Question:
Acoustic guitar pickup suggestions?
haydo_potato
2007-05-06 21:57:14 UTC
Recently bought a handmade Engleman Spruce/Indian Rosewood OM-style hand made acoustic guitar. Didn't come with a pickup, bit clueless as to what to choose, though I know I don't want a preamp/EQ. Any suggestions?
Five answers:
happydog
2007-05-06 22:07:47 UTC
You may not want one, but if you're playing live you will desperately want a preamp/EQ if you want to be heard. Now of course you don't want to cut a hole in your custom made guitar to install one, but they make outboard preamp/EQ units that can either be mounted on your strap or as an outboard unit between you and the PA or amplifier. Fishman makes a good one.



There are lots of pickup opportunities. Your basic Fishman under-saddle pickup will require installation by a tech, and even then you'll need the outboard EQ unit. The painful truth is that you will need a preamp/EQ no matter what you do. Sunrise makes a pickup system that is pretty excellent, which consists of a soundhole pickup combined with a small microphone on the inside of the guitar. A lot of professionals like Richard Thompson and Emmylou Harris use the Sunrise. It'll set you back about $200, but it's worth it. You may have to get a tech to install it - I would recommend it. Fishman and L.R. Baggs offer similar units which also sound pretty good.



But no matter what direction you go, there are two hard truths: you will need a preamp/EQ, and you will need to have someone help you install the pickup. You can, of course, always go with the soundhole pickups, like what Dean Markley and Seymour Duncan offer, but the sad truth is that those are just single-coil guitar pickups and they end up making your guitar sound like an electric guitar.



And whatever you do, I beg you, DO NOT GET ONE OF THOSE STICK-ON TRANSDUCERS. They sound perfectly miserable.



Good luck! Here's a link to some acoustic pickups.



http://www.musiciansfriend.com/home/navigation?q=acoustic+guitar+pickups
Susanna
2016-04-01 04:15:18 UTC
No pickup sounds good on an acoustic. That's the secret. 98% of pro recordings are done with a mic, and with good reason. Piezos have that horrible, sticky, dull sound to them. Get a mic that mounts on the guitar with a little gooseneck. If you insist on getting a pickup, either get a top-of-the-line piezo like an LR Baggs, or get a magnetic like the ones Seymour Duncan make.
Blazer
2007-05-06 22:07:20 UTC
I don't know if you have ever heard of fishman pickups , but they are really good mine hasn't caused me any problems and it doesn't give your guitar a scratchy sound
Willies G
2007-05-06 22:05:07 UTC
I like Fishman the best
honkykong
2007-05-06 22:05:06 UTC
http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/pickuptest.htm


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