Piezo pickups derive their name from piezoelectricity which is the charge of electricity induced in a crystalline substance by the application of pressure. Piezo is pronounced pi-eWzo, and is derived from the Greek word “piezein”, meaning “to press.” There are electrical charges evenly distributed and balanced on a crystal’s surfaces. When many crystals (e.g., table sugar) are pressed, a remarkable thing happens; the electric charges move from one surface to another. The charge is displaced by pressure. Now the crystal has a greater amount of positive charges on one side, but if we squeeze the other way, the charge reverses.A piezo crystal can be used as a vibration sensor and each vibration pulse will cause a change in current. This produces a current pulse that is an exact duplicate of the vibration. This duplication makes a piezo a good pickup element since all that is necessary is to connect a wire to each of the two surfaces of the crystal. One small problem with a piezo pickup is that the current output is very small, and a pre-amplifier is virtually always necessary to achieve high volume. A single amplifier cannot always boost the signal by itself. A piezo pickup works most efficiently when placed in an area of great changes of pressure and stress. The Ovation company is using a pickup that is located in the best possible location: the saddle in the guitar’s bridge. The pressure of the guitar strings presses on the.saddle which in turn presses on the piezo crystals. When these strings vibrate, the pressure on the pickup varies in relationship to the vibrations of the strings. Barcus Berry also makes several piezo pickups. Their piezo “Hot Dot” is an encased crystal in the shape of a cylinder smaller than one eighth of an inch in diameter and is connected with a wire lead. This pickup is generally inserted in a hole drilled in an instrument bridge.
Piezo pickups derive their name from piezoelectricity which is the charge of electricity induced in a crystalline substance by the application of pressure. Piezo is pronounced pi-eWzo, and is derived from the Greek word “piezein”, meaning “to press.” There are electrical charges evenly distributed and balanced on a crystal’s surfaces. When many crystals (e.g., table sugar) are pressed, a remarkable thing happens; the electric charges move from one surface to another. The charge is displaced by pressure. Now the crystal has a greater amount of positive charges on one side, but if we squeeze the other way, the charge reverses.A piezo crystal can be used as a vibration sensor and each vibration pulse will cause a change in current. This produces a current pulse that is an exact duplicate of the vibration. This duplication makes a piezo a good pickup element since all that is necessary is to connect a wire to each of the two surfaces of the crystal. One small problem with a piezo pickup is that the current output is very small, and a pre-amplifier is virtually always necessary to achieve high volume. A single amplifier cannot always boost the signal by itself. A piezo pickup works most efficiently when placed in an area of great changes of pressure and stress. The Ovation company is using a pickup that is located in the best possible location: the saddle in the guitar’s bridge. The pressure of the guitar strings presses on the.saddle which in turn presses on the piezo crystals. When these strings vibrate, the pressure on the pickup varies in relationship to the vibrations of the strings. Barcus Berry also makes several piezo pickups. Their piezo “Hot Dot” is an encased crystal in the shape of a cylinder smaller than one eighth of an inch in diameter and is connected with a wire lead. This pickup is generally inserted in a hole drilled in an instrument bridge.