An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the effects of different edge conditions and face mount backing conditions on the electrical response of strongly coupled piezoelectric disks with electroded faces on which spatially nonuniform forces are applied by a pencil lead breaking mechanism. Various mounting schemes were employed to simulate traction‐free, simply supported, and fixed edge conditions. The response was found to be relatively insensitive to changes in the edge conditions. Experiments were also conducted on a commercially available transducer in various stages of dismantlement. It was revealed that the main structural element for controlling the electrical output was the impedance matched backing that is epoxied to the inner face of the crystal. It was concluded that mathematical models for characterizing transducers subject to nonuniform face loadings can incorporate the analytically most convenient edge conditions but must also include a suitable model for the backing.