Acoustic Pick-up

[cat-eggs]

hi.

i play acoustic guitar and require a pick-up that is loud enough to transmit the integrity of the sound through an electric amp, since i cannot afford an acoustic amp, and play shows where fender twins are common pieces of house equipment.

i'm currently using a dean markely that seems to be discontinued, which is discouraging, and it is very quiet clean. distorted it sounds fine, i guess, but i don't want to play distorted.

anybody know of something good? i'm poor, by the way, so expensive options are not really worth mentioning.

thanks

 

[Fangar]

I have been happy with my Seymour Duncan Sadducer. It is an under the bridge mounted saddle transducer. Requires installation, but it is not a major surgery. I think it sounds nice and is very realistic sounding. They retail for about $99 and can be purchased for about $75 or less. I play through a trace elliot acoustic amp, but played through a PA directly (with a DI) and it sounded great too.

Fangar

 

[cat-eggs]

that sounds doable....do you know if a pre-amp might increase the level on an electric guitar amp?

 

[Fangar]

Yes you will have a hotter signla from the guitar with a preamp. The models that have built in preamps, tend to coast quite a bit more though. Also they generally require quite a bit more work if you are going to mount them in the guitar properly. However, they do give you a nice control over the volume from the guitar as well as often a graphic eq. Also, you can get an external preamp like a Sansamp or Trace elliot pedal. Both companies make a nice unit though they cost around 100.00. If I were you, I would start out with some sort of sadducer type thinline pickup and go from there. But for what it is worth, the sadducer sounds great. Good luck... Hope that helps a little anyway,

Fangar

 

[Buck62]

I own a Dean Markley acoustic pick-up and I've tried many other brands of acoustic pick-ups. All of them are crappy when compared with a ribbon transducer/preamp/eq type of system that sounds waaaay better and gives you CONTROL of your sound.

After much comparison, I ended up buying the L.R. Baggs Micro EQ System....
http://www.lrbaggs.com/micro_eq.html

The entire thing cost me $190 installed (parts, labor, & warranty).

I can't believe how awesome this system is for the money.
I checked into all the Fishman stuff. They charge about 35% more for their systems that are comparable to the Baggs' systems.
Fishman is overpriced, plain and simple.

Anyway, I had the Micro EQ System installed on my Epiphone EJ-200 (jumbo) and it sounds incredible!
You can pay alot more for acoustic pick-up systems with a preamp, but most of it is pure fluff.
All you really need is volume, bass, and treble controls... that's it.

When compared with the Dean Markley soundhole pick-up, it's like going from a Yugo to a Mercedes when you have a Baggs System.

I HIGHLY recommend the L.R. Baggs Micro EQ.... it's a "steal" for the money.

 

[CDT-sHaG]

hey buck what guitar did you get it installed in?

i actually amplify my seagull s6+ spruce with an emg acs soundhole pu and a clip-on condenser mic...it's a very unique tone...but I might just throw that onto my old yamaha nad get the micro installed...

a lot of the seagulls come with that micro eq system..and it is very nice sounding..

 

[cat-eggs]

fangar: you touched on the subject of external preamps. since i currently own a dean markley sound hole pick-up, would the preamp get my signal really LOUD on an elec. amp? It's hard for me to tell at the music store because i don't have drums and bass covering me up. incidentally, could the preamps on my 4-track amplify the signal significantly?

buck62: can this system be reinstalled on another guitar easily?

thanks.

 

[cat-eggs]

by the way.... i'm curious whether or not acoustic pick-ups are designed to be played on electric amps to begin with

 

[TexRoadkill]

A preamp or mixer would give you a little boost. You already have the best cheap option outside of a bridge transducer like the Fishman or Micro. Those are what the pros use for acoustics.

Using them through a guitar amp is fine but a keyboard amp or PA system is better. Acoustics have a much richer tone than electrics and that is why electric guitar amps are sometimes less than ideal. If the amp has a good clean channel than it may work okay.

 

[CDT-sHaG]

cat-eggs

i've had much better luck with bass amps...12 or even 15" speaker combos...

the headroom makes for a nicer tone imho...

like the swr california blonde is basically a bass amp with 2 channels (one for a mic)..

 

[Fangar]

fangar: you touched on the subject of external preamps. since i currently own a dean markley sound hole pick-up, would the preamp get my signal really LOUD on an elec. amp? It's hard for me to tell at the music store because i don't have drums and bass covering me up. incidentally, could the preamps on my 4-track amplify the signal significantly?

buck62: can this system be reinstalled on another guitar easily?

thanks.

