8/1/2023 0 Comments Piezo pickup bass guitar![]() The earliest electric bass pickups were magnets wrapped a few thousand times in very fine copper wire. What Is a Pickup?īasically, a pickup is a transducer - a device that converts a signal of one type of energy into one of another type of energy a good example is a microphone, which converts physical sound waves traveling through air into an electrical signal. But it wasn’t until the early 1950s that essentially the same invention helped the poor double bassist to be heard. But there’s no question that the technological catalyst required to make the concept a reality - a pickup installed to enable amplification of the bass - was a game-changer.Īs my old friend and former bandmate/colleague Mac Randall has written about here on the Yamaha blog, guitars first started using pickups back in the 1930s, helping them project from the bandstand. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.Music historians may disagree about whether the electric bass was first invented in the early 1920s, the early 1950s or somewhere in-between. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2022 issue. In all, the 724ce has a “deep bench” of features that combine tone, looks, and stellar craftsmanship. Beast of all, plug it in at a gig and dig that old-school miked sound with the convenience of acoustic/electric. Perched on a stand, the guitar looks gorgeous and, on your lap, the tone and playability are top-notch. The 724ce is a pricey, premium acoustic, but you get a sweet-sounding (and looking) instrument with a hardshell case. In fine Taylor tradition, the guitar had a fast setup with low action, ready for quick licks up the neck. For playability, the 724ce has a comfortable, D-shaped mahogany neck with 20 frets on a West African ebony fretboard. After decades of plastic-y sound from piezo pickups, the ES-2 is a revelation and, hopefully, a harbinger of more-organic acoustic/electric flavors. There’s little, if any, of the dreaded piezo quack. With pickup sensors behind the bridge (instead of underneath), the unit delivers a surprisingly natural tone through an acoustic amp or PA. Plugged in, its ES-2 electronics system becomes one of the stars of the show. Strumming or fingerpicking, low-end is nuanced with the upper strings for a sophisticated tone, especially for a cutaway (which typically offer upper-fret convenience at the expense of bass muscle). ![]() The 724ce delivers a balanced presentation with bright treble and midrange, and reasonable bass output – not boomy like a dreadnought, but sitting nicely in the EQ spectrum. The V-bracing exudes a warmer, more-traditional sound compared to the trebly “Taylor sound” of the ’90s and 2000s. An ebony bridge, black Tusq/micarta nut (1.75″), 25.5″ scale, and Grand Auditorium body with Venetian cutaway complete the package. Add to the picture a stained-maple pickguard, matte-black headstock face with the Taylor logo and fountain inlay, rosewood-and-maple body binding, and an abalone rosette, and you have a knockout. Our tester had deep grain patterns, alternating gold with brown veins on bookmatched top and back, and sides. Visually, the acoustic/electric 724ce is a dazzler. In kindred spirit, the new Taylor 724ce has the rich look that comes with a koa top, back, and sides. ![]() In the Hawaiian tongue, koa means “bold” and it’s an apt name for the wood known in guitardom for its bright tone and golden grain.
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