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Gibson Songbird Deluxe Pickup


marcelg

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Hello :)

 

I own a Gibson Songbird Deluxe and would like to know if anyone here knows what pickup was built in. I bought it new around 2000 (date, not price) at a music store in Frankfurt, Germany. Back then I did not care much what pickup was used. The quality of the guitar is outstanding, it is still my main guitar.

 

When googeling the guitar, on all the pictures I found there is a totally different pickup installed - one with a battery (9V) compartment and some sliders for tone adjustments. My guitar just has a small fitting for a 9V battery under the sound hole and a jack for the cable. The pickup has a very low output level compared to other acoustics I use.

 

Thank you in advance for any infos.

 

Cheers

Marcel

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My 2001 Songbird Deluxe is my favorite and -- to my ears -- best sounding guitar. It has the same OEM pickup (w/o controls) as yours, but I have no idea as to the manufacturer.. An email to Gibson Customer Service may bring a speedy answer though.

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Thank you for your answers. I recently installed a L.R. Baggs M80 magnetic sound hole pickup in a 1976 Fender with 12 strings. I like the pickup a lot and I was thinking about putting one in my Songbird as well.

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It will be a Fishman Acoustic Matrix Natural 1. These were fitted as standard until 2005ish when Gibson started installing Baggs Element units in stead of the Fishman gear.

 

These are a decent pickup, especially if paired with an Aura unit or similar. If the output is low, my first port of call would be to change the battery, followed by checking the saddle fits the slot nicely with enough play to make sure it makes hard contact with the pickup.

 

If that doesn’t sort it, the preamp in the pickup is faulty-I’ve had this before, resulting in a thin, low output signal.

 

The upside is that these pickups are non-invasive installs and can be removed and replaced without any major surgery, so you can put in whatever you fancy in it’s place!

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