poet Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 Hi all I've some questions on piezo pickups. I've seen different ones around (Fishman powerbridge and graph tech ghost pickup) and I'm just wondering how they are installed. (as in, do you have to wire it inside the guitar body and drill a hole for an extra output jack?) Comparing the two above which one sounds better and which one requires less of an 'operation"? Some of the installation pdf files aren't working on those websites and some are a bit too hard to understand. (I'd get a technician to do it if I want to install one anyway...) Thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 Welcome to the forum poet I can't get the pdf's to open correctly either on the Graph Tech page When it comes to the Fishman Powerbridge which one is it on this page? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 I can't speak for the Fishman as I've not used one but the Ghost system works very well. I installed in a strat. Obviously the GraphTech saddles replace the originals, anf are good from a string breakage point of view. The preamp sits inside the control cavity, and there are a couple of ways of connecting the saddles to it. I have the earlier version, and the wires run forward and then under the scratchplate into the body cavity - GaphTech suggested cutting a bevel on the underside of the scratchplate to stop it from rising over the wires. The second way is to drill a second set of holes through the bridgeplate forward of the string holes and trem block then another from the cavity into the trem rout. I used the former, although the latter would look more elegant. Ouput can be via a stereo jack - which is what I use. a 9v battery also needs to fit into the cavity somewhere, although I chose to rout a rear cavity behind the trem to accomodate this. It does mean you need a special cable though - I made some up from balanced mic cable with common ground, and have an inline jack socket on the acoustic output into which I connect another, longer jack cable, to take the feed to either my mixer or a stage box. The electric side goes straight into my floor fx. The sound? Excellent as far as I'm concerned. Once fitted and tried out, I sold my electro acoustic and now just use the strat instead, both for live and recording. Download a demo of a song called "Reach Out" from my website if you want to hear it. Recorded with about +2dB @12KHz, otherwise flat on the mixer with a touch of reverb. Since I bought mine, they've improved the system, making for less fiddly soldering and a more modular approach with options for MIDI control as well. As the soldering was my only criticism, I'd be more than happy, given the spare bucks, to fit one to my new tele. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr_XD Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 hello, i´m thinking of getting a piezo tune-o-matic, but doesn´t come with a preamp, so i wondered if it is to difficult to buy one or if it would sound ok if i didn´t used one (maybe a weak signal??). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 Graphtech's range includes a preamp for their Ghost Tunematic too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 Wow Paul. I was quite impressed with the sound of that, I could hardly believe that was a Strat. I'll have to include one in an upcoming project, I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 It's a brilliant piece of kit. (wish I could say the same for my playing!). The strat has been rewired with a master tone in the centre position, and the rearward pot is the volume for the piezo system. Tweaking the eq on the mixer gives a huge amount of variety also. I can get a pretty convincing resonator guitar sound by taking loads of mid and bass out. Mixing with the electric sound is good too - fattens the sound out a lot, and again with the right eq, you can, with a strat at least, get a very convincing Rickenbacker sound. Well worth the $s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roli Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 LOL, isn't that an Ovation there, Paul? j/k Pretty electro-acoustic sound. And I like your songs and playing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 Cheers Roli! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 Howdy, I built a Tele with the Fishman Power Bridge, you can see it HERE. (Click on the Orange Guitar) The bottom knob is the Tele/Fishman control knob. And there is a 9v battery inside to power the Fishman. Fishman also makes a Tele and TAM version of the power bridge. In addition to the Bridge, you will need the Power Chip. It allows you to use either a mono out to one amp, or stereo out to separate amps. Kind of sweet. Take care and good luck. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 My main guitar is a parker nite fly sa. The fishmans in there sound awesome. especially blended. That said i think they were sorta deveolped for the parkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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