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#1
11-08-2021, 08:48 PM
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mini review: Graph Tech Ghost pickup
Ever since playing my friend's Parker Fly I've been intrigued with piezo-equipped solidbody guitars. I've looked for a hybrid. I know it will never sound like my nice acoustic but when I have one or two acoustic guitar parts in a 3-4 hour set, I would sure like to simulate a nice acoustic sound with just one guitar.
Well, I got a duplicate of my main guitar, that needed some repairs and TLC so I was open to major surgery . I replaced the proprietary bridge with a modified Tele top-mount bridge and installed Ghost piezo saddles  then I chose the full preamp kit  Make no mistake, this is a significant installation and not for the faint of heart - you WILL need to do some serious surgery on your guitar, possibly even routing cavities in the body wood. The installation was not difficult but it was involved. Also the installation instructions looked nice but were vague on several details. I emailed their product manager who was terrific and helpful - they did change the instructions recently so future ones should be more clear. I also had a minor issue with a part and they resolved it extremely generously. Showing a picture of my installation won't really mean much since everyone's guitar will be different (especially from mine). But mine is shown down below. I added the third pot in between my volume and tone control (It couldn't line up perfectly but it fit nicely there and I like the two volume controls next to each other). The operation is basically as follows: When using a normal mono output cable, the preamp turns on when I plug the cable into the guitar. The guitar plays normally - completely like before. But I can now blend the piezo pickup into my output by turning the new volume pot up. I can even turn my normal volume pot down and just use the piezo. The piezo volume is a push pull switch that acts like a dark/bright EQ setting. It does make a nice tone change and is useful in both settings, depending on the sound/song need. if I use a stereo cable, the preamp turns on like before but the piezo and original pickups are split. I use a Y-cable and run the piezo to my Fishman Loudbox Mini for a complete acoustic tone and the other to my Line6 for my magnetic pickups. I opted to *NOT* add the 3-way selector switch. I was able to select pickups with the volume knobs just fine. The wiring of the kit is very simple (once you sort out the instructions). Almost everything is pre-wired with plug-n-play Molex style connectors - you just plug them in to the correct pins on the PC Board header. So adding the toggle switch is simple - just plug it in. But you need to drill another hole and place the wires. This is a quickie simple sound sample - I just strummed and then fingerpicked so you could get a general sense of the acoustic tone. Its a crummy recording just made with my phone. It's plugged into my Fishman loudbox mini, with a little reverb and tiny bit of chorus. I deliberately strummed slowly then sped up so you could hear the difference and I switched from bright to dark a few times to show the variety. The pickup is convincingly acoustic-sounding and very clear and articulate when played gently or slowly. It loses a little clarity when strumming fast or hard. But it sounds great when played gently. Remember this is a solid body electric guitar, so for what it is, I think the sound is pretty amazing.
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" Taylor GC7, GA3-12, SB2-C, SB2-Cp...... Ibanez AVC-11MHx , AC-240 
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#2
11-09-2021, 09:33 AM
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Quote:
1. They are NOT all created equal. Some sound better than others. 2. No, it's NOT going to sound just like an acoustic. 3. You have to learn to play differently with a piezo; lighten up. You can't drive the top. A huge part of why so many piezos sound bad is operator error.
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