Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all,
i have to replace a broken piezo pickup on a 90's washburn ea-20 acoustic.
It is a 1/4 wide piezo and i'm getting crazy trying to find one that fit the slot.
Artec PP-637 could be a choice but it seems no one has it in stock, not on the bay, not on worldwide stores (found it in russia but they never aswered my request).
the Ducer NB5000 is unavailable too.

Does anyone know wher i can find a wide piezo unit?

i'm valuating to fill the slot with wood stripes to fit a standard piezo and saddle... but customer prefer to keep it original.

thanks for your help

a pic of a similar guitar

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everything you know is wrong

My advice - tell the customer that in spite of being original, it's an outdated design that has come and gone, and is not compatible with aftermarket replacements available today. If they don't want to change the saddle style, they could leave it as is and go with an internal system like the Baggs Lyric for amplification (which is a far better system than the original in my opinion).

If that doesn't convince them, tell them that since the drop in replacement is not available as a stock item through your typical suppliers, you would have to bill hourly for your time trying to source a direct replacement. Estimate a few hours time for this, and I bet they may be less enthusiastic about keeping it original, and more ready to accept a modern retrofit.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

It's too simple. I'm presuming you're taking out an existing wide element that's basically the same thickness as the standard, easily available component.

Just use the narrow one as is. Make sure it sits at the front edge of the slot, maybe with a somewhat thinner spacer behind it, to keep it more or less at the front edge. String up, test it, and go. Years back, when piezo strips were the thing, I installed lots of them just that way. The rotational tendency of the saddle made certain that there was good downward pressure on the element, and things worked just fine.

Worth a shot, maybe, yes?

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Never tried that before - good to know it's a workable option. Thanks Frank!

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks for your answers! (and sorry for my late one... i was in vacation!)
i'll try to install a normal one like Frank said... i'll give him the guitar and say.. "play it". if he likes it, i'm done!

thanks

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everything you know is wrong