How to remove the piezo 'quack' from your tone.

[Sonics]

It's VERY effective on Nylon guitars...

[Pitar]

The Aura has a low mid presence that I don't like. I've heard it before and thought it to be the guitar I was listening to, or the EQ setting of it. This recording, though suspect being an internet put-up, rings of the same droning low mid presence.

Piezo does not do steel strings very well and no amount of tonal control can positively change that. Under saddle transducers (UST) are the worst source locations. Sound board transducers (SBT) like the K&K arrays are a little better but need to be placed further away from the bridge plate location the DIY kit directs the buyer to place them on. There are better locations for the 3 Piezo bugs to tap their frequencies from on the soundboard but it's different for each guitar. That would burden the DIY'er with more than he bargained for so the bridgeplate became the standard location for marketing those arrays as kits. Hence the short leads for each of the three bugs.

Piezo is just a very sensitive source and little can be done with filtering it to achieve the sound of the acoustic resonance without the baggage of a clinging metallic component. For that reason I left steel string guitar behind and switched to a classical with a Piezo UST source in the on-board system. I run it out to a Fishman SA220 amp and between the amp and the guitar I couldn't be happier with the result. Nylon does not make the Piezo chatter like steel does so the sound is much more complimentary of the guitar.

[Tico]

How to remove peizo quack?
Don't use a duck.

Instead of trying to remove quack, just don't create it.
You don't have to.
Use this bird.

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/microp...one-for-guitar

I've used mine over a year and it's a dream guitar mic.
Sound is accurate, just clean clear and transparent ... much like a high-end studio condenser mic, which it actually is.
It has better feedback resistance, gain before feedback, than typical on-stand mics.
Unlike with a mic on a stand, you are free to move around the stage ... just use a bit of real gaffer tape to keep the clip more secure.

It's $619, but you only need one for all your guitars since it takes seconds to move the clip to another guitar.
Zero installation cost and no holes to drill into your guitar.

[Mandobart]

Piezo quack is usually the result of impedance mismatch between the high impedance (~10 Mohm) of the pickup and low impedance (kilohm range) of a typical PA. Try using a decent DI or preamp to match the impedance, or plugging straight into a "HI Z" input if your amp/PA has one.

[ThermiteTermite]

Try switching off the amp.

[Rudy4]

Mandobart's reply is spot on.

Additionally, use a high quality low capacitance cable (preferably less than 10 feet in length) to whatever device you choose to impedance match the transducers to whatever the next step in your signal chain is.

In a perfect world the transducers will have no more than 18" (manufacturers sometimes recommend 6" length) in signal path length to the electronics, but I've found K&K Pure Mini transducers work well if you use a short cord to that first device, which must have a sufficiently high input impedance to prevent or minimize quack.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by ThermiteTermite

Try switching off the amp.

...........

[Deadduck]

There's no perfect solution, but the Baggs Anthem is a pretty good system. I have that in my J-45. A definite upgrade to the OEM Element under saddle.
My D-28 has a JJB Prestige pickup which is similar to the K&K. This one definitely doesn't have the quack, but it will get lost in the mix somewhat as it lacks the presence of the Anthem.
I've learned that if you're playing with a band, you need a certain amount of mids to be heard. This is true for acoustic and electric guitar. I've heard guitars that sounded full and balanced on their own turn to complete mud in the mix. So for playing amplified, sometimes there are compromises that must be made.

[Mr Fingers]

Good luck. I don't think that piezo sounds like anything more than an approximation of a dud acoustic tone, and trying to make something that's off to begin with sound a little better seems like an exercise in futility to me. I honestly think the piezo takes most of what is great bout an acoustic guitar and acoustic tone... and degrades it.

[JohnW63]

Hi Z input works wonders.

The problem is, a lot of acoustic amps don't have one. Often electric amps do. That changes the tone you're going to have.

[Medford Guitar]

Very true, if you're using passive piezo. If you're using an active piezo then it really doesn't matter. The signal from a 9v active piezo is hot enough to use any input jack, not necessarily a High-Z

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by JohnW63

Hi Z input works wonders.

The problem is, a lot of acoustic amps don't have one. Often electric amps do. That changes the tone you're going to have.

That's only for passive pickups

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by Medford Guitar

Very true, if you're using passive piezo. If you're using an active piezo then it really doesn't matter. The signal from a 9v active piezo is hot enough to use any input jack, not necessarily a High-Z

Originally Posted by JackB1

That's only for passive pickups

A piezo pickup installed with active electronics nearly always includes impedance matching in the circuit, so yes a HI Z input is no longer necessary at the amp/PA. A further preamp is likely unnecessary as well, but plenty of players still like to use them.

My personal preference is for no batteries inside an instrument that are often a PITA to access and change and sometimes leak nasty chemicals that don't do any favors to the inside of an instrument. All the pickups are passive in my acoustic instruments.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Medford Guitar

Very true, if you're using passive piezo. If you're using an active piezo then it really doesn't matter. The signal from a 9v active piezo is hot enough to use any input jack, not necessarily a High-Z

that post you replied to was seven years old. I dont think the author is still waiting for a reply

[Medford Guitar]

Originally Posted by fazool

that post you replied to was seven years old. I dont think the author is still waiting for a reply

You never know, perhaps he's still been searching...