for this have to do with the acoustics of short wavelengths over large surfaces.)

A 4-page information flyer will be included with your order with full instructions for wiring and shielding, as well as tips on using them with different instruments. Additional information sources include the following:

For more general information on different types of pickups, click here.

Piezos benefit from having a local preamplifier in cases where the cable run from the pickup will be long. For information on this question, click here.

For wiring up piezos, it's best to use a lightweight shielded cable. Such lightweight cable is hard to find at retail electronics outlets if you're not planning to get huge quantities. But you can get it from us here.

For information on hooking up multiple piezo films in a single installation, see this blog post

If you're not into doing your own soldering, consider the ready-to-use piezo film pickups we sell called SDT1. We also sell piezo material in cable form.

Quantity discounts are available for these items. Click here to see the quantity pricing schedule. We're unable to process quantity pricing online for these films, so to order or get more info, please call or (email.

This is a cable with piezo material built in, so that the cable in itself acts as a pickup or sensor. It is widely used for under-the-saddle pickups in guitars and similar instruments, placed in the bridge slot under the saddle. A typical guitar bridge installation takes about 5" of cable.

The cable is .104" thick (just under 7/64"). At that size, it fits nicely in most guitar bridge slots, but it’s a hair too thick for some. In those cases it’ll be necessary either to widen the slot or to delicately strip the insulation layer from the cable.

(Confusion-avoidance note: this piezo cable is not designed to serve as a lead cable or connector cable; rather, it is a pickup in itself.)

-- Speaking of which ... for wiring up any sort of piezos, it's best to use a lightweight shielded lead cable. Such lightweight shielded cable is hard to find at retail electronics outlets if you're not planning to get huge quantities. But you can get it from us here.

A 4-page information flyer with full instructions for wiring and shielding will be included with your order.
For more general information on different types of pickups, click here.

Piezos benefit from having a local preamplifier in cases where the cable run from the pickup will be long. For information on this question, click here.

Quantity discounts are available for this product:

1-59 inches: $1.00 per inch
60-99 inches: $.90 per inch
100-149 inches: $.80 per inch
150-200: $.70 per inch
200 + inches: $.65 per inch

After you click "Add to Cart," the discount for the quantity you indicated will be reflected in the shopping cart window on the right.

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Piezo cable sold by the inch. In the "quantity" field, indicate how many inches you want.

The K&K Hot Spot and Twin Spot are the most affordable of ready-to-use all-purpose, musical-instrument-quality pickups you’ll find. And, as piezo-electric pickups go, they sound excellent. Experimental instrument makers we’ve known have praised these pickups for their affordability, versatility and sound quality for years. They’re versatile, they’re quick and easy to mount, they’re very small and unobtrusive. The frequency response is listed at 15Hz – 15,000Hz. The sensing elements are a half inch in diameter, very thin and very lightweight. The pickup comes with a foot of cable, wired to a quarter-inch audio jack. A clip for the jack, which can be mounted on the body of an instrument by screwing or double-sided adhesive tape, is supplied. There’s also a small supply of double-sided adhesive tape for mounting the pickup. (If you run out after a few mountings and re-mountings, you can use any double-sided tape, or contact adhesive.) A brochure, brief but clear and to-the-point, is provided with each pickup, which includes mounting suggestions for different sorts of instruments.

We carry two models from K&K. The Hot Spot has a single sensing element wired to a 1/4" jack. The Twin Spot has two sensing elements, both wired to a single jack. The Twin Spot’s dual elements are valuable in producing a balanced sound by blending the input from two locations on a soundboard or other vibrating body.

Piezo pickups benefit from having a local preamp in cases where the cable run from the pickup will be a long one. For more information on different types of pickups, their uses, and the pre-amp question, click here.

For more general information on different types of pickups, click here.

EMI item #110

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Choose Hot Spot (single sensing element) or twin spot (dual sensing elements)

The Spot Pickup from Experimental Musical Instruments is a mini-sized electromagnetic musical instrument pickup. Electromagnetic pickups are most commonly used in electric guitars, but they can be used equally well in any instrument in which the vibrating element is made of steel or other ferrous metal. Thus, these pickups can be used for instruments using mbira- or kalimba-like instruments with iron or steel tines, xylophone-like instruments with steel bars or tubes, and many others types. They can also be used with steel string instruments with just one or two strings, or with a larger number of strings too widely spaced for a single guitar pickup.
These pickups can also be used with non-steel instruments (for instance, wooden xylophone bars) if a steel plaque such as a washer is attached to the vibrating body where the pickup can sense it.

