Passive Piezo Acoustic Pickup – EP001K Three Balanced German-Made Passive Pickup Elements – Piezo Pickup for Acoustic Guitars (Ceramic)

I’m very pleased with the performance of this pickup. It offers a very natural rendition of the acoustic tone of the guitar! Fitting was a bit troublesome given the small size of the guitar, so I’ve included a few tips below. I bought a beautiful small body guitar from Dai Viet in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Unfortunately I left it until my last day and didn’t have time to have him fit a pickup. The guitar really is beautiful and I wanted to see if it transferred when amplified, so I bought this Journey piezo pickup. Drilling the rosewood was nerve wracking, but I took it slowly and got it done with no disasters! The sound hole is very small see the pic making it extremely difficult to position the piezo pickups because I could not fit my hand into the guitar body. Additionally the piezo pads are quite large and wouldn’t fit entirely onto the bridge plate without blocking the holes, so they overhang the bridge plate a little. Given the limited space the templates didn’t work for me so I ended up using the golf tee and one bridge pin to lineup each piezo and make sure I didn’t block any bridge pin holes. I also used some double sided sticky tape to hold the pads straight on my finger tip while I inserted and glued them in place (then carefully removed the tape after the glue had set for a while). Another small tip is to attach one guitar string to the pickup body as shown in the video and then feed another into the guitar though the newly drilled hole attach it to the other guitar string and use it to then feed the mechanism into place because finding the hole using a single string from the inside was impossible. My last tip is to use the provided tooth pick through the two holes on the jack socket to hold it in place while you get the securing nut onto the first few threads and then remove it to screw the nut the rest of the way. A bit of a hassle, but worth the effort!

These consistently sound great. Excellent quality for the price. Neat and clean install. Just a great quality pickup. Noninvasive too.

Won't know what they sound like or if they even work, I have a couple broken bridge pins, new ones coming tomorrow. This review is all about the installation and issues I experienced. Not too hard but not as easy and smooth as the video makes it seem. Was super careful and dry fitted the piezos not once but twice. The first 2 glued in place fine. The 3rd one felt good with the guide sticks and glued up, only to find that it blocked one bridge pin hole so I had to push a drill bit thru the hole to break it off and reposition it. Keep in mind you're doing this totally by braille, even with the hole guide sticks that come in the kit, you have to go by feel and cross your fingers. The other problem is I had to unscrew the inside jack cover almost all the way back for the whole jack to stick out of the back of the guitar far enough per instructions. Only maybe 3 rings of thread left on the inside end of the jack for the cover to grip. The actual problem is that the piezo mini plug is too big to go into the end of the jack cover to connect to the plug. The cover is aluminum so I drilled the end opening larger for the mini plug to fit thru. One other thing to note, the plug is bent a little at an angle making it even more difficult to connect. I didn't want to try to straighten it out and possibly break it. They maybe should state these issues in their instructions, or make these to fit for different models like my Epiphone Hummingbird. Now I just hope they work or back to Amazon they go. 3/27/23 UPDATE, after all that, they work perfectly and sound great! The issues I encountered weren't all that hard to overcome if you're handy and somewhat mechanically inclined. The misplacement of one of the piezos was my fault, I got it right the 2nd time. I'm changing my review to 4 stars, you just need to look out for a few things that I encountered when you go to install them in your guitar. These pickups are a great deal!

In the past, I've just used a mic to amplify an acoustic, though that works great, but it's not always convenient. So, I o tried these passive piezos as they are reported to best maintain an acoustic sound at a good price. I liked them so much, they are now in three guitars, a 12-string, a 000-size 6-string, and a Martin DJr. Once installed, the pickups worked great. I've played them through an acoustic amp and through a Focusrite into a DAW which worked well. With each of the three guitars, the sound I get is very close to that guitar's unamplified sound. I used the 20mm piezos in the 12 mm and the 12mm piezos in the 6-strings due to their smaller bridge plates. Installation was not that difficult if you have the right tools and take your time. Superglue can be tricky to use as it sets quickly. I installed the jack first, then the volume wheel. I then made jig the size of the bridge plate for so I could install all 3 pickups at once, otherwise using Journey's recommended method. I used this method successfully on all three installations with excellent results.

