Need suggestions for an acoustic pickup

[octoruss]

Help!
I don't play out live very often, but that is about to change. I'll be starting a series of gigs with two other acoustic guitarists for gigs in bars and restaurants in my local area. We'll be plugging into a powered mixer like the Yamaha EMX620.

My question is, I need a suggestion for a decent acoustic pickup, and/or any suggestions for getting a good acoustic sound out of our system. All the pickups I've tried in the past I hate, even a $100 under-the-saddle pickup I've currently got installed in my Martin.

Can you reccommend a good pickup, plus any other external FX I might need or settings I should make on the mixer to get a good sound?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Fed]

LR Baggs has range of stuff that I know is used by alot of people.
http://www.lrbaggs.com/

And Fishman is usuialy is a safe bet. I have a very simple active Fishman undersaddle pickup and our sound guys love it.
http://www.fishman.com/

I would defenetly look into dual system (depending on your budget). where you have undersaddle and a little mic inside the guitar. And then there is outboard thingy that blends two signals.
Actualy LR Baggs has little thing thats clips on the sound hole to blend the signals. I think it would be altimate and would give you alot of flexebility as far as tone.

I like the simplicity of my pickup. it sounds good and I can always tweak it a little with EQ on the board.

cheers

 

[toyL]

…ask wifey-poo, or maybe grandma, for a clothes-pin…rust on the spring is optional…although a little oxidation lets everyone know that you “don’t give a fuck”—attitude is always critical…now take your guitar cord and cut off one of the connectors, but don’t pitch it—stash it away in your tackle-box cause they make great sinkers for deep-sea fishing…on your way to the docks hit some yard-sales and buy up all the “quartz” clock-radios, wrist-watches, etc…it doesn’t even matter if they don’t work cause the quartz will still be good…get your beer and ice at the dock cause they need the money and the ice will last longer…ok, if you got an early start it’s probably past noon by now, but that’s perfect—you’ll need a little angle to the sun’s rays in order to spot those quartz crystals on the deck of the boat as you smash up your yard-sale loot…a hard fiberglass hammer works best, but don’t get too heavy-handed cause even fiberglass can shatter quartz…if the captain gives you any shit just tell him the government will cover any damages and that it would be best if he kept his eyes on the horizon (from this point on he may sneak a peek or two, but, he’ll do whatever you tell him to do)…once all the components and hardware are thoroughly broken up, just rummage through the debris and pick out all of the quartz and a couple of small pieces of solder…also, find a couple of small strips of mylar to insulate the exposed basis metal on the end of your guitar cord—where you cut off the ¼ inch jack—I’ll come back to this part, but first, use a zippo to melt the solder on a metal spoon (found in the captain’s coffee cup)…now tin about the last ¼ inch of your center conductor…the rest is easy…grind up the quartz with a pair of pliers…rub some deeply into the end of your clothes-pin, place your lead onto this same area, loosely layer some more quartz on top of that, cover with mylar, tape tightly…this will work as a prototype…precise grinding and screen-laying is recommended for a more accurate oscillation…it’ll only take a few seconds to find the “sweet-spot” on the instrument cause a clothes-pin is easy to use…if you can point out the errors you can have the captain as your personal bitch for a day…

 

[octoruss]

wow...why didn't I think of that? Thanks toyl. I'll give this a try tonight and let you know how it goes...

 

[gbondo9]

Has anyone here ever tried the Yamaha AG Stomp? Or the Tech 21 Acoustic DI?
Ive read decent things about both, but would love some realworld feedback.
Todd

 

[octoruss]

Amazingly enough, the clothes pin works!!

 

[Fed]

octoruss,
any pictures and/or interpretation of what it's all about. it is hard to understand wilth all the "wit" in that post.

Is it a way to make you own pickup?

thanks

 

[JohnWaynesTeeth]

octoruss,

My friend uses the LR Baggs dual system and I like the sound, but it's not perfect. Is it only going to be the three acoustic guitars? I think it depends a little on the style of music, but I would consider using a real mic and blending in the pick-up. If it's all heavy strumming the dual-source will work. I like the baggs because they don't cut any holes in your guitar for the controls. Another newer thing to look at is the fishman rare-earth. I have the rare-earth blend, it is a sound-hole humbucker with a gooseneck mic attached. Very easy to install yourself. The humbucker has a nice warm sound that works much better then piezo, and the mic adds a little "wood" to it, but it sounds muffled. It's not the holy grail and I think a lot of people just use the humbucker when playing live because of feedback issues. I have to eq a little to cut feedback on mine.

LR Baggs is probably $250-$300 installed. Fishman rare-earth around $150, with mic around $300 and you can install yourself.

Just like for recording, a nice pre-amp will help warm up your sound, and judicious use of eq can help get you closer to the sound you want.

YMMV but I hope this helps a little.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Octoruss-before I start, did you get my email? anyway, I'm currently using Fishman Prefix Plus, and I've played it through a shitload of acoustic amps and I've found the amp to be often far more critical than the pickup. This is purely anecdotal, as I'm no techno-geek, but every I amp I jacked into that was trying to be a PA invariably sucked. It was almost as if the mere presence of an XLR in was enough to screw up the sound with crunchy midrange garbage. When I plugged into a Strawberry Blonde, it was like standing inside the guitar. I also auditioned the California Blonde, which would have been convenient (yeah, I want that XLR) but the one I listened to sucked like the rest. My sometime partner, Maureen Fleming, did the same audition with a Taylor 500 series with a prefix plus and had exactly opposite results, buying the California Blonde. Amps, like guitars have differing sonic characteristics, but I'm convinced if you find the right amp, your current pickup will make vastly better sound. Audition a Blonde!- Richie

 

[octoruss]

Thanks for the advice gentlemen. And Ritchie, I did get your email. Did you receive my reply?

I've got a gig this weekend so I'll be heading over to Mars or Guiutar Center to check these out. It sounds like the Strawberry blonde might do the trick!