In the already large array of button-style piezo transducers for acoustic musical instruments, a small German company came out with an interesting solution to the most typical problem that this type of sensors present, wich is the placement of the sensor itself on the soundboard.
Depending on where you place the pickup, it will capture a certain fraction of the vibration pattern of the instrument’s soundboard, giving a slightly different sound with each different placement. The intrument’s overall sound will be reproduced, of course, but anyone who has used this kind of pickups know that certain tonal differences, can definitely be obtained placing the sensor in different spots. Sometimes a certain position will give you a deep sound, but with a feeble attack, while another placement can produce a crisp but hollow voice. Sooner or later the optimal spot can be found, but at Marvin Pickups thought that increasing the number of sensors can also increase the richness of the amplified sound.
The “doppel pickup”, as it is called by this small artisanal company, has two sensors, one slightly bigger than the other, wired together in a rugged connector jack, also fitted with safety lock.
In my old Eko BA4 acoustic bass I fixed the jack to the tailpiece with two Velcro cable ties, since the weight of the massive jack connector, if left dangling, tended to raise the two sensors from the soundboard. The sensors, like in any pickup of this kind are attached with a simple adhesive paste similar to putty.
The yield of this system is quite good, simply because two sensors can detect a more complex vibration pattern than just one. Obviously, even with this kind of pickup you should at least experiment with different positioning of the two pads. There is always the risk -for example- of placing the two sensors on two spots that are reciprocally on opposite phase, and the result would be a damping effect on the overall sound. Let your ears be the judge.
One flaw that I can point out is related to the thickness of the sheath that protects the pads’ wiring.
As shown in the photo, the sensor’s surface has a kind of step, because of the aforementioned protective sheath. The thickness of the putty applied to attach the pickup to the instrument’s soundboard kind of levels everything out, but I’d prefer a sensor with a perfectly flat surface, just to ensure a homogeneous adherence.
The company that makes these interesting pickups also seems a bit mysterious, lacking a true website and having a Myspace page only. Although still very small-scale, it might be wise to give it more visibility and appeal, because the products it offers are pretty good and also pretty cheap (the doppel pickup costs 44 euros, and I bought it through Marvin Pickups’ eBay store).
Alessandro Arcuri
Oncle Archibald
