Anyone have an electric with a piezo bridge?

AcouStickistNS · #1 02-25-2018, 11:45 PM

Ever since the Music Man John Petrucci signature Majesty series came out, it’s been something I’ve been watching ever since. I tried out every model at NAMM 2015, found them to be fantastic guitars. Love the acoustic-like tone coming out of the piezo bridge. I happen to find a used one locally selling for a great price, but passed on it as the piezo was super noisy, and when I flipped the instrument over, the adjustment screws didn’t line up with the cover holes. Wasn’t sure if it were the cables, but I did try it in a fishman acoustic amp also, and it was just as noisy as the tube amps in the store. Switching to normal pickups were quiet. I don’t recall seeing this happen before, so I passed believing the guitar might have been tampered with. It got me thinking though, would running some of these guitars through an electric guitar tube amp get a bit noisy? Running an acoustic into an electric guitar tube amp is rarely a good idea with piezo. In contrast, PRS has a model that has a separate jack for the piezo bridge. I don’t use tube amps, I run my instruments through a Helix into a PA, and I also have a Quilter Micropro III. I’ve also tried many Basses with piezo/magnetic pickup combos that run really quiet. Anyone have experiences to share? I did send an email to the MFG, waiting to hear back as it’s the weekend.

jonfields45 · #2 02-26-2018, 07:05 AM

I've had a PRS Hollowbody and put a Fishman Powerbridge in a Strat that my son now plays. Both were quiet. Music Man guitars with piezo bridges don't come cheap, but I imagine any required repair would not cost much and still make it a good deal. It should not be noisy regardless of where you plug it. If all 6 strings were working for the piezo, I imagine it is a cheap wiring fix or swap of the preamp board.

guitararmy · #3 02-26-2018, 07:28 AM

I have Tom Anderson and Parker electric guitars with piezo bridges. Normally the piezo's are quiet. I wonder if the one you tried had a weak battery...

AcouStickistNS · #4 02-26-2018, 11:08 AM

Thanks for the responses. I totally forgot about the Parkers, I’ve played a few of those with the piezo bridges, forgot about them. Last time I looked, they do not have a 24 fret model. I would have noticed the noise. I have a few active instruments, don’t recall a weak battery making the noise I heard, was really bad. The misaligned holes on the backside didn’t look right, so I’m not going to get that one. I’d also like to check out anything else that would have 24 SS frets and a piezo bridge. Also thought about a custom Kiesel.

Cochese · #5 02-26-2018, 11:09 AM

Piezos sense vibration and don't pickup electrical interference like a magnetic pickup. Usually piezos in hybrid guitars and most acoustic electric guitars have internal preamplifiers and it's possible a faulty preamp or electronics could have been the issue.

Tube amps are not what I'd call noisy if designed properly and functioning properly. If you're accustomed to modelers which use noise gates that can give you an unrealistic expectation of what is noisy and what isn't. Noise when you are not playing has to be compared to when you are playing. Signal to noise ratio.

You can surely play a piezo sound into a tube amp or split the signal to an acoustic amp or the PA system. Having used a number of hybrids over the years including the Parker Fly, a piezo will give a very convincing "faux" acoustic tone. They work well in band context when mixed with the amplified electric tone etc. On their own, most people find them somewhat lacking if wanting a full bodied acoustic tone.

Depending on your application and expectations I think piezos can really add a lot to certain guitars. I would just find the instrument you like and not let one bad experience sway you from buying one. Music Man makes great guitars and I wouldn't hesitate buying one that has a piezo.

AcouStickistNS · #6 02-26-2018, 12:01 PM

Thanks, that instrument I tried also had to have the bridge tweaked. I’m leaning towards getting a new one. I have confidence In Music Man, and I’ve probably played at least a dozen,but this was he first Monarchy model I tried, too bad t previous owner messed with it. Just checking if I need to be aware of anything if I get one and ever plug one into a tube amp.

Hotspur · #7 02-26-2018, 12:19 PM

I played a PRS Hollowbody that didn't have that problem, so I suspect the guitar you tried had a weak battery and/or some faulty wiring somewhere.

