While they may not automatically turn your electric into an acoustic guitar tone-wise, they indeed represent the actual acoustic energy from your electric guitar.Īnother thing to be aware of is the dynamic response of piezo pickups. Piezo pickups are often brighter and less warm than magnetic pickups, allowing for a high degree of string articulation and clarity in your tone. This can be thought of as being more akin to that of an acoustic guitar tone in many ways compared to the tone of magnetic pickups. What is being picked up with a piezo is the sound of the strings and the vibrations caused by the resonance of the wood and the hardware… in other words, the actual sound of the guitar. It’s said that piezo pickups on an electric guitar produce a more acoustic-like tone, but that’s not exactly accurate. If none of the information above made you do anything but yawn, that’s okay, because the real thing you came here to learn is what piezo pickups sound like. The more important thing to know as a musician is what to expect from them tone-wise. Piezo-electric pickups, to use their proper name, are actually an older technology than that of magnetic pickups. They typically use a type of compressed crystal to receive the vibrations (we know it sounds like crazy magical voodoo talk, but trust us, it’s true), and the signal gets translated and preamplified before being sent to the guitar’s output. Instead of the magnetic field as described above, the piezo pickup actually measures the pressure of the string/instrument vibrations to create the electrical current. The EC-1000 Piezo (top) and the BB-600 Baritone (bottom) are two ESP LTD models that include both piezo and magnetic pickups. That’s why they’ve typically been used as pickups for acoustic instruments, like nylon-string guitars that wouldn’t work with a magnetic pickup. The reason is simple: piezo pickups work by picking up the actual vibrations of the string and the instrument. Unlike magnetic pickups, which are easily noticed under the strings between the bridge and the neck, piezo pickups in an electric guitar are usually located inside the bridge itself. First, you don’t even see them on the guitar. They translate acoustic energy into small electrical signals that you can then amplify.Ī piezo pickup is very different. This is a similar idea in regard to how most microphones work, which is why pickups and mics are both called transducers.

The field created by the magnet and coil translates the vibration into electrical signals. Hit a string on the electric guitar and the string vibrates. The pickup has a magnet or series of magnets that are wrapped in wire coil. Whether active (like many from EMG) or passive (like most made by Seymour Duncan), magnetic pickups work on the same principle. Most pickups on electric guitars are magnetic pickups. We’re not going to get into very much of the scientific discussion behind piezo (pronounced “pee-YAY-zoh”) pickups, but you will at least want to know a basic idea of what they are and how they’re different from the pickups you already know and love. The visual highlights are undoubtedly the Fame Forum headstock with signature inlay, the wooden bindings and the white custom laser engraving on the top.With the release of some of our recent new models like the LTD EC-1000 Piezo and the LTD Signature Series guitar for Ben Burnley of Breaking Benjamin, the BB-600 Baritone, we’ve had a number of people let us know that they’d like to learn more about what a piezo pickup is and how it works. At the same time, the black die-cast tuners guarantee precise tuning of the 6 steel strings, while the compensated bridge inlay and saddle ensure clean intonation over the entire 650 mm scale. This is supported by the generous cutaway, which allows optimised access to the high registers. This means that all 20 frets can be reached and operated comfortably. At the same time, the flat neck is particularly pleasing for beginners and advanced players alike, because it has a very grippy profile that harmonises excellently with the slight radius of the fingerboard and the slim 43 mm nut width. At the same time, the solid wood top ensures a balanced and powerful sound that easily asserts itself during strumming and picking. In addition to the noble matte black design, the brand-new signature model impresses with its comprehensive functionality, which is completed by a custom-made pickup system. Fans who missed out on the limited special edition now have another opportunity to secure a genuine Peter Maffay acoustic guitar.

Grand piezo guitar bridge