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11 Feb 10 - 03:46 AM (#2835811) Subject: Guitar soundhole pickups - opinions From: theleveller I'm sure this has probably been discussssed before, but with new models coming out I'd like to hear people's experiences. I'm looking for a soundhole pickup for my new Avalon, for use performing and recording. I have a Seymour Duncan Acoustic Tube on my big Lowden and I'm very happy with that but, unfortunately, it's just too big to fit into the Avalon soundhole. I've considered Dean Markley Pro-Mag but have heard both good and bad reports of it, I've also heard good reports of the K+K Pure Western but it's not easy to find in the UK, I like the sound of the LR Baggs M1 but it's too expensive (I don't want to spend more than £100). So, I've pretty much decided on the DiMarzio Virtual Acoustic at £70. Any opinions or thoughts would be gratefully received. |
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11 Feb 10 - 04:09 AM (#2835824) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Richard Bridge I have never yet heard a soundhole pickup (other than a microphone type which of course feeds back like the clappers) that made an acoustic guitar sound even vaguely like an acoustic guitar. Surely the K&K is a set of little stick-on bugs that go on the inner bridge plate. |
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11 Feb 10 - 04:29 AM (#2835831) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Acorn4 I went to a guitar workshop at Gainsborough recently and the person who was running it had bought a pickup off the internet which worked on a sort of sucker pad arrangement that just fitted on the front of the guitar soundboard - it sounded really good and apparently only cost £3.50. |
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11 Feb 10 - 05:03 AM (#2835848) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Mr Happy I've used the sucker pad thing successfully. It's really a telephone pickup, I got it from Maplins electronics |
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11 Feb 10 - 06:32 AM (#2835914) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Silas I use a fishman and it is amazing - you do need a pre-amp though. |
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11 Feb 10 - 07:14 AM (#2835939) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: mattkeen Rare Earth is ok I have spent over £1000 on pick ups and different set ups (currentlt use a Highlandr mic and undersaddle set up). The Highlander is pretty good - but no better than that I think if I were to do it now I would get a Rare Earth but use a decent mic whenever possible |
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11 Feb 10 - 07:38 AM (#2835959) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: GUEST,erbert .. this is as good a reminder as any to ask a question that perplexes me from time to time. If pickups on electric guitars are conventionaly grounded to a metal part of the bridge or tailpiece to minimise noise interference [ & risk of elecricution ?]. How is it ok that magnetic pickups can be just be temporarily fixed to the soundholes of acoustic guitars without any need for similar grounding. Does that mean, any electric guitar pickup that can be bodged to fit a soundhole can be used, and the ground wire just taped off; or even an electric guitar might work just as well if the ground wire to bridge became accidently unattached ? The main reason I ask this, is I aquired a 'jazz' humbucker that screws to sides of the end of the neck that I eventually intend fixing to a cheap archback. I'll need to feed the wires through an F hole and drill in a jackplug, but not sure if I need to take the humbuckers ground wire and drill another hole to solder it to the metal tailpiece ? thanks. |
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11 Feb 10 - 09:44 AM (#2836066) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: alex s Many top professionals use Fishman pickups. I have them on a 000 Martin and an old Guild and I find them to be very effective - but watch out for too much bass. |
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11 Feb 10 - 10:04 AM (#2836090) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Bernard I'd vote for Fishman, too - from the sound engineer's perspective as well as a performer. |
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11 Feb 10 - 11:03 AM (#2836172) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: theleveller Thanks, folks - Fishman it is. Luckily a 'Catter has offered me an excellent second-hand one. |
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11 Feb 10 - 11:58 AM (#2836231) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: Bernard GUEST erbert... The point of grounding metal parts of an 'electric guitar' is earth bonding, a bit like water or gas pipes in a house. It's not primarily to reduce hum, though it can have that effect by reducing the flow of hum-inducing current. The reason why you don't do it with an acoustic guitar is because there aren't any metal components likely to be a path to earth. The danger is an electric current trying to ground itself through you rather than via a more direct path through the amplifier's ground - made worse if you are using a microphone grounded to its amplifier and a separate amplifier for the instrument, each with a 'different potential' (electrically speaking). You become a capacitor, charge up with current and die! |
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11 Feb 10 - 12:27 PM (#2836252) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: GUEST,Les Harvey I can vouch for the fact that Bernard has got it spot on. |
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11 Feb 10 - 12:44 PM (#2836268) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: dwditty If you play out live, save up for the Baggs M1 Active. Not only does it sound great (admittedly, no magnetic pickup produces the exact sound of the acoustic guitar, but these certainly do not quack), the volume control is extremely convenient - especially when playing with others. |
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12 Feb 10 - 09:22 AM (#2837048) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine I got Fishman Neo-D humbuckers for my guitar and bouzouki recently, and I'm very pleased with the results so far. It's essentially a passive version of the Rare Earth (I prefer to use passive pickups with an external preamp for various reasons), and I'm pleased with the sound - plenty of zing in the top end, and not the clunky middly tones some magnetic pickups give you. They cost around £70 each. I'd recommend having them wired to an endpin jack rather than the trailing lead they come with. |
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12 Feb 10 - 01:24 PM (#2837317) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: GUEST,Johnmc I'd like to ask what the main reason is for a preamp - is it to achieve volume or is it to improve tone? If it is loud enough without one, is it necessary ? |
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24 Feb 11 - 06:37 AM (#3101806) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: harmonic miner The Harmony Soundhole pickups have come a long way and many of them do now make a good imitation of an acoustic guitar sound. I suspect they use different magnets and windings to those on an electric pickup (or maybe I just believe the marketing!). Some of the now-standard undersaddle pickups sound a bit tinny or quacky Some soundhole pickups like the Sunrise (used by Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson and others) and the Baggs M1 Active also pick up soundboard vibrations rather than just the strings. John Prine uses a Dean Markeley which I think is a purely magnetic one. Seems to use this on one guitar for fingerpicking and it sounded good when I saw him live. I have an Artec MSP50 which is very similar in construction to the single-coil Fishman Neo-D, but a fraction of the price. It sounds not at all bad when picking arpeggios, less so for strumming. Preamps can increase volume but also match the impedance of pickup to that of the amp. I only vaguely understand what that means except that some pickups won't work so will with some amps withbut a preamp. User reviews of all pickp types can be found here http://www.harmonycentral.com/user-reviews/ |
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24 Feb 11 - 06:40 AM (#3101807) Subject: RE: Guitar soundhole pickups From: harmonic miner Sorry, delete the words ' The Harmony' from first line of my post above!!! |