I've been gigging on acoustic guitar for a few years now, and I have two very different instruments that I use for different applications. I've had aftermarket pickups installed in both of them, and I did a lot of research first. Consequently, I often get asked "What should I buy?" by friends who are looking to install or upgrade existing electronics in their guitars. Here's what I tell them. Well, first, let me tell you about my two guitars:
One is a 1987 Guild JF30, a positively gorgeous sounding instrument, big and loud and rich. This is the guitar everyone wants to borrow when they go into the studio. I wanted to use it in my quieter live settings at cafes and the like. The other guitar is an Epiphone Chet Atkins SST. If you haven't seen one of these, it's a thin, chambered guitar with no sound hole. Impossible to make it feed back at any volume. Perfect for what I do with Sisters of Murphy. I happened to get one for $100 that plays GREAT, but it had terrible sounding, inconsistently functional electronics. I wanted to upgrade the pickup system, and my guitar tech (Rob at Rossi music) suggested we use the pickup that Dave Matthews used to put in his Gibson Chet SSTs.
So, here's what I put in my guitars, and a few options I chose not to get but which might still be good for you.
1. What I installed in my Guild: The LR Baggs Anthem SL blended system. At $199, this ain't cheap, but I think it's the least expensive blended system out there. "Blended" means it combines an internal mic with an under saddle transducer (UST) piezo pickup, allowing the mic to handle all the mids and highs and relying on the UST to handle the lows. This way, you get the responsiveness of a piezo without the quacky sound they tend to add to the highs, and you also get a nice miked sound with greatly reduced feedback risk. You can dial in how much of the mic you want to use with a trimpot. The non-SL version of the Anthem is $100 more and allows an even finer control over the blend. Not worth it for most players.
2. What I installed in my Chet Atkins: The Fishman Matrix UST piezo. I used the now-discontinued Matrix Natural (I bought it on eBay, but I don't see them very often), so here's a link to the Matrix Infinity for $139 at the time of this writing. Be aware that there are two sizes depending on the gutter width of your saddle. This is a no-fuss pickup that probably won't feed back and will sound as good as any straight piezo is likely to. This also comes in a blended system with a mic. Of course, the blended system costs more, about $220 at Amazon as of this date.
3. The other pickup I considered for the Guild: The K+K Western mini. This is a contact mic that glues to the underside of the bridge plate inside your guitar. Unlike the mic portion of the Baggs Anthem system (which can go basically anywhere on the bridge plate), the K+K needs to be put in a very precise location. It's cheaper at $91, but the general consensus seems to be that it will sound awful unless you use the K+K Pure Preamp floor module ($154 more) because of input impedance or some other thing I don't really understand. They also make a combination product that puts the preamp on a belt clip instead of on the floor. I'm not joking.
4. A well-regarded option that I never really considered: high-end soundhole pickups. The most popular ones (in order, as near as I can tell) are the LR Baggs M1A ($139), the Fishman Rare Earth ($140, also available in a blended system), and the DiMarzio The Angel ($150, also available in a blended system, but unfortunately NOT available in any other color than Tortoiseshell But It Looks Like Leopard Print). These pickups are all well loved. They provide body response, unlike a UST, which many acoustic players rely heavily upon for their percussive sound. Can take some getting used to, though, because if you hit the pickup accidentally, you get an undesirable and disproportionate body response. And of course having a thingie stuck in your guitar is a non-starter for some people.
Well, I hope that helps. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, or to tell me what your favorite acoustic pickup is!
Well, I hope that helps. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, or to tell me what your favorite acoustic pickup is!
1 comment:
Okay, I have to say I am a sold customer on LR Baggs stuff. I have the Anthem system, the upper end cuz I do some of the blending and all depending on the situation. I had it placed in my '74 Guild D35. This was my recording guitar as time and maintenance has allowed it to become a very rich sounding instrument. The Anthem helps to capture that with just a touch of roll off in the bottom end. Hey, it is easier to notch out a slightly meatier bottom than you want, rather than trying to add tone that isn't there. The anthem is wonderful!!!
I also have an LR Baggs system in my 12 string that is coupled with the LR Baggs DI. Yes, I love it and would endorse it if they would let me. LOL! Anyway, My personal preference has truly become bias!
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