Ahem! Harumpph! When I bought Jack's Collings a couple of weeks ago (quick, wipe off the smirk!) it came with the McIntyre pickup in it. These are one of the pzieo (sp?) types that stick on to the inside of the guitar with goop, rather than going under the saddle. I understand that Jack was involved in the development of these, and may still have a partnership interest in the business - I'm not certain.

I asked Jack what he suggested to run it into the system, and he said that he and Doc are now using the Fishman "Platinum" preamp/equalizer units. He said he had a rackmount unit that he used to haul around, but found that these little hand-sized boxes do everything it did just as well.

I've tried the guitar, plugged into a Fishman preamp, but not the Platinum, and thence into a little 10-watt keyboard amp that we had around, and it does an amazing job of retaining the acoustic sound - much better than any under-saddle pickup I've ever heard. When I first tried it, my wife was upstairs, and she wasn't aware I had plugged it in - she just thought I was playing really loud, right near the stairs. And she has a much better ear than I do.

Incidentally, Jack also said that he and Doc are now miking the guitars as well as using the pickups. Doc always preferred the pickup to playing into a mic. (Remember, he played electric guitar in a local country band for years before he was "discovered.") So Jack said he set up mics as well, for a few gigs, and just didn't tell Doc. When he found out about it, he decided he liked it ok.

Peter.