Pickup for nylonstring acoustic..

[drpfeffer]

Hi all..

I am currently recording my nylonstring classic guitar through a condenser mic and a preamp, but i need the opportunity to go and play live with my guitar.. And i guess my recording solution is not useful haha.. So basically, I need a pickup/microphone for my acoustic with NYLON strings, i really don't want to cut holes in my guitar, so a perfect solution would be something you can "tape" (is it possible?) to the guitar..

All help needed..

 

[XLR]

A simple way to go is the Dean Markley Artist Transducer - about $40. Sticks on the foot of the bridge with sticky putty-like stuff. For me it has sounded good going through the just the right electronics, but sounds horrible if it's just going direct in to an amp. I like it best through a Presonus Bluetube preamp ($200 or so), but also can sound good going through a Zoom 504 acoustic gtr processor ($60 or so) with a couple of the many settings it has. From there you can really finesse the signal by going through an RNC compressor (necessary for me because I play flamenco), then, if I didn't already add reverb with the Zoom device, to a nice digital reverb. Sounds good through a small amp, big amp or stereo PA.

Tim

 

[scrubs]

I'll second the Dean Markley recommendation. I have one and it does the job decently for not much money. After a few years, the silly putty doesn't stick as well, though.

Another option would be to get one of those small condenser mics (like a lapel mic) that goes inside the soundhole.

 

[XLR]

I'll second the Dean Markley recommendation. I have one and it does the job decently for not much money. After a few years, the silly putty doesn't stick as well, though.

Yeah, that's true. What I did was replace the grey putty with the stuff they sell at Wallgreen's drugstore to use for hanging pictures without nails. The stuff I got was blue and much softer than the original putty. It ended up giving the transducer what to me sounded like a nicer tone also.

Tim

 

[Rokket]

I had recommeded this in another thread:

http://www.mymusicstuff.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=531

The price is right...

 

[Dani Pace]

Several companies make a clip on condencer mic that work pretty well for nylon string guitars, of course an acoustic preamp greatly improves the overall sound of any of them.

 

[GABritton]

Check this guy out. He makes piezo pickups from PVDF film. Great, Great, Great sounding pickups. He calls them acoustic feathers. There's a couple other manufacturers that make similar stuff, but he used to live in the same town I do and you can call hime, e-mail, and he'll help you w/ your sound. It actually picks up the sound of the guitar through the wood, not the sound of the string. So what your guitar sounds like is what you get. My other guitarist has one in his Guild that sounds sweet. There's pickups for classical, steel string, madolins, violins, etc...

McIntyre Pickups


**edit** You need a small pre-amp after this pickup. The sound is great, but the piezo element is small and the signal needs to be boosted, so a pre-amp is needed...

 

[Fusioninspace]

K&K True Westerns

I just put some K&K True Western pups in my Seagull steel string. It's the closest thing to a miked gutiar I've ever heard or used.

I got them for about $80 off Ebay. There are three small pickup/mic things that you attached to the inside of the guitar (under the bridge). You can put them in extremely attached or not so attached. I went the not-so-attached route and was very happy.

You have a choice of drilling a hole for the plug (they use an endpin jack - so it's basically hidden by the strap). Our you can just let the line come back out the sound hole. I drilled the hole - it came out very nice.

I can only assume that these will sound just as good on a nylon string. You might check out harmony central and see what they say.

good luck!