An investigation of the use of mass‐loaded piezoelectric accelerometers for active damping of highQ, mechanical, vibration isolation suspensions is reported. The transfer function and noise of the accelerometer are modeled, and the predicted noise compared with measurements. A servo which damps the normal modes of a two‐stage suspension by sensing the acceleration of, and feeding back to, the intermediate mass is then modeled. The rms and ‘‘high frequency’’ closed loop motions of the isolated mass are calculated. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.