The Taylor T5Z isn't a piezo, but it's a different approach to getting acoustic and electric sounds in one guitar. The Godin A6 is another.

All three of those guitars are designed so you can run the acoustic sounds into either an electric or an acoustic amp. The Godin and the PRS make it easy to run the piezo into a different amp from the magnetic pickups.

Dru Edwards · #8 02-26-2018, 05:40 PM

7-8 years back I played in a band and the other guitarist had the John Petrucci model. We played rock and there were a few songs that had an acoustic in it. He used the piezo bridge in place of the acoustic and it sounded great. I don't recall any noise when he used the piezo ... but I do think it had it's own output jack?

Nymuso · #9 02-26-2018, 06:14 PM

Most of the piezo bridges on electrics are somewhat serviceable if you want to strum. They are not really convincing for fingerstyle. The strings tend to be 10s or lighter with unwound thirds and the output coming through a guitar amp . . . . well the whole package does not deliver what we as acoustic guitarists might deem optimal. Better results can be obtained if you separate the piezo and magnetic signals and send them to the appropriate amps, but you're still not going to confuse the tone with that of a D-28.

aknow · #10 02-26-2018, 07:56 PM

I have a PRS P 22 which has humbuckers and a piezo pickup. Takes subtle effects far better than my acoustics, nice to fingerpick.

AcouStickistNS · #11 02-26-2018, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nymuso

Most of the piezo bridges on electrics are somewhat serviceable if you want to strum. They are not really convincing for fingerstyle. The strings tend to be 10s or lighter with unwound thirds and the output coming through a guitar amp . . . . well the whole package does not deliver what we as acoustic guitarists might deem optimal. Better results can be obtained if you separate the piezo and magnetic signals and send them to the appropriate amps, but you're still not going to confuse the tone with that of a D-28.

Agree. Didn't have too much issue with the light string gage on that guitar, compared to the .011-.048" I use on my PRS. Tapping on it was incredible. There's something about the neck on the JP that just worked really well for me, even with a string gage I typically stray away from. I was really surprised how much I could actually tolerate the light gage of those strings.

One of the features I really like is the on board variable adjust boost knob. Nowadays I tend to play more with other people, and having that feature on a guitar would come in handy. The full piezo would allow me to play with other acoustic players by backing off the electric tone when it's their turn to solo.

Another guitar I like with a hybrid tone is the Godin A6, but it doesn't quite deliver for me on the electric side as much as I'd like. Although Rik Emmett does an awesome job with those, saw him a couple years ago locally. It's also tough for me to not have a 24 fret neck, I've become quite used to having that, going less may leave me at some point wanting the remaining frets back.

I've got plenty of time to look into this and check out a few other guitars, my PRS is now 16 years old, in great shape, still has some fret life left in it after some work by a local repairman. But it's about time to add something new. Cool thing about a simulated acoustic tone is running it through effects. Opens up a bit more possibilities, but like you said, can never can sound like a top notch acoustic.

coconuts · #12 03-03-2018, 02:44 PM

I have a music man JP 15. Piezo bridge is quiet and sounds great. The Majesty should be just as good, so I imagine there is a problem with the one you saw. I have heard that they these bridge PUs can sometimes have issues. Might just be a soldering problem.

muscmp · #13 03-03-2018, 04:13 PM

i have a gibson chet atkins CE with classical strings and a piezo pickup in the bridge. fun to play but takes a 9 volt battery in the back as well as dip switches to vary the loudness of each string. a little finicky.

play music!

HHP · #14 03-03-2018, 04:22 PM

I had a Fishman Powerbridge installed on a Telecaster. I went with a passive install and ran it through the Fishman outboard blender. Also used a Y cable so the electric and acoustic could be routed to different amps. Its a decent simulation but will not be confused with a real thing.

Nymuso · #15 03-03-2018, 04:31 PM

I have a Parker and two Godins with piezo bridges. No piezo in an electric I have heard to date will impersonate a dread, but with proper processing and eq, can come close if some relatively heavy strings are used. As for the noise issue, someone has suggested a low battery might be the culprit, and that is the first thing I would check.