Guitar pickups are made in a bar shape suitable for the six strings of a guitar. Our Spot Pickup is designed for other sorts of applications, where a guitar pickup won’t fill the bill. They’re particularly suitable for instruments in which the sounding elements are too broad or too widely spaced for bar-shaped pickups to be practical. In such cases, you can place one Spot Pickup under each sounding element.

You can use many Spot Pickups wired together in a single installation. How many? You will get good signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, and frequency response with up to about 12 or 15 Spot Pickups wired in series, or in a combination of series and parallel wiring. Larger numbers up to 30 and beyond will work, but special wiring is required to prevent decreasing signal strength and high frequency response as the numbers get larger. In these cases you can preserve signal strength and frequency response by wiring the pickups in two or more sub-groups and sending their signals to separate mixer inputs or separate in-line pre-amps before mixing the signals. With the availability these days of small mixers that are both compact and affordable, the mixer approach is practical, and with the buffering between groups of pickups that the mixer provides it's possible to have unlimited numbers of pickups without signal loss. You can read more about different wiring configurations by clicking here to preview the Installation Information that is included when you purchase the pickups.

The Spot Pickups are provided with copper shielding to minimize unwanted noise. The hum level from a single Spot Pickup is considerably less than that from a typical guitar pickup. In installations with many spot pickups, the hum level may increase. To reduce the hum level further in multi-pickup installations, the Spot Pickups can be used in humbucking pairs. Each pickup is marked with a white or a black dot. By using an equal or near-equal number of each in your installation, you’ll be getting the noise-reducing benefits of the humbucking design.

In signal strength, the Spot Pickup is a little less than an average guitar pickup.

The impedance of a Spot Pickup installation depends on how many pickups are connected in series in the installation. Typically it will fall in the nominal high-impedance range, meaning that you can plug the output from one or more Spot Pickups into a standard musical instrument input. This includes electric guitar amp inputs, as well as high impedance mixer or PA inputs, keyboard amps, powered speakers and acoustic guitar amps.

As for appearance – well, it’s true that our Spot Pickups are not the loveliest of things to look at. Instead of putting the effort into making the Spot Pickup slick-looking, we’ve taken an approach that keeps it affordable, compact and sturdy.

The Spot Pickups come with extensive documentation and easy-to-read diagrams for wiring options. You can preview the documentation here.
For more general information on different types of pickups, click here.

Quantity discounts are available for this product:

1-9 pickups: $16 each
10-15 pickups: $15 each
16-20 pickups: $14 each
21 + pickups: $13 each

After you click "Add to Cart," the discount for the quantity you indicated will be reflected in the shopping cart window on the right.

Dimensions: 1 1/8" high x 5/8" wide x 7/8" long.
Resistance: 600 Ohms per pickup.

Item #121

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Magnetic pickups are the sort used on electric guitars. They can also be used not only on other fretted string instruments, but on zithers, kalimbas, tuning fork instruments, or anything else in which the vibrating elements are made of steel.

We do not carry standard electric guitar or bass pickups, because they’re mass-produced and easy to get elsewhere. What we do carry are these oversized pickups, in 6- and 8-inch lengths, custom-made for us by Jason Lollar of Lollar Guitars. (We also carry miniature spot pickups.)

Magnetic pickups must be placed in close proximity to the instrument’s steel vibrating elements. Guitar pickups are made to be sensitive over a width of a little over two inches so that they can be placed directly under the 2" span of the guitar strings. For an instrument in which the vibrating elements are spread over a wider area – say, a many-stringed zither or a kalimba – you need a wider pickup. You could wire several guitar pickups together, but it’s simpler, less expensive, and more elegant to use a single wider pickup --or a pair of them for still more width.

These extra-wide pickups are single-coil, bar-pole pickups. “Bar-pole” means that the there are no separate pole pieces for each of the instrument's vibrating elements (strings, tines or whatever), so the spacing of the vibrating elements doesn’t matter – the pickup is uniformly sensitive across its full width. The attached lead wire is two feet long. See specs below for dimensions. The pickups are black in color, with a look that is not mass-produced slick, but simple, rugged and functional. The tone is excellent – full and clear, with good signal strength.