Cat,

A preamp would certainly boost your signal from your guitar with your current setup. Whether or not it would give you a louder sound through the amp, depends a lot on the amp. I personally had major problems with feedback on the Dean Markely Promags (Used to sell them) when cranking the amps. Mostly, for me I use a preamp for recording the direct out of my acoustic. I also Mic it though at the same time and blend the two signals for a very realistic and warm sound. The setup that Buck describes is very nice. I don't like the idea of cutting the hole in the body fo the guitar t mount the preamp board though. Just me personally. But he is right for a preamp transducer, it is great. Once installed, you will not want to switch it back and forth between guitars. The thin strip (transducer) is fragile and not meant to be handled very much. Good luck,

Fangar

(P.S. Buck I didn't mean to answer his question for you).

 

[Buck62]

No biggie, Fangar

Just to answer one of the questions posed to me...

I have the Micro EQ System on my Epiphone EJ-200, which is stated in my original post.
As Fangar said, you can't transfer the system and you have to cut a small hole in the side of the guitar for the control panel.
I did this on a BRAND NEW guitar, so it's really no big deal.
It sounds and plays great, that's all that matters to me.
The controls are so small and unobtrusive, most people would never even know they're there.

The bottom line is, you can continue to use an "inferior" product that screams the word "CHEAP" every time you play out, or you can upgrade to a reasonbly-priced system that will greatly improve your sound and your credibility as a serious musician.

 

[cat-eggs]

okay, thanks for the information.

the reason i didn't want to cut holes in my guitar is because it's not a very great guitar to begin with (yamaha dw-10) and i don't think it would be worth putting a couple hundred dollars into a pick-up for it, if you can dig that.

A guy at a local music shop told me to buy an eq pedal, or a processor for a +18db boost. it was ($90 / $250 respectively). he said with the pedal, i could get the boost and notch out feedback. it'd be great if you guys would comment on this proposition.

thanks.

 

[Buck62]

Hey, that's cool.... I understand where you're coming from with a low-priced guitar. I wasn't aware of your situation... sorry.
Maybe you should look for an acoustic guitar that has an eq/preamp from the factory. You could probably find something decent on ebay or at your local music store that's used, but reasonably priced.
Then you'd REALLY have some nice options to work with!

 

[Richard Monroe]

acoustic pickup

I use the Fishman prefix plus stereo blender on a Taylor, but for some live stage cuts I actually switch to an old DiMarzio magnetic pickup through a guitar amp and blend the sound with the piezo transducer jacked into a Stawberry Blonde or the PA. If you want to sound like an electric guitar, a magnetic p/u is OK through a guitar amp. If you want to sound like an acoustic, use a good under-saddle transducer. On your budget, you might find the Dean Markley with an outboard preamp/volume pedal will be OK, and for slightly quieter stuff try a good dynamic (Shure SM-57, etc.) into the PA. Usually the PA board will have better EQ and possibly phase reversal, which I find more helpful at reducing feedback than the notch control on most guitar pre's.
Remember also, grasshopper, that this is a homerecording BBS, and with a magnetic pickup you can play your guitar, but with an SM57, you can record the world for $80. If you want to sound like an electric, spend the money on an OK used solid body.
Best of luck- Richie

 

[mixmkr]

I've got a cheapie Bill Lawrence pickup that mounts in the spound hole (was about $45 new) used currently in a cheapie Epiphone guitar ($60 pawn shop special...or about $200 new), and can be heard in the MP3 clinic on one of my current posts titled: "I'm playin' with myself"... Admittedly, it doesn't really sound too much like an acoustic guitar, but more like a clean setting on a hollow body electric....but I like it...and that's all that counts to me Oh...with this 'magnificant' pickup, I can yank it out of that guitar, stick it in my 12 string...my other cheapie acoustic tuned to Nashville...etc. etc..... My main gripe is the cord dangling from the pickup which seems to get in the way sometimes....AND make sure it's tucked around the strap, lest you step on the cord and yank the affair out of the guitar.... Yes...my buddy does it all the time to his. (but never me!!!)..you'd think he'd learn about the guitar strap/strain relief trip.....

ah...what the fu__.......here's the [crossposted] link....song titled "spanish nights

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/9/1322/album43.shtml