Piezo & Magnetic Pickups: What Are The Differences?

So you want to electrify your cigar box guitar. Should you use a piezo pickup? How about a magnetic pickup? Exactly what are the differences between them, anyhow?

To better understand how to electrify your cigar box guitar, this article will teach you about piezo and magnetic pickups, and the differences between them.

Differences between Piezo & Magnetic Pickups

When it comes to electrifying a cigar box guitar, there are two basic options: either a piezo pickup (sometimes called a contact pickup) or a magnetic pickup. 

Well, really there is a third option - a microphone - but we won't cover that here. 

So, what are the main differences between a piezo element pickup and a magnetic pickup?

Piezo Pickups

A piezoelectric element is a very simple, yet remarkable device. 

Disk Piezos

In its simplest form, a piezo consists of a brass disk or other conductive metal, on which a very thin disk of ceramic is adhered, making a disk piezo.

Leads are soldered to the ceramic and brass. And when the piezo is excited by changes in pressure (such as string vibrations), tiny amounts of electric current are produced by the interaction of the two materials.

This current can be picked up by a guitar amplifier and is recognized by the human ear as a reproduction of the instrument's sound.

Because it is responding to vibrations, the piezo is an acoustic pickup and can produce very different sounds depending on where and how it is mounted. The sounds also depend on the nature of the instrument in which it is installed.

Another style of piezo pickup is the rod-style piezo.

Rod Piezos

A rod piezo is a slender rod on which a few, and sometimes several, small ceramic rectangles are glued, over which runs a thin copper strip.

The leads connected to the rod piezo, unlike those of a disk piezo, generally come with a 2.5mm male-end jack attached to one end. 

That male-end jack is then plugged into a female jack (receptacle) such as on a pre-amp, or to a 2.5mm receptacle soldered to the lugs (terminals) of a 1/4-inch guitar jack.

Disk piezos can be soldered into a pickup harness in several ways, including directly to a 1/4-inch jack such as our most popular pickup harness, the  Basic Pre-Wired Piezo & Jack Harness with Shielded Cable pictured below.

C. B. Gitty Piezos

Disk Piezos: Check out all the C. B. Gitty disk piezos & disk piezo harnesses here.

Rod Piezos: Check out all the C. B. Gitty rod piezos & rod piezo harnesses here.

Magnetic Pickups

A magnetic pickup, on the other hand, is composed of copper wires carefully wound around a number of magnetic poles; usually one pole per string on the instrument it's to be used on.

The way the pickup works is the vibrating strings interact with the pickup's magnetic field.

This interaction causes a small amount of electric current to be produced in the pickup's wiring, which is then picked up and amplified by a guitar amp.

The magnetic pickup does not react in any way to the acoustic vibrations of the instrument it is in, only the vibration of the strings.

Because of this, the same magnetic pickup will produce similar sounds whether mounted in a standard electric guitar, a cigar box guitar, or a guitar made out of a cinder block.

The only real requirement is that the pickup is close enough to the strings so that they excite the magnets sufficiently.

C. B. Gitty Magnetic Pickups

Check out all the C. B. Gitty magnetic pickups and pickup harnesses here. 

What Pickup Will You Use?

There are of course many variations in both piezo pickups and magnetic pickups.

Piezos can be made as disks, rods, cables and thin, bendable strips.

While magnetic pickups can have different numbers of poles, can be single or double-coiled, and can be over or under-wound to create specific qualities of tone.

Each characteristic allows you to build a with a specific sound in mind, unique to your goals for that CBG.

We hope that this basic overview of the differences between piezo and magnetic pickups has been useful and informative for you.

There is of course much more that could be said. Entire books have been written on the subject, and master craftsmen have spent many years perfecting their individual pickup winds.

But the best place to start is with the basics!

What pickup will you use on your next cigar box guitar?

Must Read

4 Ways To Electrify Your Cigar Box Guitars With Piezo Pickup Harnesses [Diagrams Included]

Are you intimidated by how to electrify your cigar box guitar with piezos? Need a little help to understand exactly how to wire a piezo pickup harness of your own?

In this article you’ll find four simple wiring diagrams, created by Ted Crocker, and detailed explanations to help you understand how the piezo harnesses work.

Click here to explore 4 ways to electrify your CBG with piezo pickups.