Piezo guys, how do you set levels?

[David Eaton]

I used to use my piezo equipped HB1 as my main guitar and I would run the piezo through an SWR Califirnia blonde. I'd mic both amps and have the sound person keep their faders the same, then I'd control the blend based on what I heard from the amps. My new setting has me going back to the HB1, but the piezo will be run direct, and I'll monitor through in-ears. It seems to me that a slight modification to my previous method of balancing sound should work, but I thought I'd ask you folks who run piezo into PA for your tips and tricks. Thanks.

 

[Egads]

I run the piezo direct and ride the guitar's volume knobs for balance. With my originals band, which is a three piece, the two sounds together are so much the signature. I have a volume pedal for the magnetic side, and use it to completely kill the electric sound when needed (among other special effect uses), and use the guitar's piezo volume to mix.

With my other band, which does covers from blues to surf to rock to more modern stuff, the piezo is just a flavor. I rarely run the piezo and the magnetics together--we have two guitars and keys or three guitars, so I can't hog all that bandwidth!

Bottom line: I like to have both rhythm levels even (or close to it) when getting levels, then I control the output as needed for the song.