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Amplify a Gibson L48 without piercing the guitar


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I would like to amplify my l48 without piercing the guitar. I found this Korg CM-100L , a contact microphone used on a tuner but I think there should be no problem to connect it to an amplifier and take the wonderful sound of L48. I could connect the clip to the side of the wooden bridge or tailpiece. Does anyone have experience of amplifier on this guitar?

Thank you

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Professionally speaking, your best bet to get a natural, and traditional sound from an archtop guitar is with a pickguard mounted humbucker type pickup. The entire assembly (pickup, vol. control and jack) can be mounted to a "replacement" pickguard and installed on the guitar.

 

Here's what the first assembly looked like on my 1947 L-7:

2437303472_29e95f677c.jpg

 

I've since changed it to a fancy multi-bound pickguard and chicken head knob. The two major brand names of this type of pickguard mounted humbucker are "Kent Armstrong" and "Bennedetto".

 

There are also Piezo type contact pickups that mount under the bridge bass (I believe Fishman makes one), so there are options. The above type system is what works best for me.

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Professionally speaking, your best bet to get a natural, and traditional sound from an archtop guitar is with a pickguard mounted humbucker type pickup.

Not really. If you want to talk about "traditional", you should remember that floating pickups were around for quite awhile before humbucking pickups were available. A more "traditional" choice would be one of the DeArmond pickup models. These could be attached without having to be permanently mounted to a pickguard.

 

A humbucker is certainly another option, and might still be preferable, depending on what type of tone someone is looking for.

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I would like to amplify my l48 without piercing the guitar. I found this Korg CM-100L , a contact microphone used on a tuner but I think there should be no problem to connect it to an amplifier and take the wonderful sound of L48. I could connect the clip to the side of the wooden bridge or tailpiece. Does anyone have experience of amplifier on this guitar?

Thank you

 

The acoustic sound of your L-48 does not exist on the surface of it, but in front of the f-holes. If you want to preserve the acoustic sound, your best bet is a small body condenser mike--see this:

 

My link

 

If you really want a more typical jazz guitar sound, the floating pickup mentioned previously will work.

 

Danny W.

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Just to throw an alternative out there, Fishman make a replacement bridge for archtop guitar that gives a decent impression of an acoustic sound. It can be installed with an external jack mounted to the tailpiece, so does not require modification to the guitar. I have this pick up on my Epiphone Blackstone, although I ended up breaking open the Fishman, installing the piezo elements in a replica of the original bridge and wiring it to an endpin jack.

 

It's a very different sound to the floating pickups others have mentioned, and from a trad jazz point of view you may well prefer the floating pickup. In my case I chose the Epi when I was specifically looking for an acoustic archtop, so the Fishman seemed like the logical choice when I wanted to gig with it.

 

Also, compared to the floating pickup the Fishman isn't a cheap option and it is supplied as a blank, so both the saddle section and the base profile need fitting to your instrument - so unless you're experienced in carving bridges you need to factor in the cost of having it fitted for you. But it was the right choice for what I wanted out of my guitar, and worth the expense.

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The acoustic sound of your L-48 does not exist on the surface of it, but in front of the f-holes. If you want to preserve the acoustic sound, your best bet is a small body condenser mike--see this:

 

My link

 

If you really want a more typical jazz guitar sound, the floating pickup mentioned previously will work.

 

Danny W.

 

 

+1 :-)

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I have see in a music shop of my city a Di Marzio DP 130, I have tried it on my L48 and I must say that it make a incredible wonderfull acoustic sound !!!

It has not altered the beautiful acoustic sound.

Moving it to the bridge tended to produce a blues sound, moving it to the neck tended to produce a jazzy sound but moving it to center the sound is very very acoustic clean, in any case no background noise, wonderful

As mentioned above however, acoustic sound at 100% the microphone remains the best solution.

I have try this Shure SM57 and I say this can to be optimal solution for record the L48 acoustic sound [thumbup]

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