pickup for archtop guitar?

Subject: Need pickup for archtop guitar
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 12:53 AM

I have an unusual archtop guitar by a local luthier, which I would like to put a pickup in. Being an archtop, it has a floating bridge, and cannot take a piezo type pickup, as far as I know. The sound hole is quite a bit smaller than average, being about 3 1/8" diameter. (There are no F-holes in this archtop.) I don't think most "in the soundhole pickups" will fit this size of opening.

It badly needs amplification, however.

Does anyone have a useful suggestion for a pickup in this case?

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Troll
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 01:03 AM

Little Hawk: There are two ways you can go. One is to buy another bridge with a pickup already installed. Stewart McDonald sells one Check them on the web.
The other way is to try to find a "swing arm" mike. This fastens to the tailpiece. On the treble side are the tone and volume controls and on the bass side is a rod that runs up to about the fingerboard. The pickup goes on this and can be slid up and down to modify the sound.
Basicaly, youcan have a bridge mike, a neck mike, and anywhere in between. In theory at least. It's been my experience that it works best in the neck position.
I don't know where you would find one. The ones that I have,I got from my luthier. If you have no luck, contact me and I'll put you in touch with him.

troll

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 01:09 AM

Well, that's interesting. Thanks! I'll wait for a bit and see what other info comes in.

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: BlueJay
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 02:04 AM

Little Hawk- Check out Pick-up the World. They have pick-up models adaptable to all floating bridge instruments, such as arch-top guitars, banjos and the entire mandolin family. These pick-ups are a piezo type, but based on newer polymer film technology rather than the normal rigid crystalline or ceramic piezos. Being a flexible film, the pick-up canbe mounted in innumerable ways on innumerable acoustic instruments. The sound is superb, absolutely reflective of the instrument, sans the typical coloration of most piezos.
For more info, check out their website, click here

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: BlueJay
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 02:13 AM

Must have done something wrong with the HTML. Anyway, the address is www.pick-uptheworld.com I'll try again: click here

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: bill\sables
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 05:33 AM

I agree with bluejay The pickups he mentions are very good Cheers Bill

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: kendall
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 08:09 AM

ELECTRIC FIDDLES? ARCH TOP GUITARS? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: JedMarum
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:44 AM

Ya might take a read here. The pikc-ups that Blue Jay mentions above are reviewed by two independent reviewers (one of 'em our very own PHX area mudcatter, Terapln). Good stuff, both reviews. May be worth a read.

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 12:41 PM

Terrific! Thank you very much.

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: JedMarum
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 08:11 PM

In another thread we discussed these pick-ups and they really sounded like a good bet, so I took the risk and ordered one today. I have got find a way to get a good pick-up on my reconfigured Backpacker (now play in the raneg of a Bouzouki or Mandolin). The model 27 sounded right for this instrument (frequency response geraed for small bodied guitar, bouzouki, octave mandolin). The reveiwers made good sense, and sounded knowledgeable (as I said, I know one of the reviewers, and he is quite knowledgeable). So it seemed like a good risk to take. I'll let ya know what I think after I've had some time with it.

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Troll
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 08:30 PM

Sorry Kendall, but the ONLY guitar to play if you do Carter Family is an arch top. Preferably a Gibson L-5.
As for electric fiddles, if you play Klezmer with horns, you'd better be playing electric or you can't be heard.
Time marches on.

troll

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: kendall
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 09:35 PM

Is nothing sacred?

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Mooh
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:03 PM

Hey Little Hawk! Just by chance, was that unusual guitar built by Peter Cox?

Not minding my own business, again, Mooh.

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: JedMarum
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:15 PM

some people might say sex is sacred; but I guess that's another thread!

Subject: RE: pickup for archtop?
From: Troll
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:23 PM

Kendall, you surprise me. Here I thought that you were the standard-bearer of the liberals and I find you talking like one of us.

Sacred, I fear, is in the eye of the beholder,and ,while I agree that most folk music suffers when done electrically, I would call your attention to a recording made about three years ago called "Sacred Steel".
A lot of it was recorded here in Florida and consisted of old gospel songs done with lap steel and voice.Bob Steel was the spark behind the project.
It won several awards.
My point is that if Bob -an old folkie- hadn't made those recordings, a treasure of music would have gone unnoticed by the rest of the world.
Electric is OK in its place.I play one myself on ocassion in a dance band called Stardust-20's, 30's and 40's jazz standards-that has quite a following with the geriatric set in my area.

troll