Buying a pickup for an acoustic guitar

Mutant_Fruit

Basically i'm going to be playing at open mic nights for the forseeable future, and i'd like to use my own guitar, but i don't want to go out and buy a semi-acoustic.

So, what do people recommend buying to make my acoustic into a semi-acoustic. The less sawing and chopping i have to do to my guitar, the better. I saw a singlecoil pickup for sale in some guitar shop in town for EUR100, and i also saw a "pickup" (i.e. a microphone in a holder that looks like pickups) for sale for EUR20. Both of these clamped on the soundhole (if i got my terms correct ) and ran a wire down to a little box which attached to the side of the guitar on the outside, where i plugged in the lead.

So, do people recommend particular brands? Or is one as good as the other. I don't want to spend too much, but give me recommendations from EUR60- 150.

EDIT: i did read the charter, and this DOES seem to fit in here. This is the "equipment" forum after all... but then again, this is kinda like a "wanted" thread... ah well.

HusseinSarhan

If its quiet stuff then I would reccommend buying a good acoustic mic. If you really want a pickup then I would definately reccommend the K&K trinity or Pure acoustic systems. Give them a try on google. I'd always tend to steer clear of under-saddle pickups as, in my opinion, they sound awful (90% of them anyway). A sounhole pickup is better but they can sound a bit "electric" if you get what I mean. Overall a mic would be best. By the wat the K&K systems are Soundboard transducers which, I think, sound much more natural. Especially when combined with an internal mic source.

I would reccommend a goos mic really to be honest as you could use it again and again for loads of different applications.

Hope that helped.

P.S. You wont find K&K pickups in the Irish shops as far as I know so you have to buy off their website.

Mutant_Fruit

I was a bit dubious about a microphone as i thought that might get a lot of feedback, also since it was so cheap, i assumed it wouldn't be as good.

So, considaring i don't know anything about this, i'd need links to recommended pickups. Thanks agin.

goin'_to_the_PS

where did you see that microphone yok. oh oh i feel a little modding idea forming

Mutant_Fruit

where did you see that microphone yok. oh oh i feel a little modding idea forming

Its in a shop called "metro music" about 5 minutes down the road from me, in rathfarnham shopping centre. Modding is ok by me, so long as i don't have to do it

goin'_to_the_PS

cool i'm living like right next to it as well

I am MAN

n/m I misread thread.

Mutant_Fruit

goin'_to_the_PS wrote:

cool i'm living like right next to it as well

Well, you gonna tell us your idea? (by "us" i mean "me"). Or are you gonna go to metro and steal my pickup thingy

goin'_to_the_PS

don't know yet but i think i could find loads shi't to do with a 20 euro pickup. is it just a mike could it be used for vocals

HusseinSarhan

I live 5 mins away from Metro Music as well. I know the pickup you are talking about and to be honest...well...it looks lke complete crap. However, you would be silly to spend 150-250 on a guitar worth that much. What guitar do you own? I still think that if it is going to be a low volume affair you should definately go for a mic....or use the one at the venue! It should not feed back if it is'nt too loud. You can get ood mics for 150 easily...on the net at least anyway.


http://www.kksound.com/acousticguitar.html

Mutant_Fruit

I was using this to find me a pickup, but to be honest, i'm not looking for a top of the range pickup. My acoustic only cost EUR300 ish, and so wouldn't be the best of guitars. I want something that gives good enough sound, and doesn't break the bank.

Stuff like this sounds like a load of bolax to me. Read the description of it. That makes me very dubious. They use big fancy words trying to make it sound special, but in the end it just makes it sound dodgy. If i wasn't recommended to the site, i would have disregarded it already. Is that particular one any good?

Or would something like this be better? I don't know what a transducer is as compared to a "pickup" system.

Aagh, the confusion.

HusseinSarhan

I mentioned earlier that I would not reccommend a under-saddle transducer from any company simply because they dont sound natural (in my opinion). I think the pure western would be good, but on a guitar such as yours I wouldnt bother to be honest. MIC MIC MIC MIC! thats all I can really reccomend for your situation. Why the hell bother with a pickup that will cost money to install on a guitar as wellas the costs of the pickup, naturally. All that hassle in order to achieve a sound which is unnatural and flase (Undersaddle pickups anyway) when the much better option is a mic for low volume affairs. Buy a good general use dynamic (or even condenser) mic that you can use for other stuff later on. The industry standars are the Shure SM58/57/59 (as far as I remember) they are ok for a low cost mic. They do the job. Another good choice is the AKG c1000s. Getting an undersaddle pickup seems like such a waste of time and money in your situation.

By the way, I dont see how the K&K site seems dodgy, they are one of the worlds top acoustic instrument pickup companies and are VERY high quality. Lots of pro players use them, but more importantly they sound natural. Most other companies like Fishman and LRBraggs produce mush lower quality stuff. I did'nt find the terminology on there site to be dodgy of suspect in any way, I can see how it would if you didnt have proir knowledge of such pickups....cystals, resonance etc. Listen to thier sound clips and you will DEFINATELY hear the difference between their stuff and the usual crap you hear. I despise undersaddle quack in case you hadn't guessed!

Well good luck,


P.S. If you HAVE to get a pickup then get this:



HERE

Its not the absolute best but it certainly does the job well and it runs in accordance to the value of your guitar. You could also switch it to another guitar should you ever upgrade. It would be a safe bet. Only thing left is to choose between the single coil and humbucking versions. Basically SC = more clarity but buzz and Bucker= Noiseless but with less clarity. You choose. They are cheap and do look good.