Almost everybody who owns an acoustic or an electric guitar that uses a piezo pickup system will experience similar sound signatures associated with the piezo pickup system, regardless of the manufacturer:
- Strong, sometimes harsh trebles with a lack of bass
- Highlighted transient and attack that sounds artificial (the dreaded piezo “quack”)
- Unnatural acoustic tones
There are definitely some instances where this tone is required, and it indeed can sound very good with the right EQ and effects (like chorus and delay) — especially on the lower strings, dropped tunings, or on guitars which have low tunings like on 7 or 8-string guitars. .
However, if you want the guitar to sound more like a natural acoustic, it is difficult without some processing. Enter the TC Electronic BodyRez pedal. This small little pedal with a single Body knob works magic on any piezo signal. From listening, it seems to have an advanced EQ/filtering system coupled with compression to tame the piezo quack. It reduces the high-end harshness while enhancing the bottom end — making the sound richer and fuller. John Petrucci uses this pedal like this in his signal chain:
Ernie Ball Music Man Guitar(Majesty/ JP 15/ JP 16)—> TRS Cable to Framtone A/B Box
A/B box Piezo OUT—> ISO Transformer —> TC Electronic BodyRez pedal —> Acoustic signal DI to FOH —> PA and Monitors
And his piezo tone is spectacular live. It really transforms the sound into a more natural acoustic tone. I highly recommend this for anybody using the piezo output from an acoustic or electric guitar.
Here’s more info on this amazing little pedal: