Passive Piezo Acoustic Pickup EP001K

I'm very happy with this pickup. In the past, I just used a mic to amplify an acoustic which sounds great, but is not always convenient. So, I decided to try the Journey passive piezo pickup as it is reported it to be best at maintaining an authentic acoustic sound at a good price. I first installed it in an inexpensive 6-string. I liked it so much, I put them in three other guitars: a 12-string Yamaha , a Martin DJr, and a Martin D-18. All sound great amplified. Once installed, the pickups worked great. I first played through a Focusrite audio interface to monitor speakers & headphones. This allowed me to hear the the pickups as cleanly as possible without any added effects from an amp. With each guitar, the sound I got was very close to that guitar's unamplified sound. That's just what I wanted since I really like how all these guitars sound unplugged. Through a Fender acoustic practice amp, they sounded just as good. I used the 20mm piezos in the 12-string and D-18, and the 12mm piezos in the other two due to their smaller bridge plates. Installation was not that difficult if you have the right tools and take your time. I used the recommended installation procedure with a slight mod. 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. You want to do this right the first time, so practice placing the jig in the guitar a few times before gluing so you'll be able to do it quickly & accurately since Superglue sets quickly. I used this method successfully on all four installations with excellent results.

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!

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!

I decided to swap pickups in my Fender Paramount acoustic since the stock Fishman electronics didn't sound the best, and the battery was a pain to change. After narrowing my choices down to this and the K&K, I decided to give this one a shot since it was half the price. The install wasn't too terribly difficult, but just make sure you use gel super glue. The sound is not bad at all plugged straight into the PA, but I made an acoustic patch on my HX stomp to do some slight EQ'ing. I would absolutely recommend this over the K&K system.

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.

Installed this into an old Ibenez Montage that the electronics was fried in. Very impressed! Was very easy to install since the battery compartment is directly above the bridge, just unscrewed 4 screws, removed the battery compartment, and the bridge was right there! Using the guitar with a Zoom A3 and it sounds fantastic! Going to put this in all my acoustics! Definitely recommend!

Surprised how good for the money. Sound nice and ther me are upgrades available.

For acoustic guitars. Bought this one for my Blueridge BR-63. Tricky to install. Several good videos available on Youtube.

Le instalé la pastilla a una guitarra Martin Backpacker traveler de cuerdas de acero. Después de años de buscar aluna opción para poder conectar mi guitarra, lo logre con esta pastilla. Su calidad de sonido es muy buena. Si tienes una guitarra acustica que no quieras instalarle un preamp, esta es tu pastilla..

Bättre än k&k tycker jag.

A little tricky to install the first time (big hands) but what a great sounding acoustic pickup. At first I was a bit concerned with the lack of onboard controls but I'm running this through a good quality preamp and it works great. No batteries and a great sound, what more do I need?

取り付け直後、自宅で小音量で確認した時点ではエアー感ある良い音質でノイズも気にならず、良い買い物が出来たと思っていました。しかし、いざライブ本番、会場で音量が上がるとホワイトノイズが多く、トレブルを絞る必要があり、狙った音にする事はできませんでした。音に拘りのあるライブハウスでZOOMプリアンプ兼DIを使用しました。同環境・同DIで別のピックアップを使用した時にはこの様な事象は発生しなかったので、この製品の特性だと考えます。結局、私はK&Kに買い換えたので、1万円+取り付け・取り外しの労力とライブで思う様な音が出せないと言うロスが発生しました。高評価している方はライブで使用していないのかと疑問に思いました。 この商品を購入する事はお勧めしませんが、K&Kよりトランスデューサーが大きいのでブリッジ裏板が小さいギターの場合、貼り付ける場所が足りない事もあり得ます。ブリッジピンのボールエンドからブレーシング迄の寸法を確認する必要があります。 又、付属の串・型紙・ゴルフティーを使って取り付ける時、串がブリッジピンのホールより細い為、ズレやすく位置決めが難しいので、ゴルフティーをもう一本用意しておいた方が楽に作業できます。ケーブルをたぐり寄せる針金もあった方が良いでしょう。

¡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.