Piezo for that "Acoustic" Sound

[slooky]

I have a Godin LGX3 that has 3 duckbuckers and a piezo. Two quarter inch outputs. The acoustic piezo runs out to a Zoom A3. Sounds good to me!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Brendan @ Heartbreaker Guitars

Guys, What do you think of equipping an electric guitar with a Piezo pick up to create that acoustic tone when playing live? I run into a lot of guys that don't like it and would just assume have an electric and an acoustic. I actually kind of like it myself. Opinions?

Hi B@H

It's been tried, and not successfully to my ears.

I'd love for something in that realm to 'work', alas hybrid guitars I've tried are not acoustic enough nor electric enough.

I play my Olson when I want acoustic sound live, & my American StratPlus when I want electric. And I NEVER find a piezo (under saddle) sound realistic.

Another issue for me with hybrids is the wound-third-string versus unwound-third-string thing.

[Steadfastly]

A number of manufacturers have done and/or are doing this. Peavey and Godin are the first two that come to mind but there are a number of others. Some like them and some don't. I think some are better than others. With so many options to make an electric guitars sound like an acoustic, you might want to look at several of them before you make a decision. Synth, Fishman Triple Play, FX units and pedals are some of the other ways.

[Sonics]

Originally Posted by slooky

I have a Godin LGX3 that has 3 duckbuckers and a piezo. Two quarter inch outputs. The acoustic piezo runs out to a Zoom A3. Sounds good to me!

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I have an LR Baggs X-bridge in a Tom Anderson Cobra, which I sometimes run through a Fishman Aura (the original model). It works for me!

'Mic' modelling, which is an EQ effect, seems to be the obvious and easiest solution.
The 'other' solutions, i.e guitar modelling (another 'effect') and MIDI sample playback, require a more substantial investment in gear and 'learning curve', which most 'casual' musicians are not prepared to undertake.

For example, if you have a MIDI guitar or a guitar synth/converter with a 'MIDI out' or an USB, then you can plug into a MIDI sound source or computer and access its acoustic library...

[AxeDude]

One of the biggest problems is with the strings. Electric guitar strings vs acoustic strings. They are just different animals.
The closest I've achieved is with a Parker Fly using a split cable for acoustic and electric pickups with a Fishman Acoustic Aura DI. But playing finger style on 10 gauge strings- well, it just doesn't get it.

[JohnW63]

I use them on both Renaissance and Rick Turner Model 1

I would love to try either guitar. They just cost more than I can justify for just playing to entertain myself and a few recitals a year. One can always dream, I guess.

[mikealpine]

I like the effect you get. It doesn’t sounds acoustic-like enough for some of the songs my band does. It won’t fool anyone when you look like you’re playing an electric guitar, no matter how acoustic-like it is. I won’t play an acoustic set with one, but for the occasional flavor I might need, it does the job. My ears may tell the difference, as they would for most of us in this forum, but your average gig attended won’t know and won’t care, as long as the songs sound good.

[vindibona1]

I am not a fan of piezo pickups at all. I've never heard a setup with one that I thought produced a natural acoustic sound. One guy I play with regularly had one installed in his D35 and, depending on the day and house setting, either sounds like someone is jabbing an ice-pick in my ear or he sounds like a **** banjo when he plays anywhere hear the saddle. I suppose the Taylor ES2 is a piezo and on a 1-10 scale of acoustic pickup sounds I'd give it a 5.5. The ES2 really seems to amplify my finger squeak. I'm not jumping up and down about the Taylor ES1 system either, but there are some situations where I prefer it to the ES2 even though it too is not natural sounding.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Aaron Smith

Fishman Aura system makes those undersaddle piezos sound surprisingly tolerable.

About ten years ago I played in the local theater pit bands (Civic Theater of Allentown, Mulhlenberg College). I never brought two guitars. I had a PRS Hollowbody with what I think might have been the Baggs piezos and I installed the Fishman piezos in a Gibson ES-335 and a Fender Strat. I always got good feedback on my acoustic guitar tone from the music directors when I processed them further with an Aura pedal. It took some hunting at the time to find a library patch that I liked. A Variax is still a step up. I ended up with the Strat because the parts sometimes called for a vibrato arm (I think that was the Full Monty). I did not own those guitars for long at the same time. It is part of my hobby, or mental illness, to turn over my guitars constantly. When I quit the pit band business I gave the Strat to my son and he has kept it.

More recently I've gigged in my duo with a T5z (not a great acoustic tone) and a Godin A6 Ultra (actually a quite nice sounding acoustic if you mix the UST and humbucker). Both these guitars are tone bar plus ladder braced tiny acoustic guitars. As electrics they were fine (the A6 has no bridge PUP which is a big limitation as an electric).

[Livingston]

Originally Posted by Brendan @ Heartbreaker Guitars

Guys, What do you think of equipping an electric guitar with a Piezo pick up to create that acoustic tone when playing live? I run into a lot of guys that don't like it and would just assume have an electric and an acoustic. I actually kind of like it myself. Opinions?

I purchased a Carvin FG1S (Frank Gambale signature model) from Gryphon Stringed Instruments several years ago. It is a semi-hollow body guitar with 2 humbuckers and tune-o-matic style bridge. The bridge has individual piezo saddles that are midi compatible.

There are 3 separate outputs; 2 x 1/4" unbalanced outs and a 13 pin midi out.

While I wouldn't describe the piezo pickup sound on this guitar as acoustic sounding (as in, it sounds just like an acoustic guitar), it does give a nice amplified sound that has some elements of an acoustic guitar.

It's a great alternative to the humbuckers and can be switched on the fly. Since there are separate outputs for the humbuckers and the piezo pickup, I can run two instrument cables to two separate amps. Then, I just use the volume controls on the guitar, to switch or blend to and from HB and piezo.

For me, it doesn't supplant an acoustic, but it sure offers a nice, alternative tone to humbuckers, on the fly. (Photos below, courtesy of Gryphon Stringed Instruments)

[LouieAtienza]

I've been using piezos on my electrics for a long while now. As others have said, they're not the best substitute for an acoustic sound, though they are getting better. I do feel that they do work better with a hollowbody guitar. While the piezo sound is OK but not really like a true acoustic sound, I use the piezos as a pickup for my Roland GR-55, where I can dial in a number of acoustic tones that are passable to very convincing - especially in a mix. I've had folks ask me how I get sounds when they don't see an acoustic guitar.

It's not perfect, yet, but it will only be a matter of time before somebody makes a modeling piezo preamp for electric. Fishman does it already with their acoustic preamps in some Martin models.

[aknow]

I've been using a PRS P-22 w/ 2 humbuckers and a piezo. I plug the piezo into a AER C-60, the hum buckers into twin Carr Skylark amps. As others have said, it's not a true acoustic sound, but in certain circumstances and a little tiny bit of delay, the piezo sounds beautiful. Good for ambient picking sounds.

[SpruceTop]

My Ovation VXT Electric has a Fishman Piezo Bridge with an Aura Image in the preamp. It doesn't sound all that acoustic when using just that pickup/preamp combo but it can add some pleasing tonal variation when combined with one or both of the VXT's Duncan 59 neck and bridge humbuckers.