Quantum Tunnelling Compound

[dh7892]

Has anyone ever come across/used QTC for guitar pickups?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?menuno...=3&doy=30m1

I couldn't find anything on the web and tried a quick search of these forums but got nothing.

I wondered if you could use the cable type under a bridge like piezo wire and use it to pickup the vibrations.

It would have to work as part of a voltage divider with some active electronics because it changes resistance with pressure rather than generating a voltage of its own.

What would be the point I hear you ask. Well, quite! But perhaps it would sound good?

Any thoughts?

[fookgub]

Has anyone ever come across/used QTC for guitar pickups?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?menuno...=3&doy=30m1

I couldn't find anything on the web and tried a quick search of these forums but got nothing.

I wondered if you could use the cable type under a bridge like piezo wire and use it to pickup the vibrations.

It would have to work as part of a voltage divider with some active electronics because it changes resistance with pressure rather than generating a voltage of its own.

What would be the point I hear you ask. Well, quite! But perhaps it would sound good?

Any thoughts?

At a glance it seems interesting. It would need some bias circuitry at the least. A fixed voltage in series with a resistor might be a start, but I'm sure something more sophisticated could be used. Probably needs a high impedance buffer to counter the effects of changing source resistance with amplitude, too. I wonder how linear it is and what the sensitivity would be. The cable is a bit thick for a traditional piezo-type installation, but I'm sure it could be made to work.

[dh7892]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. I might have a go at it some time.

[Saber]

I wonder what kind of frequency response you can get from it, and how much intrinsic noise it generates.

[dh7892]

Only one way to find out...

...Well, actually, there are a number of ways to find out but I think the best one is to give it a shot and see how it goes.

[Robert_the_damned]

QTC is basicly a very fancy variable resistorand so wouldn't work on its own as a pickup; you'd have to build it into some sort of circuit to actually produce an output voltage.

I don't know if it would even have a suitable frequency responce as I seem to remember it being very rubbery (not a good discription but I'm sure you know what I mean).

By all means try it out but it'll be more complicated than sticking it under your bridge and soldering two wires to it