Acoustic pickup advice

[riccol]

I'm looking to add an aftermarket pickup in maybe a couple of guitars.
What I'm looking for is one that works well for direct recording.
I know --I know --- micking is best and I do this most of the time.
However There are some occasions when I like what I got from a couple Of Taylors I sold a while ago, one had the fishman blender and the other the ES system. I was listening to some older tracks and liked what I got by spliting between the direct pickup and micking,

I am thinking of adding a pickup to my Goodall and maybe a larrivee.

Any recommendation on what would work best for recording would be appreciated.

[sile2001]

From what I've heard, the L.R. Baggs iBEAM bridge plate system has been absolutely stunning. Supposed to be exceptionally close to a mic'ed sound.

[Aaron Cheney]

Don't buy anything until you've looked into the K&K Pure WEstern.

A

[steve350]

I love the Fishman pickup on my Martin HD28V. Here is a page of some good information:
http://www.maurysmusic.com/choosing_..._guitar_pickup

[Light]

I have written about this enough.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...coustic+Pickup

The only thing I would add is that Fishman now makes a new, less expensive, blender system than the Pocket Blender. It is called the Ellipse, and it is pretty damn cool, for an additional $250 dollars (over and above the piezo pickup).

If you are going to be playing live at all, particularly in a band situation, you really want an undersaddle system of some sort. They have, by far, the best feedback resistance of anything, except for the magnetic’s. The magnetic’s just sound too electric on there own, to me.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[steve350]

One thing I forgot to mention, no matter what pickup you chose, get the Fishman Pro Platinum EQ. I gig all over the US. We rent allot of equipment. I've played many different Acoustic/Electric guitars with every type of pickup.
I always take my Fishman Pro with me. It goes between your guitar and amp. It makes any Acoustic/Electric sound great. One of the best features is the notch filter. Some guitars/amps are prone to feedback on the low G to A.
You can notch that feedback right out. Here are some links:

http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=42

http://www.onstagemag.com/ar/performance_fishman_pro_eq

[sile2001]

Originally Posted by steve350

One thing I forgot to mention, no matter what pickup you chose, get the Fishman Pro Platinum EQ. I gig all over the US. We rent allot of equipment. I've played many different Acoustic/Electric guitars with every type of pickup.
I always take my Fishman Pro with me. It goes between your guitar and amp. It makes any Acoustic/Electric sound great. One of the best features is the notch filter. Some guitars/amps are prone to feedback on the low G to A.
You can notch that feedback right out. Here are some links:

http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=42

http://www.onstagemag.com/ar/performance_fishman_pro_eq

Have you ever tried an L.R. Baggs ParaAcoustic DI? It's quality is excellent, and it's hard to beat 5 band EQ + notch filter...

[freshmattyp]

When I record, I usually play a scratch acoustic track going direct, before micing the guitar. A lot of the time I find myself leaving this track in the final mix, it adds a little something extra.

Everybody has their own preferance, mine happens to be the Sunrise. My main guitar has a Fishman under the saddle and the Sunrise in the soundhole, wired to a stereo jack. 90% of the time I use the Sunrise only, but when I play smaller gigs and do a lot of fingerpicking, I use both through a Sunrise Preamp, then a Boss EQ pedal with a shallow smile on the faders.

My new guitar has the Baggs M1 soundhole pickup, but I haven't had a chance to use it much yet. My initial impression is that it's nearly as good as the Sunrise, although I use it through the Sunrise Preamp. That makes pretty much any acoustic pickup sound better.

[Buck62]

I have multiple acoustic guitars and have both Fishman and LR Baggs systems in all of them.

Fishman is nice, but the Baggs systems sound just as awesome at an average of 1/3 less in price for comparable systems.

[LI_Slim]

Whichever brand you use I think an under the saddle ribbon condensor is best for this purpose. There's no need for a blended system here because you are micing it outside the guitar and therefore don't need the little condensor mic inside the body.

[Light]

Originally Posted by Buck62

I have multiple acoustic guitars and have both Fishman and LR Baggs systems in all of them.

Fishman is nice, but the Baggs systems sound just as awesome at an average of 1/3 less in price for comparable systems.

Not when you factor in the additional cost of instalation on the Baggs. And their retail prices are very similar, so what truck did your Baggs fall off of?


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[apl]

I've got a Fishman Humbucking Rare Earth and I think it sounds very good. I had a chance to hear it used in someone else's performance, so I heard it over the PA. But your question was about recording. I used it direct for one of the parts in Home Alone, but it may be a little obscured.