What are piezo pickups?
Piezo (short for piezoelectric) pickups are devices based on “piezoelectric effect”. They are usually made of a very thin slab of piezoelectric material (mainly ceramics) that, when flexed, is able to generate a very little current proportional to the energy (string vibration) that drives them. They ONLY WORK BY DIRECT CONTACT with the vibrating object they’re designed to amplify, and are capable of transducing a huge amount of information (from very low to very high frequencies), that’s why several list members are worried about piezo on tremolo units (hitting the whammy bar can cause a low frequency noise). Piezo is the technology behind a lot of items, from cigarette lighters to the famous C-ducer pickups.
