Paradigm Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 Hi, i don't know a lot about piezo pickups i must confess, and i was just now toying with the idea of putting a piezo pickup in a guitar i'm customising, but on manufactured guitars with piezos they always have a seperate output for the piezo (maybe not always, but from my experience). so i've come to ask some questions - Does a piezo always require a seperate output? theres possibly a reason behind this i dont know like complications with the other pups or something i don't know - How easy is it to install a piezo and does it require any special electronics or anything? Any help is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 I would suggest looking at the Fishman site. They sell peizo pickups, and they have done all of the engineering for you. The short and sweet is, assuming that you are planning to put this on an electric guitar, you can use a regular cable and run both the piezo and magnetic pups into the same amp, or you can use a stereo cable and run them into different amps. Fishman has lit about this on their web site. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 piezo pickups are cool but ehy can also be a bit of a pain... you can run them together with your mag pickups- getting an even volum between them and your mag pickups may be a bit of challenge- all of the piezos i have worked with have required a active preamp- i am sure that all piezo's reuire this- the signal created by the crystals is very weak and definitely needs to be beefed up.... one other thing that you may find is that the string to string volume on a piezo bridge will be out of balance, piezo's are depenant upon string pressure over the saddle and string tensions are frequently not the same- even if they are the same simply moving a peizo string saddle can have quite an effect on the level of that string and the sound quality... it is a good idea to use a piezo bridge that allow for the adjustment of the individual string volumes. despite all of these issues that can create some cool sounds in the end and could certainly be worth he hassle peace and good luck, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Depends on what you're doing. If you're doing an acoustic project I've been suggested by StewMac to use the L.R Baggs - just search for them on stewmac If you're wanting to add a piezo on a solid body I suggest using Graphtech's Ghost Pickups. Graphtech They are special saddles with the piezo under each saddle, that fit on the bridge of your guitar (or around those lines lol). You can get them fitted to almost any bridge. Great if you wanna switch from thrashing rock riffs to a nice acoustic sound. Also includes a video on how to install them (fairly easy stuff!) -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 So let me get this right. you don't have to replace your bridge to have the Graphtech acoustic system. Only the saddles on the bridge? So say for example I wanted to have graphtech acoustic system on my guitar with a Tune-O-Matic bridge, would I need to purchase a whole new bridge, or just replace the saddles if that is even possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 (edited) You use special saddles designed by Graphtech. For tune-o-matic bridges they are 100-120 bucks and the preamp is about 80. The saddles are different because they have the piezo under them which have wires that connect to somewhere (cant remember exactly.) I suggest going to graphtech's website, it's very straight forward and you can even watch a video on installing them. Just go up above where I gave the link or google for them. It sounds like you want to put these on a solidbody guitar, which by then you should use the graphtech. I'm up for a project using the ghosts. I'm going to be using a strat or knockoff strat and one way other than using Ghosts to get the acoustic tone would be you'd have to take the tremolo system out of your guitar (the metal piece under the bridge - the weight), stick the piezo under the bridge, and then fill the gap - it's cheaper however remember that each guitar saddle is adjusted differently, so some might not be as clear as others whereas on acoustics all saddles are pretty much together. Or you could take the strat bridge off, stick an acoustic bridge on and then put the piezo - there's many options but since you're using a tune-o-matic, i think you have to go with graphtech on this one Is this any help? Sorry if I'm all over the map lol -Jamie Edited October 4, 2004 by sepultura999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 hmm if you are clever i am sure you could instal the piezo element in the existing bridge. this is not a slam just a statement to make people think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Sorry about my previous post - if you're using a tune-o-matic bridge they range for about 160. You replace the whole bridge, whereas if it's a strat, prs, tele, etc. you replace the saddles...the website also has a guitar search - just type your guitar in and it'll tell you what saddles you need, if it doesn't help then you can email them. -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Oh, so I would have to replace my entire bridge. Hmm, this isn't something I feel confident in doing. I've never replace a bridge before. Plus I like my Tune-O-Matic bridge lol. It was just an idea to see how feasible it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 The bridge you buy from them is a tune-o-matic just with the piezo pickups under the saddles is all - but thats cool if you're not too comfy with that. It can be a pain to wire for guitars wihtout the pickguards covering the pickups and wires (like strats and teles). -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Yeah, i'd have to have another hole in my guitar under the bridge for the wires to go down, then a small channel to feed them into the rear control cavity. But thanks for the information. I may cinsider it for something in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 yeah the graphtech ghosts can be a real pain if you have any guitar that doesn't have a pickguard where the tones and wireing are. -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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