I've installed 3 of these pickups in 3 different acoustic guitars so far, each with similar and very good results. Epiphone Masterbuilt J-45, Yamaha FG800, and an Eastman E1SS. These are the larger sensors, but have a very warm response and don't seem to be as sensitive to placement issues as the smaller sensors in my opinion. I have never had a problem with the jack or have gotten a bad sensor. What I really want to share is a little known trick to get this pickup to sound like a miced up guitar. Do yourself a favor and start looking at IR loader pedals. I like the Valeton GP-5 and GP-50. They are dirt cheap and will work with all your guitars and basses. After you get that, go out and download a free acoustic IR and use it in the Cabinet simulator effect of the pedal. Download several and test them out until you find one that fits your guitar. The pedal will recreate the airy sound of a microphone in front of the guitar. Now, for $150-175, you have about the best sounding combo money can buy! You will also not need batteries and can leave your rig plugged in.

I bought one of these (3-piezo version) 8 months ago, and I don't know why, other than laziness, I have waited until today to install it. I put it into a dreadnought Ibanez solid top (aw54opn), and it sounds fantastic. Good representation of the guitar, especially from a passive transducer. Much nicer than an under saddle piezo. Feedback is an issue, but that is a function of having the piezo on the sound board of a resonant instrument, not the fault of Journey. EQ, phase reversal, automatic feedback suppression, playing at lower volume all can help here. Use the included blue tack and your ears to find and mark the locations you want to install the pickup, and then use gel super glue to put it in place. I ended up not using a template at all, rather I used a handful of golf tees in the pin holes to get my bearings, and then did it by braille. There is some danger of gluing your fingers, so be careful, or use some thin gloves that's still allow you to feel what's going on. As for the jack, the threaded section could have been a little bit longer. The tail of the Ibanez is ridiculously thick, and I ended up having to not use the interior cover for the output jack so things would fit. The drill bit I used was 31/64, and that fit perfectly. If you have a cable with a very thin quarter inch plug, the easiest way to get the jack installed is to thread that plug into the guitar, and use the cable to pull the jack through the hole. A rean nys series just fits.

Pickups sound great. The plastic jig they send for the install is trash, make your own out of cardboard. I had a K&K in another acoustic, this sounds just as good.

great pickup for the price. the video for installation was really easy to follow. It lets the true sound of the guitar come through the speakers love this pickup.

Bättre än k&k tycker jag.

¡Excelente! Lo instalé en una Little Martin y la lleva a otro nivel. Nada de ruido y el sonido se mantiene fiel al de la guitarra al natural. Lo recomiendo totalmente.

I have installed two of the K&K 3 transducer systems in my Ibanez, and a Fender that my daughter plays, and now one of these in my $2000 red label Yamaha guitar. All of these require roughly the same treatment. Once you understand the process, IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH REASONABLE TECHNICAL SKILLS, and a bit of patience, the process is easy and well worth the effort. Don't listen to the nay sayers! The transducers in this system are slightly larger than the K&K so you need to be a bit more careful regarding their placement. You don't want to smear the glue on and then wrecklessly put them in, in a way that is overlapping. The sound of this unit great, delivering what is perhaps the most accurate acoustic sound short of a condenser microphone without the elevated risk of feedback. You will always find people whining about almost every product that is for sale on any platform. This is one that requires a reasonable skill set to install, but is well worth the effort if you do it carefully and well.

Installata su una Yamaha 3/4. Riproduci realmente il suono della chitarra in tutti i suoi pregi e difetti. Lo ricomprerei

This pickup must be one of the best acoustic guitar pickups available in the market. It sounds so natural that it feels like the acoustic guitar is amplified via a microphone. No quack sound which is common with normal pizzo pickups. I have relatively inexpensive Cort branded solid top guitar. I have no doubt that it will instantly give a new life to any acoustic guitar. Few things to note for a successful installation: 1) Follow the instructional video from the manufacturer and make sure the the pizzo buttons will stay "in between strings" and under the saddle position when placed on the plastic place holder card. 2) use good amount of super glue for a good bonding. 3) use a good 12mm drill bit ( I used an augur type bit which made a perfect hole) while holding the guitar in the stable manner. 4) make sure the smaller threaded section stick out at the end pin position. Otherwise it will not mound the end pin cover properly.