For applications that call for two or more pickups, you can get pickups that are reverse-wound relative to each other. This means that you can use pickups with opposite polarities in the same installation. This creates the noise-canceling "humbucking" effect, giving a more noise-free output. On orders of two or more pickups, we will make sure to send them in reverse-wound pairs so you can take advantage of this.

As mentioned, these are single-coil pickups and not dual-coil “humbuckers” (which would have to cost nearly twice as much). This, in combination with their size, makes them vulnerable to humming caused by stray magnetic fields. Extra shielding for hum-reduction has been added to the pickups. Depending on the surrounding environment and on the nature of your installation, there may be virtually no hum, or there may be a small but noticeable amount. As mentioned above, using them in humbucking pairs helps reduce noise.

For complete specs and warranty, see the end of this page.

For more information on on different types of pick-ups, their uses, and the pre-amp question, click here.

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SPECS for both 6" and 8" models

6,500 turns of 42-gauge single build poly nylon magnet wire.
Lacquer potted.
Coil is shielded with copper foil.
Coil is protected with heavy cloth tape.
Single conductor braided shield lead wire, 2 foot length attached.
Ceramic magnets.
Steel blade polepiece.
Vulcanized fiberboard bobbin construction.

Size -- 8" model:
1" tall.
Bobbin top 5/8" wide by 8.5"
Bobbin bottom 1" by 9.25"

Size -- 6" model:
1" tall.
Bobbin top 5/8" wide by 6 .5"
Bobbin bottom 1" by 7.25"

Manufacturer's Warranty:
New pickups are guaranteed to be free of manufacturing defects for a period of 2 years.
Removing pickup covers or modifying pickups voids the warranty. Pickups are fragile assemblies until they are installed. Handle them carefully and do not drop them. Pickups are not covered for damage due to misuse. Warranty only extends to the price of the original purchase for refund or replacement. Your sales receipt is your proof of warranty.

EMI item #116

We sell two models of compact preamps, the Fishman Powerjack and the Pure Preamp from K&K. Both are well suited to the needs Experimental Musical Instruments people are likely to have, but they have very different features. To help you decide which is best for your purposes, there's a comparison chart at the bottom of this page. The rest of this page is about the Pure Preamp. (Click here for info on the PowerJack.)

THE PURE PREAMP

The Pure Preamp made by K&K Sound Systems will enhance the performance of magnetic pickups, piezo contact pickups, high-impedance microphones, and other high impedance, low-level sources. (It can work with low-impedance microphones too, but not optimally).

The Pure Preamp is practically noise-free and the fidelity of the output signal is excellent. It’s compact – just 2.5" x 3.5" x 1.25" (including the knobs). It comes with a belt clip, so you can wear it when you play, keeping cable lengths from the pickup to the pre-amp to a minimum. Or perhaps, if this works for your instrument, you’ll devise some simple way to mount it directly on the instrument. There is no additional wiring or soldering required; nor is it necessary to make any modifications to your instrument. You just plug in the cables from the pickup and to the power amp, and play. It has easily accessible volume, bass, midrange and treble control knobs – almost like having controls on the instrument itself. In addition, there’s a gain-control located inside the unit that allows you to adjust the input signal strength as needed to prevent overloading.

High-impedance signals, particularly the ultra-high impedance signals coming from piezo contact pickups, tend to lose both fidelity and signal strength when they pass through cable runs of more than a few feet. The solution to this problem is to include a pre-amp in the signal path as close as possible to the pickup. The pre-amp will boost the signal, making it more immune to unwanted noise pickup, and it will convert it to a lower impedance, allowing for longer cable runs without loss of fidelity or signal strength. The K&K Pure Pre-amp is excellent for this purpose.

Further details:

The Pure Preamp has standard quarter-inch jacks for input and output.

Volume and tone controls readily accessible, plus a special input level control on the inside
Unplugging the input works like an off switch to prevent battery drain.
It uses a standard 9-volt battery; battery life up to 180 hours playing time.
Frequency range: 10 – 30,000Hz.
Input impedance: 1 mega Ohm
Output impedance: 10K Ohm.
Comes with a one-year warranty.

For more information on different types of pickups, their uses, and the pre-amp question, click here.

EMI item #115

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K&K Pure Preamp vs. Fishman Powerjack: COMPARISON

To aid in your buying decision, here is a comparison of the features of the two models of compact pre-amps that we sell.

