2005 J-45 pickup

[Plad]

I recently bought a beautiful J-45 on Ebay, a J-45 from 2005. It does not have the volume control in the soundhole. Anyone know what pickups were mounted in these guitars in 2005, is it an earlier volumepotless LR Baggs Element, or something else entirely?

[Plad]

Forgot that I had put a picture of the guitar here, so to avoid confusion; the pickguard and tuners have been changed, the guitar definitely is a J-45 standard from '05, albeit with a somewhat unusual finish (for this model).

[littlejohnny]

I have a 2005 too and it had a fishman PU.

If I remember correctly, it was a fishman matrix natural II. I think gibson started using the baggs PU's sometime in 2006.

[Jayla]

I also have a volume-controless pu in my 2005 J-100. I believe it's a Fishman, tho' I'm not 100% sure. Anyways, in the four years I've had the guitar I never used it and so am going to have it removed.

 

It may be heretical to say so but I don't like the sound of electrified acoustics. If it's gotta be amplified, I prefer to use a mike (or is that "mic" or ...?).

[DB_Cooper]

I have the same 2005 J-45 in the Heritage Cherry Sunburst, and I'm told it has the Fishman Infinity PU and preamp in it. I'm the third owner, so I don't know for sure if it was that way from the factory or added later, but I think it was factory installed. It has a nylon pouch with a 9v battery located on the heel block. It sounds ok plugged in, but I'm not a fan of any acoustic pickup. I had the Taylor ES system, and it sounded pretty good too, but I'd prefer a mic if I played out.

[powerpopper]

It may be heretical to say so but I don't like the sound of electrified acoustics. If it's gotta be amplified' date=' I prefer to use a mike (or is that "mic" or ...?).[/quote']

 

I don't think it's heretical at all to say that. I'm not sure I like them, either. But when one plays out, for many reasons, it simply isn't practical to mic the guitar. Sometimes it is, but more often it is not (practical), so I'll keep on hating my pickups...:o

[ballcorner]

I also have a volume-controless pu in my 2005 J-100. I believe it's a Fishman' date=' tho' I'm not 100% sure. Anyways, in the four years I've had the guitar I never used it and so am going to have it removed.

 

It may be heretical to say so but I don't like the sound of electrified acoustics. If it's gotta be amplified, I prefer to use a mike (or is that "mic" or ...?).[/quote']

 

Martin has a bit of an advantage on this front with their Aura pickups. The pickup models six popular microphones and those sounds can be selected and blended (or used alone) with the gold standard Fishman in the guitar.

 

As others have said, using a mic for an acoustic is not always practical. I have two pencil condensers, for example, that record beautifully - but live they would be a nightmare.