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Here is a series of videos from a guy who has done the most scientific testing of electric guitars and amplifiers that I have yet to find. His results surprise even me. I have always felt that "tone" is mostly imagination, but these carefully constructed tests show that it is entirely imagination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFcw-H5DN8
Sustain comes from feedback. It's that simple. No, it's not your $10,000 Les Paul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqBDIaZ0BE
Notice how he is using recordings to test the amps. This is the first time I have seen this done. Most 'tone' experts do this by playing the same lick differently with each amp, and then claiming the difference is the amp.
This guy is too smart to be a musician, he should go to MIT.
This really puts a dent in the whole tonewood argument.
I doubt there is anything very special about those piezos. My experience is that you need the right mounting and electronics to make a piezo sound good, and it has very little to do with the sensor itself, which is just a little bit of semiconductor.
The body was traced directly off the guitar, finished in very dark brown poly with tan Tolex. The neck is a reissue that has lain around for years. The bridge was originally left-handed, a few minutes with a file and it was right-handed. The double lipstick is switchable series/parallel/single-coil, for some variety. This is my first dry-erase pickguard.