USE WITH PIEZOS:

The Fishman Powerjack's very high input impedance makes it ideal for use with piezos.

The K&K Pure Preamp will also handle piezos. Its somewhat lower input impedance means it is not technically ideal, but the difference in this case between the ideal impedance match and the less than ideal one is scarcely noticeable.

USE WITH OTHER SOURCES:

The Fishman Powerjack is made primarily for piezos, and although it will work with magnetic (electric guitar-type) pickups, it's usually not needed in this application except in special cases. (Magnetic pickups don't need it for impedence lowering, and it doesn't add a significant boost to the signal). It is not suitable for low impedance sources such as most microphones.

The K&K Pure Preamp is well suited for magnetic (electric guitar-type)pickups and will provide a useful signal boost. It is not ideal for low-impedance microphones, but it will still do a good job with them.

MOUNTING ON THE INSTRUMENT

The Fishman Powerjack is designed as an onboard preamp – it's made to be mounted on the instrument. Specifically, it's made to be mounted where the endpin of an acoustic guitar would go, but its small size and unobtrusive shape mean that it can be mounted in other ways on any number of different instrument types. It's not well suited to being used offboard.

The K&K Pure Preamp designed as an offboard pre-amp. You can set it on a table or mount it on a mic stand nearby, or use the belt clip it's provided with. It is small enough that you might be able to find a way to mount it on the instrument, but not as conveniently or inobtrusively as the Powerjack.

CONTROLS:

The K&K Pure Preamp has volume and tone controls readily accessible, and a special input level control on the inside.

The Fishman Powerjack does not have controls.

AMPLIFYING THE SIGNAL

The K&K Pure Preamp can substantially boost the signal level, and with excellent clarity and fidelity.

The Fishman Powerjack is not designed primarily to boost signal strength, but rather to provide high impedance pickups – piezos in particular – with the buffering and impedance-lowering they need for improved performance. Accordingly, the Powerjack provides only a very modest boost in signal strength.

SOLDERING OR MODIFICATIONS TO THE INSTRUMENT REQUIRED?

The K&K Pure Preamp requires no soldering or modifications to the instrument, assuming that whatever you want to plug into it has a cable and a standard 1/4" with a plug.

The Fishman Powerjack is intended for permanent onboard installation rather than off-board plugging and unplugging. It requires soldering of the two wires from the pickup. It also requires mounting of the pre-amp on the instrument and attaching the battery clip.

PRICE:

K&K Pure Preamp: $96

Fishman Powerjack: $56

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We sell two models of compact preamps, the Fishman Powerjack and the Pure Preamp from K&K. Both are well suited to the needs Experimental Musical Instruments people are likely to have, but they have very diffferent features. To help you decide which is best for your purposes, there's a comparison chart at the bottom of this page. The rest of this page is about the Powerjack. (Click here for info on the Pure Preamp.)

POWERJACK MINIATURE ENDPIN PREAMP

The Powerjack, made by Fishman, is as small and unobtrusive as a preamp can be, making it suitable for mounting on or in an instrument. It takes the form of a cylinder, 3 7/8" long and 5/8" in diameter at its widest. The package includes a battery clip for separate mounting of a standard 9-volt battery.

The Powerjack is designed as an endpin jack for acoustic guitar, but it can easily be used with other instruments as well. While the endpin mounting is standard, the Powerjack's small size and unobtrusive shape make it easy to come up with ways to mount it on your particular instrument.

High-impedance signals, particularly the ultra-high impedance signals coming from piezo contact pickups, tend to lose both fidelity and signal strength when they pass through cable runs of more than a few feet. The solution to this problem is to include a preamp in the signal path as close as possible to the pickup. The preamp will boost the signal, making it more immune to unwanted noise pickup, and it will convert it to a lower impedance, allowing for longer cable runs without loss of fidelity or signal strength. The Fishman Powerjack's very high input impedance of 10 mega Ohms makes it ideal for this purpose.

To install the Fishman Powerjack you'll need to make two solder connections, attach the battery clip to the instrument, and arrange for mounting the Powerjack itself. (The included spec sheet details the solder connections. It also details the standard end-pin mounting, while for non-standard mountings, it'll be up to you to come up with a mounting system.) The Powerjack does not include volume or tone controls (the spec sheet, however, contains wiring diagrams for adding them). The gain is a modest 3dB, reflecting the fact that the Powerjack is not designed to function as a powerful preamplifier, but rather to provide high-impedance pickups – piezos in particular – with the buffering and impedance-lowering they need for improved performance.

