HE5/BZ.FEQ (Bouzouki/Octave Mandolin)

The HE5′s pickup is based on a bespoke Piezo cable material made in the EU which was developed for Headway purely as a pickup material. Headway’s unique and superior construction connects via a fine, flexible co-axial cable to the pre-amp & end pin jack socket which is fitted in the bridge of the instrument under pressure, usually under a bone saddle. Headway believes it to be the best sounding pickup material available because of it’s 360 degree sensing of more of the instrument and evenly along it’s entire length.

This European made Piezo cable also scores through it’s lower resonant frequency compared to competitors. This avoids the excessive and unnaturally piercing harsh treble, presence peaks and upper mid honkiness which plague other transducer pickups.

The HE5 Piezo cable pickup has a unique construction which avoids hum from by thorough shielding of tips and joints and via an additional carbon shielding layer. The HE5 pickup also features an outer plastic layer which prevents the braid from stretching out or bunching up which also prevents strings from becoming unbalanced after they have been fully fitted.

Warm harmonic tones are added via two FET stages on HE5 pre-amp designs. The pre-amp converts an ultra high impedance signal from Piezo cable pickup to a hot but easily usable output at a cable driving “low impedance” and at around Line Level.

The HE5/G.FEQ pre-amp features a broad shallow mid cut finely tuned for the application plus a small roll off below the fundamental range of the instrument which reduces low end feedback and body handling noise. Each HE5 system utilises interactive “Baxandall” interactive EQ for a more natural and musical response than graphic EQ.

Headway Pre-amps and amplifiers feature a supersonic frequency roll off which prevents unwanted spikes and peakiness which can upset amplifiers and cause so called “quacking”.

HE5 background noise levels regarding hiss and hum are exceptionally low in pro audio terms so as to be generally considered effectively zero for practical purposes.

Potentially destructive plugging-in noise is greatly reduced by the “slow power-on” circuit. All Headway pre-amps are made with close tolerance components on Surface Mount Glassfibre, solder resist boards for a consistent, reliable sound maximise product life. HE5′s feature gold plated through hole plating on their double sided printed circuit boards.

Standard Headway internal battery fixes via bespoke leather battery bag, displaying logo, mounted via double sided adhesive Velcro. Rigid battery terminal connects to battery via red/black twisted pair leads.

European made End Pin Jack Socket is supplied integral with pre-amplifier PCB offers a quality finish, reliable electrical connections and a typical long life. Screw on End Pin Button replaces end button on instruments to support the strap.

HE5 pick-ups are individually tested prior to dispatch.