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Pickup in a Legend?


duluthdan

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I am thinking about installing a Trance Audio Mono in the J-45 Legend. Just for those occasions when I have the opportunity to plug in. I am not a working musician, not by a long shot. I had the Trance mono in the SJ and was very pleased. No messing with EQ, or DI boxes, just turn Bass, Mid, and Treble down to zero, plug and play. For the best sound, I would go with the stereo Trance, but want the convenience of being able to plug in without having to figure out how to carry around that break-out box.

 

Thoughts? Would you put an end-jack hole and a pickup in a Legend? Better yet - if you had the opportnity to buy a Legend, and it had a pickup in it, would that steer you away?

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I wanted to put the K&K mini pickup in my HD-28V and like you, I didn't want to drill a hole in my Martin. I found this on line, the "Vintage Jack" and installed it with the K&K pickups. The jack works like a champ! I have had no issues what so ever. Like the advertisement says, it fits in the same hole as the end pin and works great. No difference in sound and NO drilling! Let me know how you come out.

 

Michael

 

http://www.kksound.com/products/vintagejack.php

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It actually fits into the hole the end pin was in. You connect it to whatever pickup system you decide to put in the Legend. It stays in the guitar permanently because even though it is a jack for your pickup, it is still a strap button/end pin. They give you a 3 inch adapter cord that a regular 1/4 plug will go into and the other end is the small male end that goes into the vintage jack. They also give you an input plug so you can take a regular guitar cord, cut the plug off and connect this to it permanently. Then you don't have to use the small adapter cord. You just take your newly modified guitar cord with you and use it. I hope I answered your question.

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That might be the ticket. Is it just an 1/8th inch adapter you carry around, or a whole cord?

 

 

That small plug sounds ok, but you can get just the metal adaptor that slips over the 1/4" plug at some electrical stores, instead of having a special lead..

 

 

like this kind of thing...

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/170824028419?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=107

 

 

 

Another option is to leave the Legend pristine and buy something like the new Gibson J15 that comes with a Baggs pickup and use that guitar as your traveller..... they are on Ebay for about $1300....

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Dan, I don't want to sway you... But I do want to chime in on how I look at it. I typically buy "mid priced" guitars... Think $1000 to $2500. I like pickups in them. I have one in my SJ, but none in my 000-18 or D15. Maybe down the road that changes.

However if I were in the market for a primo guitar, like the Legend or an Authentic, and buying used, I would not want one with a pickup. I would not gig with it. Maybe some others would agree, or disagree. yMMV

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I think we have a few guitars in common. How often do you use the JB Trance PU? I find when I play it I usually don't want it plugged in although that system sounds great.

 

Do you have anything in your TV? I just picked one of these up this past weekend. Wasn't looking for one but was offered a deal I couldn't pass on. I really like it.

 

Last week I put a Trance Mono VT in the J200 Koa, real nice and just replaced the one that was in it without modifying anything. I've yet to hear a pickup as good as the Trance as far as producing a clean acoustic sound.

 

If I wanted to add a pickup to one of my J45's I'd think I'd leave the Legend alone and just use a mic or one of those slap on one's if I ever needed. I may be tempted to add one to the TV and like the idea of the 1/8" plug so I would not have to modify the guitar.

 

Let us know how it works out.

 

 

 

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I am pretty willing to modify my guitars...some of them anyway. I think of guitars like the J45TV as production hybrids and thus open to mods...I changed tuners and pickguard. same with my D-28...

 

but I also have a guitar I would never modify...a Banner Mahogany LG-2 that is really intended to be a remake of an earlier model..JTs mahogany banner LG-1.

 

I put the J45 Legend in the do not mod category.....there is always a future buyer with or without modification... But given what I think the guitar is intended to represent, I would pass on one with electronics installed.

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All in all I would not give near as much thought to doing a bit of drilling in a brand new shiny guitar than some oldie but goodie. In the long run though a guitar is a tool and you need to do what you need to do to make it work for you. While I do not use a pickup with my '42 J-50, my '46 LG-2 sports a jack for a soundhole pickup. If you want to plug in a jack sure beats the heck out of taping the cable to the guitar which is what I used to do in the good old days to keep it out of the way.

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WOULD A REAL LEGEND HAVE A PICKUP?????????????…..lol…It's YOUR guitar, do with it what you wish!!!lol

 

 

It very well could have. Rowe Industries introduced the first attachable Dearmond pickups for acoustic guitars in 1939. The one they made for round soundhole archtops could have been slapped on a flattop if you were determined to plug in.

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Since you asked:

 

- I wouldn't install a pickup on any of my current acoustics unless it was completely reversible and required no modifications.

- I wouldn't buy any used guitar that had been modified for a pickup or had a pickup already installed.

- I wouldn't buy any used guitar that had a strap button installed in the heel of the neck.

 

BUT, that's just me. I don't perform on stage, don't need electronics to me they are undesirable.

