How much do different Piezo pickups affect the acoustic sound?

[Bob Steinarsson]

Piezo undersaddle pickups can be like a flexible cable, or they can be more like a hard bar. Does anybody have some opinion of how much these pickups affect the acoustic sound of the instrument?

[Russell Vance]

I think you are on the right track here Paul, I agree - stage instruments sometimes need to be different and for good reason.  Nashville guys have been overbracing and using UST's for ions to get usable instruments for big sound stages - they probably don't sound so good unplugged in grandma's parlor, but as I said - sometimes things need to be different.

I prefer to install Fishman Matrix UST's as found Taylors of old (before their propriety system) and Martins and they work well.  They have fairly linear response, are reactive to finger dynamics and are a lot more feedback resistant than mic's and similar.  

But, for the twentiest time -Fishman Matrix and Martin Thinline Golds UST's  are not Piezos - they are co-polymers and have less quack than the old ducks who quack on about modern UST's being 'quacksticks' - one must eventually move on from the 70's. 

 

Rusty.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

I usually install B-Band UST+AST. No impact on the acoustique sound so far. Sometimes tricky to install but great sounding.