Yamaha "SRT Zero Impact Pickup"--does it need a preamp?

[Rpt50]

A number of Yamaha guitars I am considering come with a "SRT Zero Impact Pickup" installed from the factory. One of the reviews I was watching mentioned the need to use a preamp with this pickup. I'm not having much luck searching on the web about "preamps". Can someone explain to me what exactly is needed to amplify this guitar? I've got various amps (electric guitar, bass, even a small acoustic amp) in the house, and the only other acoustic guitar I've had with a pickup (a Taylor) worked fine just by plugging it into any amp. Do I need to buy something else to go with a Yamaha with the SRT pickup? Thank you!

[Marek]

SRT Zero Impact Pickup is a passive piezo undersaddle transducer known from pickup systems in the past (six piezo elements on a quite stiff surface).
It has low output and high impedance, so you need good acoustic preamp or acousic amp with high impedance / high gain input

[Rpt50]

Originally Posted by Marek

SRT Zero Impact Pickup is a passive piezo undersaddle transducer known from pickup systems in the past (six piezo elements on a quite stiff surface).
It has low output and high impedance, so you need good acoustic preamp or acousic amp with high impedance / high gain input

Can you give me an example of what I would need to use a guitar with this pickup with, for example, a Boss Katana amp, Vox tube amp, or Fender bass amp? When I type in "acoustic guitar preamp" for a search I get things ranging from $50 to $600+.

Also, are you saying that it literally will not work if I plug it in to one of my amps?

Sorry for all these questions, but the LL and LS guitars I'm interested in are never in stores to try, and of course my local GC is useless for these questions.

[martingitdave]

Just about any "acoustic" guitar amplifier will have a preamp built in. The Yamaha zero impact pickup is as described by Marek. It benefits from a preamp. Generally, you would consider an outboard pedal preamp if you want a lot of control before you go into a PA system.

[YamahaGuy]

It would be nice to know what you plan to plug into. I played an LL16M ARE and and LS16 with the Zero Impact pickup at several venues. I play through PA systems all the time. I plugged in direct with no problems. If I used my LR Baggs Para DI, the sound was a tad less quacky. Any decent mixer will match the impedance fine. Plug in direct and go.

[Rpt50]

Ok, this is what I need to know. I have some stuff at the house that should work (a small PA, a small acoustic guitar amp). All I want to do is mess around with a looper pedal at the house. Bass is my instrument for public performance. I don't see that happening with guitar and I want to keep the expense and complexity minimal. Thanks!

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Rpt50

Ok, this is what I need to know. I have some stuff at the house that should work (a small PA, a small acoustic guitar amp). All I want to do is mess around with a looper pedal at the house. Bass is my instrument for public performance. I don't see that happening with guitar and I want to keep the expense and complexity minimal. Thanks!

The passive low impact UST would almost certainly work well when running DIRECTLY to your acoustic amp, since it would be designed to accommodate a range of passive pickups.

Whether or not it will work well going to the looper would depend on the input impedance of the looper and the needs of the pickup. Some passive piezo pickups will work well looking into a 1 Mohm input impedance, while other passive piezo pickups may require 5 or 10 Mohms to get a full sounding (as opposed to trebley and tinny sounding) result.

Presuming that your acoustic amp provides all the tone control and boost that you need, you wouldn't need anything more fancy than a Shatten Design Mini Preamp between the guitar and the looper (if it turns out that you need anthing at all).

PS With passive pickups it helps to use a relative short (10' or less) and good quality cable between the guitar and the next device in the signal chain.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Rpt50

Ok, this is what I need to know. I have some stuff at the house that should work (a small PA, a small acoustic guitar amp). All I want to do is mess around with a looper pedal at the house. Bass is my instrument for public performance. I don't see that happening with guitar and I want to keep the expense and complexity minimal. Thanks!

You'll be plugging into the looper and the looper output will go to your amp. Most loopers have a 1 meg or higher input impedance. That will take care of any impedance matching problems that you might experiance from using your "zero impact" pickup.

The Zero Impact pickup is essentially the same as a Fishman AG series UST. You can use the same advice for your Yamaha zero impact pickup as what you'll find recommended for the Fishman USTs.