Schaller Oyster S/P – balanced new sound in a modern design

The Schaller Oyster has been a classic contact pickup for decades. With its compact size and low weight, it can be easily mounted on guitar tops for spontaneous gigs or permanently installed in the body of acoustic instruments.
The new oyster has become a little bit slimmer and convinces thanks to the new piezo technology with an even more balanced sound. This makes it the perfect pickup system for guitars, basses, ukuleles, mandolins and other acoustic stringed instruments.
The Oyster is available in different cable lengths with a 6.35 mm (1/4″) jack socket or plug, as a single or double pickup, classic nickel-plated or in pure sound brass.

Unique features of the Schaller Oyster Piezo-Pickup

• Piezo contact pickup: A sensor pickup for retrofitting or easy installation on and in an acoustic stringed instrument.
• New balanced piezo sound design, with lifelike and dynamic reproduction of the instrument sound, without active circuitry or preamplifiers. 
• The excellent sound result is achieved by a perfect interaction of membrane and piezo element.

Technical details

• Oyster shell material: brass
• Weight: 12 grams per Oyster shell
• Available finishes: pure brass or nickel
• Passive circuitry: no power supply like battery needed
• Resonance frequency: 6.0kHz ±0.5kHz
• Max. Resistance (Zr): 500 Ω
• Capacitance: 14000 nF ± 30% nF
• Special feature: also suitable for percussive playing

Scope of supply

• Oyster Model S/P: with 1 x Oyster shell as shown in the PDF
• 4 x adhesive foils

Schaller Oyster in three different versions

The Schaller Oyster is available in three different versions: as single (S/S or S/P) or double (D/S), whereby the two Oyster piezos of the D/S allow a wider frequency spectrum. It can be easily mounted with the included jack sockets or plugs of 6.35 mm (1/4″) diameter.

Oyster S/P (single/plug)

1 x Oyster piezo
external attachment to instrument top
Cable length: 320 cm 
High quality 1/4″ (6.35 mm) jack plug

See also the other Oyster models:

Oyster D/S (double/socket)

• 2 x Oyster piezos
• for internal mounting
• cable length 45 cm
• With high-quality 1/4″ (6.35 mm) jack socket incl. strain relief, screw grommet and strap mount

Oyster S/S (single/socket)

• 1 x Oyster piezo
• for internal mounting
• cable length 45 cm
• with high-quality 1/4″ (6.35 mm) jack socket incl. strain relief, screw grommet and strap receptacle

Mounting instructions

The Oyster shells can be mounted using the included double-sided adhesive pads. Therefore, for proper mounting/dismounting of the Oyster shell using foil in the body, and for mounting the end jack in the frame, we always recommend consulting your local guitar builder or dealer for advice.

These options are often used in practice

• Under the strings, in front of the bridge, between the 2nd and 3rd treble strings.
• Directly next to the bridge on the treble side
• Behind the bridge, towards the end of the body in the area of the treble strings

On the D/S model with two Oyster shells, the second likes to be placed in the bass string area. It is also suitable for other positions (I=inside, O=outside):

• I+I: both shells inside the body
• I+O: one inside the body, one outside on the top
• O+O: both outside on the top

Even the smallest changes in position lead to different sound results.

The Oyster shell should always be fixed in an easily accessible place with the foil already glued on. 

About piezo systems for stringed acoustic musical instruments

Piezo pickups are in principle suitable for many types of musical instruments. The sound depends very much on the mounting position. Patience is required in finding the right mounting position for a piezo pickup. Each player prefers their own "sweet spot". Even the slightest change in the piezo's position on the top or in the body will produce different sound results in bass, midrange, treble and volume levels.

Passive piezo transducers are not powerful signal sources due to their physical design. For this reason, piezos are often used in an active design, with an integrated preamp and equalizer, to compensate the signal loss caused by long cable runs and to shape the sound characteristics. We recommend using preamps for acoustic instruments (e.g. a floor pedal) and/or acoustic amplifiers. The Boss GE-7, for example, offers a quick solution for adjusting the frequency spectrum with its 7-band equalizer: the signal strength can also be adjusted using the additional level control.

Numerous manufacturers offer a wide range of products for amplifying acoustic instruments: ACUS, AER, Audio Sprockets, Boss, Bugera, Elite Acoustics, Fender, Fishman, Grace Design, Hughes & Kettner, Joyo, Line 6, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, NUX, Orange, Ortega, Palmer, Quilter, Radial, Riviera, Trace Acoustic, Yamaha, Zoom and others. (The companies/brands listed here are registered trademarks of the respective companies.)

(Schaller GmbH accepts no responsibility or liability for the correctness, accuracy and completeness of the following technical drawing/s.)