Bizzy Bee Contact Mic review

  • £24.95
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The Bizzy Bee is a lo-fi but surprisingly effective creative tool.

MusicRadar Verdict

For home, or indeed studio, recording, it's ideal for someone wanting more interesting acoustic sounds.

Pros

  • +

    Broad frequency response; suits creative recording and emergencies!

Cons

  • -

    Beeswax seems too lo-tech for the fixing; RCA jack not all that secure.

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You'd think the days of the lo-tech, humble contact pickup would be well over.

Bizzy Bee doesn't think so and this piezo transducer sticks onto your instrument with a supplied mini ball of beeswax. A thin diameter RCA-to-standard jack lead (2m long) is also included and it comes in a little bag, which is also handy for removing the beeswax residue from your guitar.

In Use

Obviously if you want to amplify an instrument without an onboard pickup, the Bizzy Bee works well. It seems to have a pretty wide frequency response but that will depend on its placement.

The RCA plug is quite a loose fit so you might want to secure that before you head to a stage. We're also not convinced that beeswax is the best material but, hey, it seems to work.

However, you can use it to augment the pickup system you may already have, primarily to add 'body' to a soundhole or piezo system both for performance or recording. We got some very lo-fi sounds from a Taylor GS Mini by placing it just behind the bridge; or added body sounds for percussive techniques by placing further towards the body's edge. Back of the headstock for a brighter, thinner tone? No problem.

While the fixing and trailing lead seem a bit Heath Robinson for serious gigs, it works well in terms of sound.

Dave Burrluck
Dave Burrluck

Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.