Amplificaton & electronics class needed

[Shea]

Ok, I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't know anything about guitar electronics and amps. I read these posts to try and learn, but I have no idea what a piezo or transducer does, what a passive system is, what a prefix does and etc.. I'm a mechanically inclined person, but when it comes to anything that deals with electricity, I'm lucky to figure out which end to plug in!

Though I just sold my 514c, I plan on getting another Taylor when I can. I don't like the electronics in the side and my next purchase will again be without that, but I would like to install some sort of system so that I can play amplified. Could any of the fine people on the Forum here explain to people like me the difference in these systems, how they work and so on? What are the advantages of each system? I'm sure I'm not the only one in the dark here. If that would take too much writing and posting, is there a website that we could be directed to that would teach us "electric newbies" what we need to know?

Any help would be appreciated.

Shea

[Noflatpick]

Man, I'd love to help but I probably know less than you do.

I had the Taylor factory install a Fishman under-saddle pickup in my 615 about a year after I bought the guitar. I then bought a Fender Acoustasonic SFX amp but I don't plug-in much. I'm about 90% an unamplified, pure acoustic player.

I like the sound of the Fender amp but it has way more effects than I have any use for. I like chorus and reverb for my guitar and I also like an amp with a microphone jack, but anything else probably won't get used more than once, just to see what it sounds like.

There are so many different choices in pickups and amplifiers that a guy could spend the rest of his life trying things out.

I guess the right approach is to figure out exactly what kind of sound you're looking for and then look for the equipment that will provide it for you.

This was NO help. Sorry.

Oh yeah. My Fishman pickup is an "active" pickup which means I have a nine volt battery installed inside my guitar body. The "passive" pickups don't have this.

I'm not sure what makes the active units better or worse than the passive. I do know that the passive units limit the length of cord between the guitar and amp. The active units will transmit a signal a lot farther.

The battery is a real pain in the *** to change. Unless you have real small hands you will probably have to remove all the strings to get inside the guitar. The very thing that Taylor recommends against.