Piezoelectric Bridge-Type Pickup for a Stringed Musical Instrument

This patent describes a bridge-type piezoelectric pickup for guitars and other stringed instruments that uses a flexible circuit board carrying pairs of transversely-polarized piezoelectric crystals for each string. Each pair of crystals is closely spaced along the string length, with a common saddle resting on both crystals to support the associated string, enabling differentiation between in-plane and longitudinal string vibrations. The design reduces cross-talk between strings, minimizes frequency response losses, and supports multiple independent signal channels with active operational amplifier circuits mounted via surface-mount technology on the flexible circuit board.