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  #16  
Old 03-03-2018, 04:34 PM
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fazool fazool is online now
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Piezo pickups sound nothing like acoustic guitars. I think because so many people use them to perform everyone gets used to acoustic guitars sounding that way and think that's how an acoustic guitar sounds.

I think of them as the last resort pickup system.

Can't hear the acoustic guitar? OK need to amplify it.
Can't use a mic due to feedback? OK guess we need a piezo


I never understood why anyone would want to add a piezo pickup to an electric. guitar.

I am super sensitive to the nasally quack of even the best piezo pickups blecch
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  #17  
Old 03-03-2018, 04:49 PM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fazool View Post
Piezo pickups sound nothing like acoustic guitars. I think because so many people use them to perform everyone gets used to acoustic guitars sounding that way and think that's how an acoustic guitar sounds.

I think of them as the last resort pickup system.
It is all in the ear of the beholder. I played pitband gigs for years covering the acoustic parts with a PRS Hollowbody and later a Strat with a Powerbridge, with nothing but compliments on my "acoustic" sound from the conductors and fellow guitarists (some shows, such as Tommy had two). I have gigged for years in an acoustic duo using various less than ideal (my acoustic guitar in a living room only louder) guitars (Acoustasonic, A6, T5z, Baggs Element equipped RainSongs) and have been happy with my tone. To my ear, first comes the vocal performance, next the musicality of the improvised guitar solos, and dead last perfection of tone relative to an acoustic guitar in my living room (and I rarely get to perform in a quiet living room anyway...). I probably care more that my tone for single note soloing has decent sustain and cuts through the mix, if I was to confess my prejudices.

It's not that chasing a perfect amplified acoustic tone is not a worthy choice, it just isn't the concern of most performing guitarists.
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Last edited by jonfields45; 03-03-2018 at 04:54 PM.
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  #18  
Old 03-03-2018, 08:37 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fazool View Post
Piezo pickups sound nothing like acoustic guitars. I think because so many people use them to perform everyone gets used to acoustic guitars sounding that way and think that's how an acoustic guitar sounds.

I think of them as the last resort pickup system.

Can't hear the acoustic guitar? OK need to amplify it.
Can't use a mic due to feedback? OK guess we need a piezo


I never understood why anyone would want to add a piezo pickup to an electric. guitar.

I am super sensitive to the nasally quack of even the best piezo pickups blecch
In a mix sometimes you just need a different texture that cuts through, and an "acoustic-like" texture is enough. Also, it's a lot faster to switch between piezo and electric sounds, and it's one less guitar to lug around.

I also run a Roland GR-55, and I use the piezo saddles instead of the GK unit because it seems to respond slightly faster to most MIDI patches. I use the GraphTech saddles, in both a standard vintage trem, and Floyd Rose, and the piezo sounds are not bad at all. Plus it's like playing 5 instruments, since I have the sound of the piezo, my electric pickups, the Roland modeled guitar sound, and two channels of MIDI. Great way to fill up space, since it's just me, bass, singer, and drums.

May be hard to believe but some people actually go out and play covers. And many of the places I've been to are not too conducive to having an acoustic guitar hanging around, especially if it's only for a handful of songs. And I've never, ever, had anyone in an audience tell me they didn't like the sound of the piezos in my guitar! For an acoustic setting, I bring an acoustic guitar an have it mic'd.
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  #19  
Old 03-03-2018, 09:25 PM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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I believe the most convincing and flexible "acoustic" sounds from a solid-body electric come from adding modeling. The Line6 Variax can make several fairly consistent acoustic sounds via it's piezo and it's very easy to use. The Roland MIDI G55 system has a good enough sitar patch that I no longer use my Coral sitar copy.

Both Roland and Line 6's system allow for altered tunings too. I think Joni Mitchell may have ended up with a similar class of system to handle her on-stage multiple tuning needs.

