Hybrid guitar
A hybrid guitar is an electric guitar with the ability to produce a signal with the tonal quality of an acoustic guitar in addition to a typical electric signal from a magnetic pickup, allowing a wide tonal pallette for performers with a varied repertoire. Hybrid guitars typically use a piezoelectric pickup to generate the acoustic-like signal, this is the same type of pickup used in most electro-acoustic guitars.
Such pickups can produce a reasonable facsimile of acoustic tone even in solid bodied instruments. Examples of solid-body hybrid guitars include the Ovation VXT,[1] Godin A6 Ultra, and Tom Anderson Guitarworks Crowdster Plus One and Two. They are similar to silent guitars, except that the latter do not have magnetic pickups. Small-bodied hybrid guitars like the Steinberger Synapse SP2FA and can double as travel guitars.
Hollow bodied hybrid guitars are also possible. Examples include the Hamer Duotone Custome (claimed to be the first hybrid guitar)[2]Michael Kelly hybrid,[3] Taylor T5 and, Ibanez Montage[4] Crafter SA. These resemble semi-acoustic guitars with additional piezo pickups, The Yamaha AEX1500 [5] is a hybrid archtop guitar.
The signal from the two pickup systems can be blended on board, or (sometimes on the same instrument) fed separately to two different effect and amplification lines.
Aftermarket piezo pickups, often built into bridges, are available, allowing conventional electric guitars to be converted into hybrid guitars.[6]
References
- ↑ Ovation VXT
- ↑ Hamer guitars
- ↑ Michael Kelly Hybrid
- ↑ Ibanez Montage
- ↑ Yamaha AEX1500
- ↑ Fishman Powerbridge