Further details: Battery life: 12,000 hours (!). Input impedance 10 mega Ohms; output impedance: less than 5k Ohms. Signal to noise ratio 94 dB. For applications involving two sources on the same instrument (e.g., pickup and internal microphone), the Powerjack has extra solder terminals that allow the option of running the signal from the second source through the Powerjack (bypassing the preamp) and out through a stereo cable.

For more information on different types of pickups, their uses, and the pre-amp question, click here.

EMI item #120

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K&K Pure Preamp vs. Fishman Powerjack: COMPARISON

To aid in your buying decision, here is a comparison of the features of the two models of compact pre-amps that we sell.

USE WITH PIEZOS:

The Fishman Powerjack's very high input impedance makes it ideal for use with piezos.

The K&K Pure Preamp will also handle piezos. Its somewhat lower input impedance means it is not technically ideal, but the difference in this case between the ideal impedance match and the less than ideal one is scarcely noticeable.

USE WITH OTHER SOURCES:

The Fishman Powerjack is made primarily for piezos, and although it will work with magnetic (electric guitar-type) pickups, it's usually not needed in this application except in special cases. (Magnetic pickups don't need it for impedence lowering, and it doesn't add a significant boost to the signal). It is not suitable for low impedance sources such as most microphones.

The K&K Pure Preamp is well suited for magnetic (electric guitar-type)pickups and will provide a useful signal boost. It is not ideal for low-impedance microphones, but it will still do a good job with them.

MOUNTING ON THE INSTRUMENT

The Fishman Powerjack is designed as an onboard preamp – it's made to be mounted on the instrument. Specifically, it's made to be mounted where the endpin of an acoustic guitar would go, but its small size and unobtrusive shape mean that it can be mounted in other ways on any number of different instrument types. It's not well suited to being used offboard.

The K&K Pure Preamp designed as an offboard pre-amp. You can set it on a table or mount it on a mic stand nearby, or use the belt clip it's provided with. It is small enough that you might be able to find a way to mount it on the instrument, but not as conveniently or inobtrusively as the Powerjack.

CONTROLS:

The K&K Pure Preamp has volume and tone controls readily accessible, and a special input level control on the inside.

The Fishman Powerjack does not have controls.

AMPLIFYING THE SIGNAL

The K&K Pure Preamp can substantially boost the signal level, and with excellent clarity and fidelity.

The Fishman Powerjack is not designed primarily to boost signal strength, but rather to provide high impedance pickups – piezos in particular – with the buffering and impedance-lowering they need for improved performance. Accordingly, the Powerjack provides only a very modest boost in signal strength.

SOLDERING OR MODIFICATIONS TO THE INSTRUMENT REQUIRED?

The K&K Pure Preamp requires no soldering or modifications to the instrument, assuming that whatever you want to plug into it has a cable and a standard 1/4" with a plug.

The Fishman Powerjack is intended for permanent onboard installation rather than off-board plugging and unplugging. It requires soldering of the two wires from the pickup. It also requires mounting of the pre-amp on the instrument and attaching the battery clip.

PRICE:

K&K Pure Preamp: $96

Fishman Powerjack: $56

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This is the plug that you see at the ends of an electric guitar player's guitar lead cord. It's the standard connector for plugging instruments into amplifiers, mixers, effects processors, etc. All-steel casing provides shielding, blocking unwanted noise pickup in the signal. Plastic inner lining prevents shorting against the casing. Textured exterior provides good grip for plugging in and out. Tough, sturdy, and looks elegant too. Wiring instructions included.

For information on what jack, plug or other components you need for basic pickup wiring, click here.
For instructions and diagrams on basic pickup wiring, click here

Discounts are available on large orders of jacks or plugs. Call or email for information.

The picture shows, on the left, the assembled plug and, on the right, disassembled to show components.

Item #132

This is the female counterpart to a standard quarter inch phone plug. It’s the in-line version, meaning that it goes at the end of a cable (not mounted directly on the surface of an instrument). Use this if you want to be able to connect your instrument using a standard musical instrument cable such as an electric guitar cord.

All-steel casing provides shielding, blocking unwanted noise pickup in the signal. A flexible black plastic strain-relief piece at the top reduces wear on the cable that you attach it to. Solidly made, handsome in appearance, excellent overall quality. Wiring instructions included.

