Enlighten Me On Acoustic Pickups, Please

JookyChap · January 2014

I've somehow got roped in to play acoustic at a few evening shows with a singerer, which is a first for me..

Anyway, the only usable acoustic I own is a £75 Freshman I got from @Bogwhoppit recently, and I was wondering if you kind souls could point me in the direction of a cheap but decent pickup?

As I'll only use it (at most) four or five times, and I'll just be going into the PA, I don't really want to break the bank, and I would just go and buy an electro acoustic if I hadn't stupidly resolved not to buy any guitars this year, so...help

crunchman · January 2014

Buy the electro.

The pickup I'd normally recommend would cost more than the guitar!

I was looking through the Studiospares catalogue that came through my door and noticed this:

http://www.studiospares.com/guitar-clip-on-pickup/invt/475740?VBMST=pickup

It might be worth a try.

JookyChap · January 2014

Cheers @crunchman - must admit the electro was my guess too and I'm not surprised about the pickup

ChrisMusic · January 2014

Why not just mic it up? Zero cost to you. That's always a good move in my book.

ICBM · January 2014

I wouldn't get an electro. Cheap electros sound dreadful - even where it doesn't really matter - and usually don't play well. Even a decent soundhole pickup will cost less than a tolerably good electro, is less sensitive to the quality of the guitar than a piezo-based system, and you have a guitar already… so it's the cheapest sensible option too.

And, if you get a decent soundhole pickup you can move it from guitar to guitar as and when you upgrade.

The Seymour Duncan Woody range is pretty good and not enormously expensive, although I'd still go for an active one if you can since it makes the choice of what it's going into unimportant - with a passive, you need either a DI box (which is usually available at open mics) or a PA with a dedicated high-impedance input (some do). Of the actives the LR Baggs M1A is my favourite, although I haven't tried their newest one yet.

ThePrettyDamned · January 2014

If there is a PA there, it might be better to spend 30 quid on a mic. Some cheapies actually sound pretty good, but feedback might be a worry you don't want.

Duncan do some sound hole ones? Or you could do a Kurt cobain and chuck a single coil on it and put it through a ds-1

JookyChap · January 2014

Cheers fellas - the Cobain approach appeals, but I can't see it going down too well with folky hippy whimsy...

@ICBM I think you are right - a decent soundhole one I can use elsewhere makes the most sense... I'll go and have a look around

Phil_aka_Pip · January 2014

I found that the Seymour Duncan Woody didn't produce much output on the acoustic guitar I tried it with. In the end a deal turned up with a Washburn SBF-80 which I went for, and I'm very happy. I guess it's the equivalent of @crunchman's "buy the electro"

crunchman · January 2014

I think @ICBM touched on the output issue when he said it's better to go for an active one if you can.

He is right (as usual) about being willing to spend more on a better pickup that you could put on a better guitar later on. If the OP plans to upgrade to a better guitar at some point this is definitely a good option. Magnetic soundhole pickups aren't my favourites but they are the easiest to transfer to another guitar.

Bogwhoppit · January 2014

JookyChap said:

Anyway, the only usable acoustic I own is a £75 Freshman I got from @Bogwhoppit recently,

Oooo! I never knew I owned one of them ! lol

JookyChap · January 2014

Bugger who did I buy it off then

bertie · January 2014

Jooky, go up to Absolute by the traffic lights in Backwell

Nice collection and the guy's really helpful

JookyChap · January 2014

Cheers @Bertie, I'm in Backwell tomorrow so I'll pop in

Bidley · January 2014

You bought it off me, @JookyChap!

And I have one of these I was using with the Freshman, which isn't getting used as I have an electro now. PM me if you're interested

ICBM · January 2014

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I found that the Seymour Duncan Woody didn't produce much output on the acoustic guitar I tried it with.

They certainly aren't the loudest things, and they're also quite sensitive to load impedance - a typical desk or PA head 1/4" jack will be for line level and fairly low impedance so it's doubly difficult for a passive pickup to drive it.

Phil_aka_Pip said:

In the end a deal turned up with a Washburn SBF-80 which I went for, and I'm very happy. I guess it's the equivalent of @crunchman's "buy the electro"

Those are really cool, and actually sound better than many "proper" (ie hollow!) electro-acoustics… if you can get past the rather 80s looks

. If you add a magnetic pickup as well you end up with a seriously versatile guitar.

koneguitarist · January 2014

I have a shadow active soundhole pickup not doing anything if you fancy a trade on something.

