Electronics - We use a D-TAR Timberline pickup system that features a coaxial piezo polymer pickup element mounted in a curve bottomed slot in the bridge with a bone or carbon fiber saddle transferring the string pressure variations from vibrations into the pickup which transduces those vibrations into an electrical signal. Because the pickup senses 360 degrees around it’s core, you get both direct string sound as well as the warmth of the wood of the body. Pickup installation is all about location, location, location, as well as the exact geometry of the saddle/pickup/bridge interfaces, and we have taken great care to optimize installation including tilting the saddle back at an angle of 7 degrees to better split the “break angle” of the string as it goes over the saddle and down into the body.

That pickup signal is matched to an 18 volt preamp which provides a bit of a signal boost as well as conditioning the pickup impedance to run down long cables and match the input characteristics of typical amplifiers. Earlier instruments used two 9 Volt batteries; newer ones use two “AA” cells with a 6X voltage multiplier circuit to achieve the same headroom as with the two 9 volt batteries.