...Old Thunder, my '63 Guild D-40. I don't take her out of the case as often as I used to because when I play out somewhere I usually have to plug in and I just can't bring myself to make any holes in her to put in the pickup. And I feel like I should do the bulk of my practising on the guitars I'll be playing.

If you use a McIntyre pickup (or, from what I've read, a PUTW - I have no personal experience with them) you don't need to make any holes in the guitar. You'll need to make an existing hole slightly larger, to put an endpin jack in the place of the end pin, but that's it. You'll need a preamp/EQ, but you use a free-standing one outside of the guitar.

Of course, the best acoustic sound is always going to be playing unamplified, and the second best is always going to be playing into a good mic. Any pickup will always be third best.

Peter.