Anybody else have any experience with this?

I have never really liked the sound of pickups on acoustics particularly but, faced with the possibility of playing live again later this year, I thought I'd start doing some experimenting with the Dougie Maclean tie clip mic approach as his sound has always sounded good to me when I have seen him.

Armed with a coat hanger and in best Blue Peter mode (for those who don't know it's a kids TV programme where things are made out of toilet rolls, sticky back plastic and used plastic bottles etc) I made a little prototype which so far seems to work reasonably well. I have only tried it in a small room with a small amp. It's pretty bassy and a bit prone to feedback though less than I thought it would.

Next stage is to set up my PA and see how loud it will go without howling feedback. I have been warned NOT to use monitors.

So far I think it sounds like an acoustic guitar through a mic (d'oh! because it is). I'll post up an example at some point if anyone is interested in the result.

What I found with the position I put it in was that I can finger pick or strum or do what I normally do on a guitar without bashing it or it getting in the way.

I'll probably put a bit of cushioning under it to protect the guitar (though it only touches the scratchplate) on the MkII version once I get to test it with a bit more noise going through.

Holder
View on guitar
View on guitar
View on guitar