So, yes they are useful, particularly when multiple sounds are desired and hauling extra gear isn't practical. I'm not a touring musician, but I use these things to "fake" unusual "world music" instruments.
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  #20  
Old 03-28-2018, 04:46 AM
AcouStickistNS AcouStickistNS is offline
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Since I last posted I had several emails with Music Man about this. The guitar is designed to work with any amp, and there’s no known limitations in that regard. Since the bridge was poorly setup, that’s the main clue that the original owner tampered with it. Second, the control pots on the backside misaligned with the holes in the protective plastic plate is another clue. If the battery was weak, and all of the old cables in the store were shot, then the salesman didn’t do “due dilligence” and fix that, other than have their tech adjust the bridge saddles that were off. Perhaps if they offered me a better price to have the instrument sent back to the MFG, I’d of considered buying, but this particular store I’ve had bad experiences with in the past. So I’m not cutting the store any break here Sad to see a perfectly good guitar be reduced to this state. Thanks for all the responses here. Just noticed a few I didn’t see. May give a few Variax guitars a try also. Never played one before.
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  #21  
Old 03-29-2018, 09:55 AM
jwguitar jwguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscmp View Post
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!
I had that same guitar a while back it was a really good guitar but I have to agree with you on the overall balance.
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  #22  
Old 03-29-2018, 10:22 AM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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I saw Pat Metheny on a trio tour 6 or 7 years ago. He was using a piezo in his hollow-body jazz box to layer on an 'acoustic-like' tone. It was a gorgeous sound.
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  #23  
Old 03-29-2018, 10:34 AM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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One of the best I ever played was an American made Ovation VXT. Les Paul type body. Two Seymour Duncan pickups plus piezo bridge which ran through special circuitry which has a brand name I can't remember, some sort of imaging. Fantastically realistic acoustic sounds fully blendable. Mono or stereo. A really underated guitar. Brilliant thing and very cheap as they never got popular. It knocked spots off my Parker Fly.
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  #24  
Old 03-29-2018, 10:54 AM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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Just remembered it's a Fishman powerbridge going through the Aurora processing.
Lots of info on net and youtube.
Nick
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  #25  
Old 03-29-2018, 10:57 AM
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I have a nice Peerless archtop with a floating neck pickup. Is there any way to add a piezo onto the face of the guitar between the bridge and the Armstrong pickup at the neck? This would be surface mounted but obviously it has to pick up the string vibration.
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  #26  
Old 03-29-2018, 01:39 PM
seannx seannx is offline
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I have a 700 Variax electric with a custom LR Baggs tremolo bridge. The guitar has no active pickups. It was fun playing it for a few years, having lots of options for guitar sounds, and open tunings with the twist of a dial. One of the constant issues on the Variax forums was regarding "piezo quack", but most users were pleased with the versatility.

When I bought my Taylor, I switched back to acoustic guitar, and the Variax has been stored away. I have other electrics to play, that don't depend on digital technology. Thanks to this thread, I checked Reverb, and there is a market for the guitar, so I'm going to sell it.
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  #27  
Old 05-08-2018, 10:13 PM
AcouStickistNS AcouStickistNS is offline
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Combining some coupons with one of GC's sales was too good to resist, especially with three of those Petrucci guitars in the store. Took home the purple one

The neat thing I did not realize is that it has a switchable mono/stereo jack. Sounds amazing running the Piezo into my acoustic amp and the magnetics into the electric guitar amp. The guitar plays fantastic, doubt I could find a better guitar for myself. No noise coming out of the guitar either, except when I run two amps I suspect there's a bit of interference going on, but the noise coming out of the amps is not too bad. The piezo produces an acoustic - like tone that really shines when running it through an acoustic guitar amp.
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  #28  
Old 05-09-2018, 06:53 AM
guitararmy guitararmy is offline
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Congrats on your new guitar! Music Man makes a nice product. Should sound huge through a PA!
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  #29  
Old 05-09-2018, 06:55 AM
s2y s2y is offline
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Nice. The JP15 7 string is kind of on my list.
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  #30  
Old 05-20-2018, 02:34 AM
Hurricane Ramon Hurricane Ramon is offline
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Thumbs up Going Piezo

My Godin LGXSA has individual piezo's and I love it . It's got a separated out for the piezo and the hexophonic
out besides the split coil mag PU's out .

I get a really great tone with the piezos into my Carvin X-60 60 watt tube amp .

But

If you want all that is capable of a great sounding acoustic you have to have a P.A. or a FRFR guitar amp period ,
there's no other way to get the optimal sound with any guitar amp whether it's tube or SS .

I played my LGXSA piezo out through my T.C. Helicon Voice Live 3 X's 5 BodyRez presets and it sounds really
great on each one .

EZ :

HR
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