To Piezo or NOT to Piezo?

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Hey all,

I posted earlier about a recommended replacement bridge for a Schecter Strat style guitar I have.

I'm looking to replace the bridge as it breaks the A string. I COULD just make the appropriate mods to aleviate the breakage issue, but this guitar has become my main axe now because it's so versatile and so sweet. It's It's one of the mid-90's USA made axes and it just feels so great and vibrates like crazy. It's just a special guitar.

I initially was thinking I'd treat the guitar to a Callaham bridge. However, I've been thinking I might add that extra measure of versatility with either a Fishman Power Bridge or the Baggs equivalent.

BUT, I don't want to take away from the special qualities of this guitar.

Is the piezo bridge going to degrade the feel/stability/tone/sustain of the guitar over the stock bridge? Would the Callaham be enough better to forgo the added versatility.

Your input and opinions would be appreciated.

[big mike]

Piezo's never sound convincing enough to me.

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Originally Posted by big mike

Piezo's never sound convincing enough to me.

True.

Do I expect a piezo in the bridge of an electric guitar to sound like a nice acoustic guitar mic'd up? No.

Do I expect one to sound like my Martin DC16-GTE plugged in? No.

But that's not the point I'm considering. It DOES give a different sound than the other pickup combinations on the guitar.

Question is, is it worth adding that extra sound, and all the blended opitons, or would it be better to go with a top flight bridge like the Callaham? That's what I'm wanting opinions on.

Thanks,

Paul

[Orren]

Originally Posted by leftys-bbq

Question is, is it worth adding that extra sound, and all the blended opitons, or would it be better to go with a top flight bridge like the Callaham? That's what I'm wanting opinions on.

I'm having a Fishman PowerBridge added to a custom lefty hollow body I'm having built, for exactly that reason—the extra tones, not so much to pass as an acoustic. I'm planning to use the Piezo tones blended in with the electric tones, as a way to get more "jangly" tones than normally a hollow body can get. Piezos have a definite electric-quack sound, but blended with mags, they can add a really clean, sharp attack.

Orren

[pipedwho]

I installed a Graphtech Ghost Tun-o-matic bridge version on my Schecter C1-Classic. Sounds great, and works very well. It didn't change the regular sound of the guitar in any noticeable way.

I have a full installation thread on HCEG and a short sound clip of the piezo. If you're interested I can find a link.

[Macman]

I've installed the Baggs Strat Bridge on a warmoth strat, transplanted the baggs saddles onto a PRS CU22 both with the Control X Preamp and a PRS HB1 with the piezo option.

Did it take away from the tone of the guitar? nope.. infact, I flushed the bridge on the warmoth strat and put 5 springs on it.. the result was a acoustically loud and sustaining guitar.. when plugged in, it sustains well too...

I do have a Baggs Para DI on my board to give it a tad bit more fatness in the low mids just to make it sound a bit more acoustic like if there's such a term and the results have been great so far.




I do have a y cable running the mags and piezo to my pedal board and each has its own volume pedal. That makes it easy for me to switch out to either at anytime or run them both on.


Hope that helps.

[hippietim]

If the Schecter has the magic mojo, I wouldn't compromise on the bridge - screw the piezos. There are a ton of guitars out there that come with piezos stock that you can snag cheap enough on Ebay. The import Parkers and Brian Moores would be great - Godin as well. You can get one of those guitars for probably $100-150 more than the Fishman Powerbridge will cost (without installation) .

[Pietro]

I have put aftermarket piezos on guitars twice, Once I didn't like the piezo but DID, in fact, like the sound of the bridge better. The other time, on my US Masters that I have now (my only Strat-style guitar at the moment) I not only LOVE the sound of the new bridge (It's the wilkinson powerbridge), but the electric tone, imho, improved, too. Sustain, tone... all better.

Since I've started using "two-voice" guitars a few years ago (processed separately, btw... not running through the same amp... that is CRUCIAL) I now will NOT play or buy a guitar that isn't. The Godins (the ones I've had, three at one time and now two) are a DREAM, btw.

DO IT!

[John Phillips]

The Fishman Powerbridge is actually a very nice, high-quality bridge even disregarding the piezos.

The only thing I really don't like about them is that the individual piezo elements have a small problem with failure - not common, but not unknown either - it actually seems to be caused by corrosion from hand sweat, since I've seen the most dead ones on the low E by far, followed by the A - and mostly on guitars with significant plating tarnish too. (It's not tension BTW, because actually the D string is the tightest in most standard string sets... and I can't see why the pure string diameter should have anything to do with it.) So if you're prone to sweat, it may be something to think about.

[Jon Silberman]

I'm not a huge fan of Fishmans. I perfer LR Baggs. The unit on my Godin LGX-SA does not sound fantastic alone. However, when blended together with the mag PUPs, the sound is very nice indeed.

A unit like this one (that I own as well) can also help to bring out the best in piezos.

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Originally Posted by hippietim

If the Schecter has the magic mojo, I wouldn't compromise on the bridge - screw the piezos. There are a ton of guitars out there that come with piezos stock that you can snag cheap enough on Ebay. The import Parkers and Brian Moores would be great - Godin as well. You can get one of those guitars for probably $100-150 more than the Fishman Powerbridge will cost (without installation) .

That's one approach I've considered. However, the way we run our shows I need to have it all in one guitar (and I want that guitar to be the Schecter). We don't always run sets according to plan. We often branch off and improvise but keep the flow going without pauses between songs. Guitar switches aren't something I can count on being able to do.

[auratnik]

I have Baggs on my Anderson and it sound terrific!

[major-minor]

I've put Fishman Powerbridges on several guitars , including a Schecter tele copy, and have been quite happy with the results. The key is to run that "acoustic" sound to an acoustic amp-----and the mag sound to your reg amp. I use the Powerblend pedal that Fishman has discontinued. Stereo cable out of the guitar---to that pedal. Works for me. The blended sound in particular is soooooo nice, on the right tune.

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Any idea why there's such a price difference between the Baggs X-Bridge and the Fishman Power Bridge?

[DualRectifier]

The Fishman trem bridge is very well made, and seems to be higher quality than the Baggs. It was so good, for a while John Suhr was pulling out the piezo crystals and just using the bridges.

I am a huge fan of piezos, but not on a trem guitar. The ideal setup for a piezo is with a string-thru fixed bridge, anchored in the body. The trem really takes a lot of tone out of a piezo. Set up right, though, even a piezo on a trem guitar can sound good in a band mix situation, e.g., run the piezo to the PA or an acoustic amp, and eq and add effects as desired.