JourneyTek™ Acoustic Pickups Overview

Years of Testing and Design:

After years of testing in the lab and on the stage, we’ve selected premium German-made ceramic piezoelectric elements for use in all of our newest ukulele and acoustic guitar pickup systems. These elements have excellent reproduction across the entire frequency spectrum for acoustic guitars and ukuleles.

JourneyTek™ Passive Piezo Pickup Advantage

Our passive piezo pickups are installed by gluing directly to the bridge plate or soundboard with cyanoacrylate glue (Superglue® Gel or equivalent) thereby creating an integrated bond with the pickup and your acoustic instrument. This amplifies the actual vibrations of your instrument’s sound board for a transparent reproduction of your guitar’s distinct tone. This results in an organic sound that’s free from the “quack” or “electric” sounding tones that are common in many pickups on the market today. Additionally, these pickups are excellent for percussive finger style playing as they clearly amplify any percussive movements against the guitar body.

Upgradeable to our new EPS001 Active Stereo Pickup System

Our newest piezo element pickups (EP001K , EP002K, and EP004K) are upgradeable to our new EPS001 active stereo acoustic guitar pickup module, and can be upgraded without the use of any tools. EPS001 Active Stereo Pickup: (EPS001-15 for instruments with an approximate 15cm radius, and EPS001-05 for most guitars with an approximate 5cm sound hole radius) The EPS001 is an add-on and is a fully powered stereo microphone/piezo pickup module that allows guitarists to first install our passive piezo system and upgrade if they decide they need more control or amplification options. The EPS001 acoustic guitar pickup module plugs directly into our EP001K, EP002K or EP004K acoustic pickups and can be installed in minutes with no tools. This active stereo pickup has an adjustable 6mm gooseneck microphone, and is powered by a standard 9V battery. It requires no modification to your guitar apart from the required endpin hole for the output jack. The EPS001 module includes a discreet sound hole control unit with four control wheels (Volume, Treble, Bass, Pan) and a phase switch. All components are adhered inside the guitar with provided 3M double-sided tape.

JourneyTek™ Passive Piezos vs Under Saddle Transducer Pickups:

In comparison to under-saddle transducer (UST) acoustic guitar pickups and magnetic coil pickups, our acoustic pickups have a clearer sound reproduction, and a more natural tone. While under-saddle acoustic guitar pickups have good sensitivity and attack, they tend to sound compressed and perhaps a little metallic due to the compression of the piezo element between the saddle and the saddle slot. If there is any unevenness in the saddle slot or saddle itself, this immediately translates to a loss or corruption in sound reproduction for the frequencies of the strings above this area. Additionally, by inserting the UST material between the natural instrument’s saddle and bridge, there’s a risk of altering the actual acoustic tone of a guitar when unamplified – this is of particular concern for premium, commissioned, collector, and vintage acoustic guitars. Since our passive pickups are secured to the bridgeplate inside the guitar, your guitar’s natural tone will remain unchanged.

JourneyTek™ Passive Piezos vs Magnetic Coil Pickups

Magnetic coil pickups are made of copper wires wound around magnetic poles, usually one pole for each string. When the string is plucked or vibrates, it interacts with the magnetic field of the pickup that’s close to the string, causing the coil to create an induction current synchronous with the frequency of the string. Most magnetic coil pickups for acoustic instruments are in the sound hole and are usually easily removable. Occasionally these pickups are mounted on the soundboard itself. Magnetic coil pickups tend to amplify the sound of the string itself primarily, and not the overall character of a particular guitar. The benefit is a “clearer” tone, but one that loses some of the character of an acoustic instrument. As our pickups are adhered beneath the bridge plate, or blended with a microphone, they realistically amplify the true character of your guitar.

Testing and Eco-Friendly.

Our passive piezo pickups are eco friendly and are currently tested and meet CE, REACH, ROSH, and WEE requirements. Our active EPS001 module is available for USA sales in October 2019, and will complete final certification EU testing phase for release in Europe in 2020.