For information on what jack, plug or other components you need for basic pickup wiring, click here.
For instructions and diagrams on basic pickup wiring, click here

Discounts are available on large orders of jacks or plugs. Call or email for information.

EMI item #131

This is the female counterpart to the standard quarter-inch phone plug, in panel-mount form (sometimes called surface-mount). This means that it's designed to be mounted on the body of an instrument or the casing of an electronic component. Use this if you want to be able to connect your instrument using a standard musical instrument cable such as an electric guitar cord. The jack assembly fits a 3/8" hole drilled in the mounting surface, passing through a maximum surface thickness of 1/4", held in place by a special hex nut and washer (provided). Wiring instructions will be included with your order.

For information on what jack, plug or other components you need for basic pickup wiring, click here.
For instructions and diagrams on basic pickup wiring, click here

Discounts are available on large orders of jacks or plugs. Call or email for information.

EMI item #130

This volume control's 250K Ohm resistance is suitable for the signal strength coming from either a typical piezo or typical magnetic pickup. It is “audio taper,” meaning that it provides a uniform rate of increase in perceived volume as you turn the knob. When you turn it, it has a slightly stiff feel rather than turning too easily. This provides a good sense of solidity and control compared to knobs that turn with no resistance.
It has a coarse-knurled, split shaft to hold the knob securely (shaft diameter 6mm [.236"], shaft height 20mm [13/16"]). It's manufactured by Bourne, the leading name for this kind of potentiometers. Complete wiring instructions included.

You can purchase this pot from us with or without the knob. This knob is made of solid plastic in the bevel-top style – understated, functional; suitable for people who aren’t looking to make an artistic statement with their knobs. Knob dimensions: Overall diameter 23/32”, height 25/32”, fits 6mm (.236”) coarse-knurled shaft; pots with a 6mm (.236”) knurled shaft.

If you decide to go elsewhere to purchase a different knob, be sure to get one that fits the pot's 6mm (.236") coarse-knurled shaft. This is a fairly standard size and many knobs fit it, but not all.

When you order one of these pots, we’ll throw in a few inches of lightweight hookup wire, suitable for one of the connections the pot calls for. For the remaining connections, you’ll need to purchase the additional shielded wire as needed separately (see heavy cable and lightweight cable).

For information on what jack, plug or other components you need for basic pickup wiring, click here.
For instructions and diagrams on basic pickup wiring, click here

Discounts are available on large orders of pots or knobs. Call or email for information.

Item #133

This lightweight shielded cable is suitable wherever you want lightweight, flexible shielded wiring. It's paritcularly valuable for attaching to piezos, where the stiffness and weight of heavier cable would inhibit the vibration of the piezo. It's also useful anywhere else you might want lightweight, flexible shielded wiring, such as most pickup wiring other than the main exterior lead cable.

The cable consists of an insulated center conductor of stranded wire that serves as the "hot" conductor, surrounded by a braided overwrap of stranded wire which serves as the ground conductor and shield. The whole is surrounded by a white-colored outer insulation layer. Overall diameter .071" (just over 1/16").

This cable is very difficult to find elsewhere if you're not planning to buy huge quantities. For some reason, consumer electronics parts stores typically don't carry it.

Quantity discounts are available for this product:

1-29 feet: $2.25 per foot
30-49 feet: $1.95 per foot
50-69 feet: $1.65 per foot
70 + feet: $1.45 per foot

After you click "Add to Cart," the discount for the quantity you indicated will be reflected in the shopping cart window on the right.

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Indicate the number of feet you want in the quantity field.

This sturdy coaxial shielded cable is suitable as a lead cord for applications where there'll be some wear and tear, such as the cord used for plugging a pickup or instrument into an external amp or preamp. The cable consists of an insulated center conductor of stranded copper wire that serves as the "hot" conductor, surrounded by a braided wrap of stranded steel wire that serves as the ground conductor and shield. The whole is surrounded by the black outer insulation layer. Overall diameter .15" (just over 1/8").

Quantity discounts are available for this product:

1-29 feet: $1.40 per foot
30-49 feet: $1.20 per foot
50-69 feet: $1.05 per foot
70 + feet: $.95 per foot

After you click "Add to Cart," the discount for the quantity you indicated will be reflected in the shopping cart window on the right.

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Sold by the foot. Indicate the number of feet you want in the quantity field.