Silly inquiry that the creators/dealers can help with...

[TimSz]

So, as much as it pains me to type this, it is almost Christmas. For most of us, Christmas is a time of togetherness and love. I am actually going to get into the spirit of things this year...

Here's my predicament though. My poor Silhouette Special is going to be awful lonely this year. I sat it down and said "your baby brother LUKE won't be here until February." and it just kind of sat there. I'm going to pamper the little bastard with some new strings and maybe a single coil in the bridge position!

I didn't actually cover my predicament in that last paragraph at all... I got off on on of my irrelevant tangents again. Back on topic, I say!

So, I want to surprise little Silhouetty with another little brother. I want to get an Axis Super Sport. I have decided on black with the creme/black pickups and creme binding and fancy birdseye maple neck. Here's the thing though... as per my usual left handed douhebaggery, I want something that I don't think I can get. Is there any way I can talk my way into piezo?? My family would be oh so complete with a decked out ASS, LUKE and SS.

Thoughts? (let's just steer clear of questioning my competence after this thread...)

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I dont think EBMM make a piezo bridge that way round. Maybe you could have one retrofitted?

 

[TimSz]

Hmmm.

I will have to look into a retrofitting. I don't get what makes left handed piezo so much different than right handed though. They use different saddles, and isn't there just wires attached to another input jack? I think I'm simplifying it greatly, but what else is there that would make it such a pain in the ass?

 

[jeffrey]

I guess it would depend on where exactly in the bridge the piezo wires come in. If they came in on the treble side of the bridge (when right-handed) it would be on the bass side of the bridge (when left handed). The wires may be too short to just flop the saddles around.

That is of course, assuming there are different transducers for each string setup specficially for that string (which there are in many cases, though I'm unsure if that's the case in EBMM's).

On my JP7's however, the wires come in smack dab in the middle. I think there's enough slack to flop'em over if it were a lefty. But that useless bit of info doesn't help your Axis woes at all. :\

 

[TimSz]

Good try though!

I appreciate your kind words of encouragement and knowledge; but as you say, it helps me very little in this case. All of this conversation actually makes me want to get to know my little friend, the piezo. I think I'd call him Piezy and we'd eat Thai food together on Sundays. That's nice.

Hopefully an aftermarket thing won't do anything detrimental to the guitar. I am always weary about after-market anything. I like the guitar to stay as close to the day that I take it out of the case for the first time. There's just something almost ritualistic about that for me. strange.

 

[beej]

Could be that the layout of the preamp, controls, etc doesn't lend itself to being easily flipped for a lefty guitar. Whatever the reason, you can definitely put one on aftermarket- I've done it (as have a few others) and if done right it's a great enhancement.

 

[TimSz]

Aftermarket aftermath.

So, what routes have people taken for aftermarket piezo? I want something that sounds really clean and crisp and am not afraid to pour some money into it. Hell... what piezo system does EBMM use? Maybe I can go that route, just in an aftermarket fashion.

 

[beej]

Off-hand, you have the Graph Tech Ghost, Fishman and LR Baggs systems (I'm sure there are others). There are subtle differences with all of them - design of the saddles, features on the preamps, etc.

Think about whether you need two output jacks or can make due with a single one, whether you need the ability to play w/o a battery (fully passive) and how you want to lay out the controls- a volme for blending or an on/off switch. If you're going to install it yourself I'd spend a bit of time with all the literature. If you're getting someone else to do the install, maybe ask them what they're familiar with already.

I went the Ghost route and I'm pretty happy, though I did find a bit of noise from the preamp when using a lot of gain. So I wired it up a little differently than the stock diagram.

 

[TimSz]

My goal for Piezy.

I have researched EBMM piezo a bit, and liked the layout and the dual input idea. I was messing around on a pals JP7 with piezo, and it just seems to make sense the way they do it.

This means there's goin to have to be routing for a new battery cavity, and probably a new bridge console with the wiring and everything. This is going to be a pain in the ass, methinks!

From what I recall, there was one left handed LUKE in the DD era that was chosen with piezo. I missed the window because I didn't even know it was an option. I think it is possible for lefties, but it's just not a practiced feature. Damn my lack of awareness during the DD days.

*hint hint* send me the piezo LUKE and send NickDuBaldo my version without the piezo! That'd be an unfortunate loss for Nick, but I know I'D get over it!

 

[NickDuBaldo]

*hint hint* send me the piezo LUKE and send NickDuBaldo my version without the piezo! That'd be an unfortunate loss for Nick, but I know I'D get over it!

Hey now! How did I get dragged into this? Pete ordered himself a piezo Luke, but you'll have to pull a Jimi to play it and a Manson to pry it from his cold, dead hands.