Jed, thanks for a gear thread; I've been drifting into the BS threads against my better judgment, and this is a welcome change.

I use the Fishman Rare Earth Blend model, which couples a very nice magnetic pickup with an internal condenser mic. The blend model costs significantly more than the pickup alone, and I'm still not sure it was worth it (I have two, one in each of my two primary acoustic guitars). When feedback is not an issue, I blend in about 20 per cent mic to 80 per cent pickup; when feedback is an issue, I just use the pickup by itself. I think the sound is slightly better with a little mic blended in, but in truth the mic doesn't add much, it is very sensitive to position, and it can add undesirable noise along with the slightly "airy" quality it imparts.

When you come right down to it, miking the inside of the guitar body is not a great idea, acoustically speaking -- sure, it keeps the mic out of your way, but it's basically like sticking a mic in an echo chamber and hoping for the best. The latest iteration of the Rare Earth Blend pickups has a condenser mic on a detachable gooseneck that extends above the strings, over the end of the fretboard. I haven't heard one of these yet, but it's clear that Fishman is looking for a better way to do things, presumably because they recognize the shortcomings of putting the mic inside the guitar.