GraphTech Ghost System?

Brian Coonan

Brian Coonan

Power User
I have one on the way to put on a PRS SE and wondered if anyone out here has any experience with one? I've watched a bunch of vids and read reviews but thought I would reach out for some real life input!

Just have the Acoustiphonic on the way now, but if its cool, would think about adding the hexpander for some MIDI stuff.

Thanks in advance!
 
I have the Ghost saddles and Acoustiphonic preamp in my CE24 and I love it. I normally use one of @PerChr 's Taylor tone matches in a cab block with a little compression and sometimes the Tube Pre amp model. Sounds nice and crisp. With the stereo jack, you can use a 1/4" TRS to dual 1/4" TS breakout cable and run your mag pickups into the front input and piezo into the rear right Input 1 and process them separately on the grid, giving you endless blend options.
 
Long story short; I have an American Deluxe Power Tele (2000) that came with the Fishman Powerbridge and preamp system. The problem with the Fishman saddles is the Piezo element is an "insert" so dirt, sweat and grime can get in there an kill the transducer. I kept the preamp in the guitar (since it's specifically routed out for it) but replaced the saddles the Ghost saddles and never had a problem since.

The cool thing with Ghost saddles is that the piezo is encapsulated in the saddle so it can't be affected by the elements and die on you. Also means that it can sense freely without any nasty quack. Overall it's a much better design that sounds fantastic. Oh, and because of the Graphtech material, when the height adjustment screws rust, they don't become part of the saddle and I (practically) never break strings. I couldn't recommend it more highly!

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faulknier said:
I have the Ghost saddles and Acoustiphonic preamp in my CE24 and I love it. I normally use one of @PerChr 's Taylor tone matches in a cab block with a little compression and sometimes the Tube Pre amp model. Sounds nice and crisp. With the stereo jack, you can use a 1/4" TRS to dual 1/4" TS breakout cable and run your mag pickups into the front input and piezo into the rear right Input 1 and process them separately on the grid, giving you endless blend options.
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That's awesome - thanks for the reply. Was wondering if I could do the dual input thing!
 
brianv4 said:
Long story short; I have an American Deluxe Power Tele (2000) that came with the Fishman Powerbridge and preamp system. The problem with the Fishman saddles is the Piezo element is an "insert" so dirt, sweat and grime can get in there an kill the transducer. I kept the preamp in the guitar (since it's specifically routed out for it) but replaced the saddles the Ghost saddles and never had a problem since.

The cool thing with Ghost saddles is that the piezo is encapsulated in the saddle so it can't be affected by the elements and die on you. Also means that it can sense freely without any nasty quack. Overall it's a much better design that sounds fantastic. Oh, and because of the Graphtech material, when the height adjustment screws rust, they don't become part of the saddle and I (practically) never break strings. I couldn't recommend it more highly!

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Awesome - good to hear! Thanks a ton for replying! Can't wait to get it. I play a LOT of acoustic guitar and while I know it's a different sound, I think it'll be easier to play for longer periods of time on my electric, not to mention the functionality of having access to the magnetic pickups.
 
I installed the Acoustiphonic & hexpander along with their Floyd Rose bridge system in a Brian Moore i9f a few years ago. Acoustic sounds nice and the hexaphonic tracks as well or better than a Roland pickup. I will say, it's quite a lot of stuff to cram into a standard size control cavity but, it can be done. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the tiny allen wrench you have to use to keep the whammy bar tight (and keep it from falling out).
 
Rhodes said:
I installed the Acoustiphonic & hexpander along with their Floyd Rose bridge system in a Brian Moore i9f a few years ago. Acoustic sounds nice and the hexaphonic tracks as well or better than a Roland pickup. I will say, it's quite a lot of stuff to cram into a standard size control cavity but, it can be done. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the tiny allen wrench you have to use to keep the whammy bar tight (and keep it from falling out).
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Adding one of these to my custom build. Good to hear reviews about it.
 
Took me 5 months with a very fine and patient customer support from Graphtech to get the right schematic cleared for mono jack use and simple push-pull command to switch from magnetic to magnetic PU use but it was worth the effort. The ghost pu is really excellent.
 
lauke-lux said:
Took me 5 months with a very fine and patient customer support from Graphtech to get the right schematic cleared for mono jack use and simple push-pull command to switch from magnetic to magnetic PU use but it was worth the effort. The ghost pu is really excellent.
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What kind of guitar?
I'd like to do this with a Les Paul (or maybe a Strat).
I use a wireless so want to have Mono, and have a push/pull to flip from Pick Ups to Piezo.
 
BBN said:
What kind of guitar?
I'd like to do this with a Les Paul (or maybe a Strat).
I use a wireless so want to have Mono, and have a push/pull to flip from Pick Ups to Piezo.
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As Fame Forum IV, say a PRS copy with standard & split HB configuration. Howbeit this will work with any mag PU configuration as it will just pick the magnetic PU signal right before the jack out tip connection. You'll need a stereo Jack in on the guitar though to disconnect the battery when taking out the jack (cable). Maybe check if you can house the battery and the AP board in the wiring compartment on the backside. The wiring harness takes some space also....it's quite full in there once you're finished though.
 
