Modeling and correction of piezoelectric string instrument pickups
Champ C. Darabundit, Mark Rau · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2022
Under-string piezoelectric pickups are often used to amplify and record stringed instruments such as guitars and violins. The mounting configuration of pickups differ with the most common placements being under the saddle, bridge, or directly under the strings, where the pickup functions as the saddle. Each of these placements, as well as the design of the piezoelectric pickup imparts a particular characteristic on the sound of the instrument. We investigate the equalization imparted by the pickup and present methods to correct for the frequency domain differences to produce a neutral sound. Additionally, piezoelectric sensors can exhibit nonlinear behavior such as hysteresis. Measurements are made with an attempt to model and correct for any nonlinear behavior observed.