Quite a straight forward installation of a side mounted preamp. Using masking tape allows me to mark the body for the cut. I find the centre line then measure outwards how much clearance is needed for the unit to fit snugly. The first cuts are made with a good safety margin, then feathered in just nice. There can be some incredibly awkward shapes outlining the guts of these things and it pays to have as much remaining wood as possible for strength, we are cutting 2 large holes in the sides of a guitar after all.

The actual piezo installation that I completely forgot to film was just a case of pulling out the saddle, drilling a small hole through the end of the slot, reaming it so it’s just big enough to accept the diameter of the tiny jack and it’s shrink wrap and popping it through. Most people leave it at that but wherever possible, as with this one, I like to route a little more depth into the saddle slot. This compensates for the thickness of the piezo element (which can be quite beefy) and avoids me needing to shave the saddle itself down too thin which can cause a reduction in energy transfer from string to soundboard (and to the piezo). The second advantage of even gently skimming the slot with a router bit is that it helps to ensure a flat and level surface for the piezo to sit on, minimising the chances of getting ‘dead strings’ whereby the saddle doesn’t contact the pickup with even pressure at all points. Those points where the saddle slot may dip out of level put the bit of saddle above that spot under less compressive force and therefore reduces the output volume of it compared to other strings.

Once everything was connected up, I tidied the wires away with a nicely included adhesive patch and finished off with a setup and a test. Job’s a good’n!