How does this really work?!?

[TheAntMan]

The following quotes came from the "Whats your dream EBMM bass???" thread.

Medallion Gold Bongo 4HHP fretless with matching head stock, Ebony fingerboard, Black hardware, Black Nylon filament roundwound strings, black pearloid PG.

I would pay double for one of those!!!

Your dream strings will not work on a piezo bass...Ask Bassmonkeee

Tis true. Of course, you could probably scrape some of the nylon off at the bridge so the piezo elements could get their precious grounding from the metal strings they so desire.

Hey Bassmonkeee,

Could this also be an issue with using coated strings, as I currently use Dr's "Red-Coated over Silver/Stainless Steel Wrap on Round Core" strings. I use them on most of my basses and they sound great. I just put a set on my SR5 w/ piezos this past weekend, and while they sounded very good as well, I noticed that while tapping on the A & D strings, the sound wasn't quite right and was inconsistent with the other strings, which wasn't the case just before I changed the original strings that she came with.

I was thinking maybe a defective A & D in the set, but could the coating cause any issues, as I have my piezes dialed in anywhere from half on to 3/4 on.

Mikey/

The Nylon filament roundwound strings I like to use on my fretless are nickel roundwound strings with the last wrap being a thin round nylon filament. This allows the magnets to pickup the vibration of the string across the magnetic field.

My question is, how do Piezos work? Is it by vibration of the string on the bridge or is it by magnetic interruption like a regular pickup?

If it is by vibration then why would nylon coated strings not work? If it is by magnetic interruption why would the string still not work as they do with the regular pickups?

I like the feel and sound of these strings, I also like the sound of the piezo. Are the two mutually exclusive or is there a way around this?