Master Sensitivity Pot?

[jeffbeckib]

The ring is the Rim trigger, so I would have to say no I am striking the Head, but on that note, there is no resistor connected to the Rim Trigger, just the Head. Another thing I was curious about is this:
In the diagram shown at the top of this post it shows the resistor mounted between the Red, and black of the head trigger, but the Red wire from the Peizo goes to the sleeve and the Black is going to the Tip of the 1/4 jack?

Im not sure how I'm not doing this correctly, but I've tried both a 10K-ohm and a 47k-ohm resister and I'm not seeing a difference.
here's how I've got it connected.
I've got the resistor connected to the 1/4 jack. One end is soldered to the Tip on the jack which is hwere the black cable of the Head Peizo is also connected, the other end is soldered to the sleeve of the jack which is where the Red wire from the Head and the black from the rim peizo is connected.

Am I doing this wrong?

Sounds right to me. Are you sure you're not hitting the pad that is connected to the ring? Sorry if that sounds stupid, but it could happen.

[jman 31]

It usually depends on the module or trigger I/O which one goes to which. Shouldn't make to much difference for what you are trying to do. It may be a little hotter one way than the other. You might try switching them and see if that helps. I don't know why you are not getting any response from adding a resistor. Maybe you don't have a good ground is all I can guess.

Try a lower value resistor and see if that does anything, say a 6.8K.

[jeffbeckib]

It usually depends on the module or trigger I/O which one goes to which. Shouldn't make to much difference for what you are trying to do. It may be a little hotter one way than the other. You might try switching them and see if that helps. I don't know why you are not getting any response from adding a resistor. Maybe you don't have a good ground is all I can guess.

Try a lower value resistor and see if that does anything, say a 6.8K.

This is strange, but it seems that the 10kohm makes a little difference, the 47kohm makes none???

[jman 31]

I believe that in this situation the resistor is there to bleed some of the signal to ground. Therefore it makes sense that the 10K would do more as it lets more signal to ground. That's why I suggested a 6.8K. It would bleed even more signal to ground.

[jman 31]

If you have a 10K, 50K or even 100K pot I would try that. It gives you the ability to go all the way to zero ohms. Once you find a setting that works for you, you can measure the resistance across the pot and replace it with a resistor of that value. Or you can leave it and use pots on all of them.

[r0bbie]

Here’s a different and I think a more simple approach to hot pads.

I use 27mm piezo’s, according to the instructions found all over the web on how to build DIY triggers you
should use a piece of double sided tape underneath the piezo with the same size as the ceramic, in my case 20mm.

My pads where way to hot and I had to use resistors.

Instead of using 20mm DS-tape I have increased the size to 25mm, this has reduced the piezo action significantly.
Without any resistor my highlevel is now about 800.

[jman 31]

Have you lost any of the sensitivity? By doing the tape from edge to edge like that you limit the movement (flexing) of the piezo which actually causes the voltage to be generated. Just curious.

[r0bbie]

Have you lost any of the sensitivity? By doing the tape from edge to edge like that you limit the movement (flexing) of the piezo which actually causes the voltage to be generated. Just curious.

No sensitivity is lost, it triggers perfect, with threshold 12 I can let the stick bounce halfway the mesh and it registers perfectly.

Tape is not from edge to edge, there is still 1mm of the piezo uncovered by the tape, enough to let the piezo flex but generating
lower voltage output, in fact the same result as you would use resistors .

I would say, it’s a simple change, why not give it a try?

Regards,

Rob.

[macca2004]

Have you lost any of the sensitivity? By doing the tape from edge to edge like that you limit the movement (flexing) of the piezo which actually causes the voltage to be generated. Just curious.

No sensitivity is lost, it triggers perfect, with threshold 12 I can let the stick bounce halfway the mesh and it registers perfectly.

Tape is not from edge to edge, there is still 1mm of the piezo uncovered by the tape, enough to let the piezo flex but generating
lower voltage output, in fact the same result as you would use resistors .

I would say, it’s a simple change, why not give it a try?

Regards,

Rob.

Tried that myself, but ended up destroying the cone trying to remove the original tape. I suppose on a hot rim piezo its the best option.

In the end I put a 200k trimmer on the head output and now all my pads trigger very well. The pot is set just about halfway and I get hghlvl of around 800. I couldn't believe the instant difference in the playability of the pad when I reconnected them after the mod.

I couldn't use all gains low as it reduced the sensitivity on my Yamaha and Millenium cymbals and didn't make a big difference anyway..

I would recommend to anyone building diy drums to put a trimmer in, just in case.

My pads are almost right now, the snare plays really well. There are very occasional low velocity retriggers on the snare but i prefer how it feels the other 99.9% of the time especially on rolls, so am leaving as is. You can only spot them in midiox anyway, they cant be heard during normal playing.

I still have to select the ideal curve for my snare, as at the moment it responds best on strong1 curve. I suppose I should use the "if it aint broken dont try and fix it" school of thought but i would like to tweak it a little more on other curves, otherwise i'm very happy with my pad response.

Cymbals and hi-hat next!!

[jeffbeckib]

I still wish there was a component on the "all in one pcb" that would just reduce the gain across the board on all inputs. Everything on my kit is going to be DIY made using the same Piezos and same meathod of cross bar with cone. I've already made diy cymbals, and they are all Hot as well.