Piezo Pickup

[Riffmeister]

What EXACTLY is one and how does it work?

I heard Fuel live and they had their clean sound sounding Just like an Acoustic. Someone mentioned to me that it may be a Piezo pickup. Is that what they do?

I have heard that they are in the bridge somehow, Are they made for Floyd Roses?

[Genebaby]

Re: Piezo Pickup

They probably had piezo pickups mounted in the bridges of their guitars. Just like on an acoustic, it's a small piezo pickup which mounts on the bridge under each string, six in total.

You can get them for a number of fixed bridge designs. When my Model 6 make-over gets done, it will have a piezo system in it too. I did play a Tele with the system the other day and it was pretty cool. There is a pre-amp attached to it to make the sound pleasing and usually you can blend the normal electric and acoustic sounds, or just have one or the other.

There are some Ibanez and EBMM models that have this on Floyd equipped guitars, would be a cool option.

[killerburst]

Re: Piezo Pickup

Originally posted by Rick:
What EXACTLY is one and how does it work?

I heard Fuel live and they had their clean sound sounding Just like an Acoustic. Someone mentioned to me that it may be a Piezo pickup. Is that what they do?

I have heard that they are in the bridge somehow, Are they made for Floyd Roses?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Piezo is Italian for pressure. Liquid crystal elements are sandwiched in between two flat conductors. These elements are imbedded in a bridge or saddle. Changes in the strings pressure from vibrations incude a current in the element, which can be amplified. The sound is generally cleaner and much brighter than a magnetic pickup- more "Hi-Fi." Acoustic/elctric guitars use this type of pickup most often. In the last decade, some manufacturers have combined piezo elements with electric guitars to offer a psuedo-acoustic sound without switching guitars. Fishman had the first commercially viable version.

I have a Fishman Power Bridge on one of my Tom Andersons. IMHO, they don't sound that great without a lot of outboard processing. Check out Fishman, L.R. Baggs and Graph-Tech for some info. If you go for it, consider adding just the passive bridge and using outboard gear for the pre-amp. Most of the onboard preamps require adding at least one knob and a switch, and then you are stuck with that preamp. Fishman has a new modeling processor due out soon just for piezo pickups that might make this type of thing on a solid-body more viable. I have high hopes for it, anyway. I don't know of any after-market Floyd/Piezo products that you can buy just as a bridge. Ibanez has made a version of the Edge with Piezos, but so far I've only seen it for sale with the whole guitar. Most of the available models are for vintage strat/tele/tune-o-matic bridges.

[ October 22, 2003, 08:01 PM: Message edited by: killerburst ]

[Newc]

Re: Piezo Pickup

I've got a piezo that will be permanently attached to an OFR. I had it temporarily attached to one and it sounds VERY much like an acoustic.
Once I get it done, I'm thinking about doing it on the side for a little extra $$ [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
There are no OFRs currently available with a piezo of any sort, and no replacement systems for one.

Newc

[ October 23, 2003, 02:01 AM: Message edited by: Newc ]

[gemini8026]

Re: Piezo Pickup

Newc.....


If you ever do something like that, Id love to know. Ive always enjoyed Piezo's and would LOVE one for my Jackson and my Floyd Pro