The great acoustic pickup thread....

Fingers Mcginty

Well i haven't seen anything relating to amplifying an acoustic on stage here yet so let's have it ... What are yiz using and what's worked out the best on stage????....
Here's what i've used in the past
Yamaha APX10 : Piezo pickup...elastic band syndrome
Guild DCE1HG ...class guitar. Pickup: Fishman...as above
Gibson songbird: Fishman acoustic matrix pickup..not bad for a piezo
Martin CEO4: Installed KK pure western...very dissapointed...too much low end feedback ...couldn't dial out at gigs...very embarrasing
Yamaha FG150...sunrise with sunrise preamp...best so far if a little "electric sounding"....thinking about using effects witht this setup

punchdrunk

i've justgot a fishman rare earth soundhole pickup,sounds good so far but i haven't used it on stage yet

i'm curious about the fishman pro blend which is basically the matrix system with a mic added in the soundhole,might beat that rubber band sound?

Asiaprod

punchdrunk wrote:

i'm curious about the fishman pro blend which is basically the matrix system with a mic added in the soundhole,might beat that rubber band sound?

I fitted one of these in my Yairi Acoustic and am very happy with it.

Kenny_D

Have a look on shorelinemusic.com . They have info on a lot of high end pickup systems for acoustics. I'm very happy with my takamine pickup at the moment

Fingers Mcginty

Asiaprod wrote:

I fitted one of these in my Yairi Acoustic and am very happy with it.

Any feedback issues onstage whilst using the mic?

Gaspode

I used those €20 generic soundhole pickups for years. Sound was just about OK and not popular with sound-guys because they buss a lot.

I fitted a Fishman Acoustic Matrix Natural under the bridge of my older guitar last year. Nice sound but not as bright on the higher frequencies as I thought it would be. Great bass tones though. Zero feedback problems with it so far, but you do have to take a drill to your guitar, so be prepared to sweat if you're fitting it yourself.

New acoustic has a fishman Classic 4T built in - Havent tried it with a big PA yet, but for pub gigs its been great so far.

Rustar

My Ibanez PF5 claims it has a Fishman Sonicore with an SST preamp. Sounds really nice to me amplified.
Sure beats the crap outta my guitarist's Celebrity.

Asiaprod

Fingers Mcginty wrote:

Any feedback issues onstage whilst using the mic?

No, the notch control seems to deal with feedback quite well.

Fingers Mcginty

i have the fishman matrix in my gibson already. Thinking of adding the mic for a better acoustic sound.

slavedave

After a lot of deliberation, I opted for a K&K Pure western with one of their pre amps for my Martin DM, and I made my own electret mike to blend between the piezos of the K&K and soundhole area. Pre-amp has bass, mid and treble adjustment on both channels (piezo and mic) so lots of flexibility. They have a tri-mode set up for sale which incorporates an under saddle piezo, the pure western and their own "bullet" mic for even more choice. Pretty happy with the result but rarely play at very loud levels, mostly used in church services. Nice for recording with though. Unfortunately, a diversion with e-drums has meant it stays in it's case a lot at the moment:rolleyes:

Fingers Mcginty

man i had nothin but hassle with my KK pickup...feedback city. Hated that sound which goes totally against all the rave harmony central reviews.;)

Gaspode

slavedave wrote:

I made my own electret mike

You made your own mike?

shatners basoon

I recently enough bought a cedar top McIlroy and am pretty determined to get a pickup soon enough. The guy i brought it to was raving about Schertler bluestick i think but its pricey enough and im not too gone on the idea of a condensor mic in the guitar (you basically get the sound of the guitar being heard in a small box imo) However if you mixed it with an external condensor mic (I've a nice Shure SM81) would that improve it?

The other pickup(s) im looking at are the fishman Rare Earth models. Either get the humbucker soundhole pick up and add my shure (or would that create feedback problems?) Or use the Fishman Rare Earth Blender which is a mix between the humbucker soundhole and an internal condensor mic. I've heard it being used with a McIlroy before and i thought it sounded very nice indeed.
Any ideas?
Suggestions for a small affordable acoustic amp'd be nice too!

spooydermot

Hi, I hope this is an appropriate thread to ask this question

I'm thinking of buying a Martin D15e http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?ItemID=22697, I was playing one the other day in a store in Dublin and the sound was amazing, although I didn't plug it in.
It has a Fishman pre-amp in it and I believe that it retailed for €1300, after salivating all over the guitar I got talking to a friend of mine and he suggested to me that I would be better off buying the acoustic version of the guitar and getting A Fishman Premium Blend pre-amp for it, which includes the gooseneck mic, his thinking being that it will give me a more true acoustic sound when plugged in.

I then got talking to the guy in the store later, who could see the logic behind the thinking but warned that the mic in the guitar might be prone to feedback.
So while I really want as true an acoustic sound as can be delivered through a guitar/PA I *really* wanna avoid feedback and all its works!

So what option would people go for?

punchdrunk

the key with the prefix blend is to add just enough to take the edge off the undersaddle pickup,but not use so much gain that the mic starts to feedback
i seen mark geary use one live and he had the most realistic acoustic tone i've heard live yet,i've got a 000-15 and i love it! i'll be putting a premium blend in there soon enough

edit cause i'm thick..

spooydermot

punchdrunk wrote:

the key with the prefix blend is to add just enough to take the edge off the undersaddle pickup,but not use so much gain that the mic starts to feedback
i seen mark geary use one live and he had the most realistic acoutic tone i've heard live yet,i've got a 000-15 and i love it! i'll be putting a premium blend in there soon enough

see now, the fact that Mark Geary uses one has nearly sold it too me

Now that you mention it, thinking back to his gigs - he's always had a very nice guitar sound....

The_g-man

I mentioned this in a separate thread, but would a fishman aura help to achieve the natural sound without as much feedback worries?
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/aura/68229

http://www.fishmanaura.com/

punchdrunk

i thought the aura sounded a bit fake TBH

Kenny_D

I heard the Aura got great reviews. Particularly when combined with something like the Fishman Matrix Natural pickups. Expensive bit of kit though. The videos on the aura website have a big difference between the sound of the guitar with and without the aura. I wonder if it's really that different

I should have my McIlroy A25 next month. Got a Matrix Natural 1 put in as recommended by Dermot himself. Looking forward to trying it through my JC120 and Roland AC60. Still quite impressed by the takamine pickup though. Was playing both the CTP-1 and CT-4B pickups last night. The CTP-1 had a great sound on a cedar/mahogany guitar

Deff agree with Mark Geary's sound. Saw him at his last gig in Whelans and his guitar has a great sound. Dont see many people play with an all-mahogany guitar. I'd love to try one

spooydermot

yeah my only worry about the aura is that it might be a bit artificial, that said I will have a proper read up on it at home....I guess my thinking is that if I pay for a Martin, I want it to sound like a Martin as opposed to the sound being processed to sound like a 'real acoustic'