I run Graph Tech Ghost on my PRS Signature Limited (the model that became the 408) with excellent results. I run it with a push/push knob to select either the magnetic or the piezo just before the master volume on the guitar. Works great.
 
I've used a Roland GK-2/3 with their VG products for years, and decided to buy a full Ghost Hexpander and Acoustiphonic system (Floyd Rose). I put them through their paces for a couple of weeks, then I returned them. The magnetic Roland sounded much better for acoustic sims when paired with a VG-99. The Roland also tracked better for MIDI conversion, though the VG-99 isn't that great at it.

I really wanted to like the Ghost, but it just didn't perform as well as the magnetic GK. It had harsh lower treble resonances that could not be removed. It also suffered from sub-harmonic garbage in the signal, even when hipass filtered. It just sounded metallic and brittle, while the GK sounded warm and balanced.

You do have to take into account the fact that you need a Roland VG-type product if you use the GK pickup, so the price really isn't comparable. You also need the 13-pin cable with the Roland, which you don't with the Ghost. And the Ghost is less intrusive aesthetically, although the Roland GK internal kit is fairly unobtrusive. The fact that the Ghost system is completely contained in your guitar is another plus in its column.

Perhaps the non-Floyd Rose saddles sound better. My experience is based on one example of their Floyd production line. And had I not directly A/B compared it with the Roland, I might have a more favorable assessment of it.

If you want MIDI capability, the Fishman TriplePlay blows away both the Roland and GraphTech systems. "Blows away", is not an exaggeration. Get a TriplePlay for MIDI.

VGuitar Forums has instructions on how to use any one of these pickups (Ghost, GK, or Fishman) to feed both a VG device and the TriplePlay simultaneously. Very cool.
 
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Thanks for the detail @steadystate.. My main goal right now is to get a good sounding piezo system on my guitar. If/when I were to get more involved in MIDI, I most likely would go with the Triple Play - been looking into a lot after I saw some other posts on here talking about it and it seems like a very solid product. The fact that it's wireless is also a huge plus.

Thanks again!
 
My son has an Alex Lifeson LP that came with the Ghost System. Absolutely love it. Does it sound identical to a real acoustic? No, but it's so freaking close. It's been awhile since I built his acoustic preset, but it was basically a tone-match of one of his Martin guitars. From what I recall we put a nice tube-pre in the preset and I think we might have some dry signal being blended with the Cab. It's just great.
 
Well so I got the Ghost system and put it on my PRS SE - here's a little clip going through the AX8 and direct to my little Focusrite box. Made a few tweaks in the AX8 but nothing really in depth - I think with a little more work I'm going to be real happy with this as an acoustic sound. This is 100% GraphTech bridge (not blended with magnetic). I could have had the tech put a hole under the bridge and run the wires there but, honestly, it doesn't matter that much to me on this guitar. :)

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I have the graphite bridges and pickup system in my mahogany hard tailed strat and it sounds great. WAY better than the piezos in the EBMM Majesty that I sold. Great stuff!
 
I had the system built with acousti-phonic and hexpander boards into PRS Private Stock and use it with a VG-99 or a GR-55. I chose the wood to be the same as an Experience P22 which I thought was the best piezo acoustic tone that I heard in my life and was rewarded with an acoustic tone that was similar. There were some problems with tracking to begin which were largely solved by the configuration switch on the MIDI connector being in the wrong position and by adding a subsonic filter box to the signal path to correct for the fact that Roland left out that circuit in both those units.

The truth be told though, the Private Stock is a much better virtual guitar than a MIDI guitar, because it is way too resonant to allow for a clean signal. With all the overtones, it seems to fill out the virtual models better than my GK equipped Strat, but the overtones seem to cause more false triggers as the fundamental dies away.
 
i've been using the ghost system for years. i think it's terrific. i split the signal with a Y lead and run the piezo into the back of the axe fx into input 1 right. i can then use volume blocks to select which input i want to use (or both) and process them differently. tonematching a real acoustic is the way to go, imo. incidentally, i use a switchcraft 14b stereo jack (on the recommendation of MisterE) which allows me to wire the mags directly to the output without going through the board, so if the battery fails the mags are unaffected.
 
simeon said:
i use a switchcraft 14b stereo jack (on the recommendation of MisterE) which allows me to wire the mags directly to the output without going through the board, so if the battery fails the mags are unaffected.
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Had it wired the same - so I wouldn't lose the mags as well!
 
Brian Coonan said:
Had it wired the same - so I wouldn't lose the mags as well!
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Preferred to have all on one mono out but using a stereo switch socket in the guitar for managing the battery. As I can switch between mag and AP as wished, or even blend, is there any other advantage using a stereo setup ?
 
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