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"There are too many posts on alt.noise concerning how to build contact microphones, and to my knowledge, nobody ever posted a page like this in response. Plenty of bad advice out there... Hopefully this page is a little more useful than some of the responses I have seen over the years. If you actually follow these directions, please e-mail me and let me know where they're flawed/lacking. This is one way to put together a contact microphone. It is not the best way, but the end result is pretty satisfying. And it doesn't cost much (once you have a soldering iron). "

"So, you want to make a contact microphone? Whether you want create noise music by banging on scrap metal, cheaply and easily amplify your acoustic instrument, or just play with wires, you're in the right place. You will need: piezo transducer (radioshack 273-073A) 1/4″ audio cable (eg radioshack 42-2381A) tape, solder, hot glue, heat shrink tubing, etc"

"There are plenty of online guides for making contact microphones from piezo discs to listen to the microscopic vibrations of objects. (Steve Schaberg's guide is great for first-time builders, as is Furious Contact Mic Assembly.) My version includes a limiter to protect sensitive mic inputs from high-voltage spikes. There are many better designs, including fully buffered FET preamps, but if you're looking for a "Radio Shack" solution hat won't fry sensitive mic inputs, this will do!"