Certainly loud enough, the Seymour Woody`s are way too quiet for gigging.

bertie · January 2014

Jook, how did you get on at Absolute ?

Wolfetone · January 2014

JookyChap said:

I've somehow got roped in to play acoustic at a few evening shows with a singerer, which is a first for me..

Anyway, the only usable acoustic I own is a £75 Freshman I got from @Bogwhoppit recently, and I was wondering if you kind souls could point me in the direction of a cheap but decent pickup?

As I'll only use it (at most) four or five times, and I'll just be going into the PA, I don't really want to break the bank, and I would just go and buy an electro acoustic if I hadn't stupidly resolved not to buy any guitars this year, so...help

You don't need one. Get a microphone on your guitar and hear the difference. I have a really nice top of the range Tanglewwod and I thought that it was great through its electrics. I mic'd up and I was amazed. I plugged it in on Sunday and it sounded comparitively terrible.

strtdv · February 2014

Mic'ing is the way to go where practical.

Failing that then it all depends on budget. Up to £150 I'd say the best systems are a Fishman Matrix infinity pickup and preamp or an LR Baggs Ibeam.

Both are under £150, and have relative advantages and disadvantages. The Baggs is an under bridge pickup so avoids a lot of the piezo "quack" that is associated with under saddle pickups, but is very feedback prone.

The Fishman is very feedback resistant but requires drilling a hole in the saddle slot, and still has a tiny amount of piezo quack.

I was faced with the same choice and went for the Fishman if that tells you anything. Dead easy to fit, sounds great, and the tone control works brilliantly.

If you want something cheaper then basically the options are a soundhole pickup, or an undersaddle or under bridge pickup with an outboard DI / preamp

close2u · March 2015

koneguitarist said:

I have a shadow active soundhole pickup not doing anything if you fancy a trade on something.
Certainly loud enough, the Seymour Woody`s are way too quiet for gigging.

Do you still have it?

I'm exploring acoustic pickup / electro acoustic options.

close2u · March 2015

Old thread revivalism ...

I'm exploring the options of electroc-acoustic and @ICBM suggested pickups are the way to go ...

I have a few questinos ...

the Woody gets a bit of criticism here ...

What is the difference between a Woody single coil and a Woody humbucker in terms of 'acoustic sound'?

Would either be okay running through a TC Helicon Voicelive Play GTX? [This acts as a preamp with built in adjustable EQ.]

I'm looking on Amazon at a range of pickups between £40 and £70 including:

Shadow Passive single coil

S.Duncan Woody (humbucker or SC)

S. Duncan SA-3HC-B

Fishman Neo-D passive

S. Duncan SA-1 Acoustic Tube etc etc

Are these much of a much-ness?

Is it worth stretching the budget up to LR Baggs / Fishman prices?

xwoozor · March 2015

I had a lr baggs m1 in a previous acoustic and couldnt fault it. Im not upto date on the best current models. The K&K Pure Mini also had good reviews at that time.

close2u · March 2015

@woozer K&K Another one to research / learn about. Thanks.

close2u · March 2015

koneguitarist said:

he Seymour Woody`s are way too quiet for gigging.

Would that include acoustic duet gigging? That is what I'm exploring. Or are you only thinking of a band set up?

usedtobe · March 2015

I used a fishman neo-d, when I needed to play acoustic, live.

ICBM · March 2015

close2u said:

koneguitarist said:

the Seymour Woody`s are way too quiet for gigging.
Would that include acoustic duet gigging? That is what I'm exploring. Or are you only thinking of a band set up?

They're just about usable for a duo - I had one. The signal-to-noise ratio is very poor though - and that's even with the best model, the humbucking one with the adjustable polepieces. You can improve it with an EQ pedal or some other form of booster.

You're probably better off with an active one really. Their only disadvantage (aside from the extra cost) is the potential unreliability - I've seen more than one failed Fishman Rare Earth. I've never seen a dead Baggs yet though.

The Fishman Neo-D might be a good compromise if it's louder than the Woody and doesn't have any active circuitry.

crunchman · March 2015

I've used the K&K Pure Mini straight into a PA. That's passive and you don't have to mess around with batteries.

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Enlighten Me On Acoustic Pickups, Please

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