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Not sure there is an easy way at all to do this with an 1/8th inch "Vintage" Jack. The Trance Audio unit incorporates the pre-amp right into the end-pin. It actually kind of floats in space in the guitar, rather than intruding at all on the top, back, or sides. Theres a picture of it here on their website. http://tranceaudio.com/amuletm.html

This is a great guitar to play. I suppose I could continue to lug around the J45 TV which has a Baggs Lyric in it, its mostly fine - maybe I put the Trance in there instead? But how many of you would buy a Legend with the pickup already installed, and think, "Hey, there's one decision I won't have to struggle with" - especially knowing it has perhaps one of the best pickups available in the market today?

I find myself quite ambivalent about this. Ok, "Wishy-Washy". Its not a Banner. It is a darn good replica of one, perhaps. A pickup install into a Banner might be pushing the envelope,perhaps the Legend exists to address that very dilemma? Jackson Browne has a whole rack of vintage Roy Smecks, and they can all be plugged in. I'm not suggesting of course that I am anywhere near that same league - but would anybody snub one of Jackson's guitars because it has a pickup in it?

 

Dave - you are right about the JB - but it has that little breakout box you need to have with you, and it doesn't fit into the case, otherwise that would be a rather marvelous rig to schlep around.

 

I won't make a rash decision on this, maybe I just key in on the TV - but they are very different guitars, in feel, and sound, at least to my tin ear.

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.......

Dave - you are right about the JB - but it has that little breakout box you need to have with you, and it doesn't fit into the case, otherwise that would be a rather marvelous rig to schlep around.

.......

 

I know what you mean. You would have thought that they would have made the case compartment large enough for it. I'm working on something there and will let you know how it works out.

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Another 'out there' option :

 

I have a Seymour Duncan Woody soundhole (single coil model) pickup that I put in the guitars with no pickup in an emergency - it sounds great through my Aura Pedal - I leave the lead dangling down the front of the guitar - ok for a short stint, then take it out and back in to the tool box.... (it sounds fair with no pre-amp, but I prefer some gadgets with it.)

 

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/acoustic/woody.php

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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I'd put a pickup in any guitar I wanted to play onstage and did so in my '52 J-45 and my AJRI. A '68 D-28 I bought years back already had a pup in it when I got it as did several early '50s Gibsons and other guitars. I also put a strap pin in any guitar I'm keeping for any period of time at all, and that includes about every guitar I've owned. In fact, I've had dozens of vintage flattops and every single one had a strap pin put in either before I bought it or soon after. Most had it before I came along. These ranged from a banner Southern Jumbo right thru my AJRI.

 

I'd not own a guitar I couldn't put a pickup in but that's easy for me as I buy them to play. I think you'll find plenty of buyers who'd not care a whit about a Legend having a pup installed as long as the rest of the guitar was cool.

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I'd put a pickup in any guitar I wanted to play onstage and did so in my '52 J-45 and my AJRI. A '68 D-28 I bought years back already had a pup in it when I got it as did several early '50s Gibsons and other guitars. I also put a strap pin in any guitar I'm keeping for any period of time at all, and that includes about every guitar I've owned. In fact, I've had dozens of vintage flattops and every single one had a strap pin put in either before I bought it or soon after. Most had it before I came along. These ranged from a banner Southern Jumbo right thru my AJRI.

 

I'd not own a guitar I couldn't put a pickup in but that's easy for me as I buy them to play. I think you'll find plenty of buyers who'd not care a whit about a Legend having a pup installed as long as the rest of the guitar was cool.

 

yeah , beyond me why it would bother anyone. its not like you're suggesting volume pots on the front.

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I have a Seymour Duncan Woody soundhole (single coil model) pickup that I put in the guitars with no pickup in an emergency - it sounds great through my Aura Pedal - I leave the lead dangling down the front of the guitar - ok for a short stint, then take it out and back in to the tool box.... (it sounds fair with no pre-amp, but I prefer some gadgets with it.)

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

This is where the Duck Tape comes in.

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The pickup to get is the Dimarzio DP 139 Acoustic Reference pup. They stopped making them years back and finding one is not easy as everybody seems to be trying to snap them up. But they are well worth the hunt and the money. The Fishman Rare Earth comes about the closest to it that I have heard.

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My decision would be based on how many other guitars I (you) have that you can plug in to gig with. If you're a working musician and need more than one guitar on stage to make the songs work the way you want, then you need to get all of the guitars you play on stage set up to plug in. If, however, you only plug in occasionally and mostly for your own gratification seems to me you only need one guitar set up to plug in. I personally think that it is nigh impossible to make an acoustic guitar sound like an acoustic guitar once you plug it in. Whenever I sit across from another acoustic player, about three or four feet from the soundhole of her guitar, I so appreciate the sound I hear and I think nothing amplified I've ever heard comes even close to that tone. Another thing I consider is the added weight of the pickup system and the battery, if one is required. If your Legend is a light build I would think you'd want to savor that lightness and not add any weight that detracts from that attribute. My J-50 is the only guitar I own that has a built in pickup but I never use it so I've taken out the battery to keep it as light as possible. If I want to plug in I put a Fishman single coil soundhole pickup in my Eastman ET5-SS and into a little 5W tube amp and rock out. I only end up doing something like that about once every two months as I'd rather hear acoustic guitars au naturale. That's my take on it.

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