PIezo Pickup? What is it exactly

[metalj]

Can someone tell me what this does?

If your electric guitar has one, does it make it sound like an acoustic? or do you still need some kind of preamp to make it work?

Just wondering, im looking at buying a guitar that has one of these and not really sure what it does or sounds like.

what does it sound like if you plugged into an electric guitar amp?

Just wondering what its major function is.

thanks.

[Light]

When they are vibrated piezo crystals produce an electric charge with the same frequency as the vibration.


Myself, I find the ones in electric bridges produce a sound which is (to paraphrase Douglas Adams) almost exactly NOT like what an acoustic guitar sounds like. However, they do produce a sound which is (perhaps) slightly more like an acoustic than a magnetic pickup, and it is a sound which many people have decided sounds like an acoustic. With a decent preamp (which ideally will be in the guitar, as piezo signals can not travel very far without significant signal loss), they will sound less exactly NOT like an acoustic, which is a good thing, but they are never going to actually sound like an acoustic guitar; not even like an acoustic guitar with a piezo pickup. There are lots of issues involved (not least of which is the style of the bridge), but it is enough to say that while they can add an interesting additional sound to your arsenal, I don't think they sound much like an acoustic. Obviously, others disagree with me, but there you have it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[Guitarer]

Originally Posted by Light

When they are vibrated piezo crystals produce an electric charge with the same frequency as the vibration.


Myself, I find the ones in electric bridges produce a sound which is (to paraphrase Douglas Adams) almost exactly NOT like what an acoustic guitar sounds like. However, they do produce a sound which is (perhaps) slightly more like an acoustic than a magnetic pickup, and it is a sound which many people have decided sounds like an acoustic. With a decent preamp (which ideally will be in the guitar, as piezo signals can not travel very far without significant signal loss), they will sound less exactly NOT like an acoustic, which is a good thing, but they are never going to actually sound like an acoustic guitar; not even like an acoustic guitar with a piezo pickup. There are lots of issues involved (not least of which is the style of the bridge), but it is enough to say that while they can add an interesting additional sound to your arsenal, I don't think they sound much like an acoustic. Obviously, others disagree with me, but there you have it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Pretty much hits the nail on the head. If it's an acoustic sound your after, you might want to check out Ghost Saddles. Pretty nifty, although I'm yet to try them out so I can't give you my opinion on them.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...rat?sku=360467

There's one for Tune-O-Matics as well, but I can't find it right now.

[punkin]

I've got an Ernie Ball Music Man - John Petrucci model that has piezo's. Light's right (as usual) in that it imparts and acoustic quality but still, since we're talking solid body guitar, it doesn't have the same tonal qualities. It makes for some interesting possibilities however. When I bought the guitar, it wasn't a highlight to me but an added "nifty". I don't use it much really but now and again, when playing clean parts, it takes the "clean" a step closer. It's different, quiet but certainly isn't a dead ringer for an acoustic.

[metalj]

Originally Posted by punkin

I've got an Ernie Ball Music Man - John Petrucci model that has piezo's. Light's right (as usual) in that it imparts and acoustic quality but still, since we're talking solid body guitar, it doesn't have the same tonal qualities. It makes for some interesting possibilities however. When I bought the guitar, it wasn't a highlight to me but an added "nifty". I don't use it much really but now and again, when playing clean parts, it takes the "clean" a step closer. It's different, quiet but certainly isn't a dead ringer for an acoustic.

Wow that is the exact guitar i'm looing at ! How do you like it?

There is about a $300-$400 price difference between one with the piezo and one without. Im trying to decide if its worth the money to have it. I played one at a guitar center and thought it fit my hand perfect and cannot get it out of my mind. I dont play like petrucci at all, but it played just beautiful for my style.

Does yours have the Bridge pickup that is 1/2 pole and 1/2 blade? I was wondering how that is sounding for you.

any personal experience with it would help alot. Thanks

[Lt. Bob]

The only thing that the piezo is useful for is for live gigging when you want to be able to instantly have an acousticish sound for strumming some chords but absolutely don't want to hassle with using an actual acoustic.
They will give you a sound that is reminiscent enough of an acoustic to be worthwhile BUT ..... you really need to run the piezo thru the PA and not your guitar amp for best effect.
But for recording I wouldn't even consider one ....... the only times I've heard them sound decent was in a gigging setting where you had a lot of electric instruments covering up any real detail in the sound.

[punkin]

As the previous poster put it...not something very useful in the recording environment. With all the other options, I'd grab something else when recording. The piezo pups are nice when playing live and sound decent. If you run them through other effects, it can be pretty cool but seriously, for 300-400 bucks, I donno. I'm a guitar slut so, I'm not always a smart shopper. I picked it up, played great, felt terriffic and was different than anything else I had. Uncle Visa to the rescue!

The EB JPM is a great playing guitar. It's a bit on the dark side but very smooth. As I mentioned earlier, the piezo's are nifty, different and fun to fool around with. Putting the sound through a distorted amp turns out some pretty cool sounds but for the most part, nothing I'm a big fan of. Turn the amp to clean and the piezo's start to sound pretty nice. I find that twiddling the EQ on the amp and the tone controls gets a nice dark rich "near acoustic" sound going but that's about it...near acoustic. I'm thinking something closer to the Ovations really.

I'm a fan of floating bridges. I'm very comfortable setting up Floyds but never liked the double locking thing. The floating bridges on the EB JPMs is nice. String stretches or needs a couple extra turns that the Floyds can't without allen wrenches, no problem. It's stable and stays in tune. I like it along with the other hardware they use on them. No complaints.

Until recently I had two of these in Mystic Green. One 7-string and a six. The seven was a bit too wide for my comfort and I never really got comfortable with the extended range. I like to use my thumb from around the back to mute and fret the 6 and 5.

If you're on a budget, I'm thinking,...the piezo pups are fun to fool with but I really rarely use them. But since you're looking at an EB MM JPM, and they're not cheap, you must have a positive cash flow situation.

I picked up these guitars because of the necks. I really like the profile and the finish. The tone is a little darker than I like. Shortly after I fell in love with my first EB MM JPM, I picked up a Peavey Wolfgang and I'm telling you...bargain! Similar feel, with a slightly thicker neck, a more agressive sound and a bit brighter. Very responsive pups and very versitile. Worth a look if you can get your hands on one.

For what it's worth, the EB folks have an excellent service dept. . Well after the purchase (way over a year later), I noticed a small hairline crack in the around the neck joint in the body. Turns out that some of the older models had a fairly common problem with this. I contacted EB and they were Johnny on the spot. I sent the guitar back to them and they replaced the body. Two weeks later I had a fresh body in Mystic Green. They set it up and after a year of wear, I had an instant refresher.

I sold my 7 stringer after having it for almost 3 years for about what I bought it. So, it's aparantly held it's value. Play it, play it, play it before you buy. Depending on the amp you play it through, you might be looking for an EQ if versatility is your game. Remember John has a huge rig and lots of effects and tone shaping gear. It might not sound like what you're hoping for when you get it home. When he hits a button on his pedal board, there's a lot of switching gear working in the back that you might not know about.

Good luck!

[XLR]

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