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1962 gibson to pick-up or not


bryantjudoman

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N.G.D 1962 gibson hummingbird. Completely stock and original. I want to use it on stage however it of course has no pick up. Opinions on whether to put one in or not welcomed please. And if so what would be the least intrusive to use? Thank you in advance. P.S. I am on top of the moon right now lol. Pictures soon.

post-88256-060983500 1527294307_thumb.jpg

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Would depend on the settings you wish to be using it

Are you a gentle fingerpicker or a strummer with a full band behind you etc

 

Least invasive is a sound hole pickup

 

My favourite permanent thing would be a k&k which requires no drilling or anything that can’t be undone

 

 

Look forward to the pictures and maybe sound samples

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What Grunt said.. pretty much that's about all ya need to know.

 

Aside from the hole needs to be bored out at the bottom where the strap pin is, there's really nothing that can't be undone with almost any of them.

 

Fishmans and LR Baggs have controls in the sound hole that are attached with double sided tape. There are a few clips that get installed and some velcro that holds the battery. that could be sub'd for a metal holder, but I think even those use dbl sided tape these days. All of this can be removed.

 

the only thing you can't undo is boring out the hole for the jack. But I think you can buy replacement plugs to cover those.

 

if you don't want that hole in the bottom to be modified... then the should hole pick up is the thing for you. I do find they get in the way a bit if you're a finger picker..

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N.G.D 1962 gibson hummingbird. Completely stock and original. I want to use it on stage however it of course has no pick up. Opinions on whether to put one in or not welcomed please. And if so what would be the least intrusive to use? Thank you in advance. P.S. I am on top of the moon right now lol. Pictures soon.

 

I got a '68 Gibson Dove two months ago - similarly over the moon with the sound and feel and also was stock without pickup. Came to the conclusion that whatever I was going to do I'd need to have the end pin reamed out for a socket, so looked for the least impact after that but wanting as natural a sound as possible. Was a little more limited as the '68 Dove still has an adjustable bridge so you can't put a piezo in, but to be honest I don't like piezo's much anyway.

 

After much research (including trying things like a Fishman Rare Earth blend, which only sounded good to me blended all mic) I ended up with a K&K pure mini transducer. The K&Ks just require a little bit of glue to stick them underneath the bridge, so pretty non-intrusive. I figured I could always upgrade the K&K with the mic they supply at a later point.

 

As it turns out I'm really happy with the sound straight off the bat. It does sound like the Dove which was the aim - though I would say whatever you do get a decent external pre-amp. I'd been using a Fishman Aura Spectrum with my Martin (which does have a piezo) but this works well with the K&K just using the EQ and not the body images. As a bonus if I want a bit more body there are a couple of Guild images of similar maple sided guitars that actually work really well.

 

Obviously plenty of other options out there, but this one works for me.

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Most pickups will do nothing to devalue an acoustic no more than a strap lock if that is what you are worried about. Soundhole pickups are, as noted above, the least invasive but only if you do not install a jack. Even if you go through the end pin hole it will have to be enlarged but it is reversible.

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It is your guitar, so it is up to you. This is thus not advice -- just a statement of fact for what it is worth.

We also hav a near mint 62 hummingbird. We also plug in on stage when need to. We would never put a pick up in the hummingbird -- we use new guitars designed for that.

Best,-Tom

 

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Very nice guitar! If I could find an early Hummer as nice as that I certainly wouldn’t consider fitting a pickup that would involve any drilling or anything - I’d just be inclined to buy a new one with pickup installed for stage use. 😁

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Stunning guitar. I’d use a Fishman Rare Earth Blend soundhole mag/mic unit for it, and remove it when I wasn’t using it.

Ok I have put a lr bags m1 active in the sound hole. I am just leaving it there as it is a bit of a pain to take in and out. Why do you suggest taking it out when not playing?

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Ok I have put a lr bags m1 active in the sound hole. I am just leaving it there as it is a bit of a pain to take in and out. Why do you suggest taking it out when not playing?

 

Just because I don’t like the aesthetic of the soundhole pickups on a vintage guitar, and having all that weight clamped to the top tends to attenuate the bottom end a little.

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