BlueMeanie Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Hi guys, i was wondering if you can help me choose the best pickup for my acoustic guitar.. I wanted a pickup that would be best to hear the acoustic tone as it comes out naturally.. What are the best pickups out there that i can install? Also what are passive and active pickups? Thanks very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KL Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 You're going to get a lot of different replies. I have pickups by L R Baggs, Fishman, and Headway in various guitars. My favourite is the L R Baggs M1 active. Easy to install, requiring just a hole for the endpin jacksocket, and it is a soundhole pickup. Feedback has never been an issue. It sounds great. I have one in my J-185 12 and a 1966 J-45. The headway is an undersaddle. It does sound good, requires a special tool to do the routing (due to the shape of the filament) and customer support is poor. I'm not bothering with undersaddles anymore after having the L R Baggs M1 actives and finding them so good. I am considering trying a K&K mini as I've heard a lot of good things about them and they are very easy to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMeanie Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 You're going to get a lot of different replies. I have pickups by L R Baggs, Fishman, and Headway in various guitars. My favourite is the L R Baggs M1 active. Easy to install, requiring just a hole for the endpin jacksocket, and it is a soundhole pickup. Feedback has never been an issue. It sounds great. I have one in my J-185 12 and a 1966 J-45. The headway is an undersaddle. It does sound good, requires a special tool to do the routing (due to the shape of the filament) and customer support is poor. I'm not bothering with undersaddles anymore after having the L R Baggs M1 actives and finding them so good. I am considering trying a K&K mini as I've heard a lot of good things about them and they are very easy to install. Thanks very much! I was thinking of getting the M1 too! Just wanted to get some advice first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Lots of variables when choosing a pickup, not the least of which is where you want to use said pickup, and thereby what kind of amplification you use. SBTs like K&K work very well with systems you as the player control; you know how to handle your rig. If you end up plugged into some other system, house or open mic backlines, when you have little direct control, might seem to favor a more feedback resistant pickup such as the M1. Both fine pickups. Which one fits your bill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMeanie Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Lots of variables when choosing a pickup, not the least of which is where you want to use said pickup, and thereby what kind of amplification you use. SBTs like K&K work very well with systems you as the player control; you know how to handle your rig. If you end up plugged into some other system, house or open mic backlines, when you have little direct control, might seem to favor a more feedback resistant pickup such as the M1. Both fine pickups. Which one fits your bill? I have a Dreadnought type guitar. I dont mind if the pickups are on the soundhole. A kind of plug and play type would be best. I'd just like a good pickup that will sound just like an acoustic even if if coming out of an amp. Btw, are electric guitar amp and acoustic guitar amps different? Also, i dont mind having a permanent pickup setup in my guitar even if i have to route a hole for the input jack.. Thanks for the tips guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I'm going to go against the grain here and have to say my experience with the m1a has been disappointing. I've tried on a number of my guitars and often get a phasey, electric tone, especially on the BE strings, doesn't sound acoustic at all. It does have a quite a warm bass though. My recommendation and what I only use now when playing out is a fishman matrix infinity combined with a fishman aura spectrum. The image blends will make yout Gibby sound super natural plus you have ability to EQ, add compression and more. Well worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I prefer to mic my guitars when I play out. But, when that's not possible, such as in a loud club, I use the M1 active. I don't think that it is the most natural sounding acoustic guitar pickup (my vote for that goes to the Trance Audio system that Jackson Browne uses), but it pops into the soundhole without modification to my vintage guitars and always sounds fine with minimal or no tweaking of the PA mixer. Here's a clip of me playing my 1942 LG-1 in a very noisy Club Zanzibar in Liverpool about a year ago: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjl200 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I'm going to go against the grain here and have to say my experience with the m1a has been disappointing. I've tried on a number of my guitars and often get a phasey, electric tone, especially on the BE strings, doesn't sound acoustic at all. It does have a quite a warm bass though. My recommendation and what I only use now when playing out is a fishman matrix infinity combined with a fishman aura spectrum. The image blends will make yout Gibby sound super natural plus you have ability to EQ, add compression and more. Well worth considering. ++1! Just my 2cents FWIW: I find the Fishman Matrix > Aura > SA220 to be the best(IMO) close to natural sound one can have. Electric vs. acoustic amps are just what they purport to be. The Fishman SA220 is the "next" step in acoustic sound reinforcement IMHO. Electric amp color the signal just as they were designed too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danner Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 My personal favorite is the K&K PUre Mini. I have also used the Fishman Matrix Infinity and the Fishman Rare Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneS Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 My J-100xtra has, I believe, a Fishman UST, but I invested in a Baggs Paracoustic DI box so that I could have some EQ control, etc., at my fingertips when I'm plugged in at open mics. Can't always depend on there being an acoustic amp and the bass amp (a decent substitute) is always taken. The DI plugged directly into a PA isn't bad--takes some tinkering-- but it beats lugging an acoustic amp everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 There's no such thing as "the best." The M1 is a great pickup (I used to have one), but if you're looking for natural tone, it's not a great choice, in my opinion. To me, it comes down to the K&K Pure Western mini vs. the L.R. Baggs iBeam. There are better systems, but they are more complicated and more expensive. For simple and effective, it's PWM or iBeam. I have an iBeam and I'm a little disappointed. I'm not sure if it was the installation, guitar, or what, but to me it sounds ridiculously bright and not at all representative of the guitar it's installed in. My next acoustic pickup will be the K&K PWM, which I've never heard, but the number of recommendations is overwhelming. Bottom line, you can get as much advice as possible, but in the end, you're rolling the dice a little bit. You may have to just try a few things to see if it's what you want. Me, I'd start with the K&K. P.S. the only way to get the "natural" tone of your guitar is to mic it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RASHARU Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 My personal favorite is the K&K PUre Mini. I have also used the Fishman Matrix Infinity and the Fishman Rare Earth. +1 I've tried just about everything out there & I've learned that I don't care for anything that sits between my saddle & bridge. Ribbons seem to always rob some tone when un-plugged, IMO. I just recently put a simple (passive) K&K Pure Mini in my J-45 & it's hands-down the best I've ever heard. (Unless you're in a band setting, you definitely won't need the volume wheel attachment!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KL Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 You're going to get a lot of different replies. Told you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 A friend of mine has had a Mi-Si Acoustic Trio installed in one of his guitars. Quite impressed with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR GIBS Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Why don't you try this one: http://schattendesign.com/HFN-Artist.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Well, just to add a twist I odered a ShureSM57 Beta Mike - for a couple reasons. So i can do backup vocals, for recording and to also see how it sounded when played into an amp. I have to say when I played my CW I was really impressed, warm, natural amplified tone - no problem with feedback. When i tried it with my SWD i was disappointed. The SWD sounds better with the fishman PUP / Aura mix. So, point is for a maple or mahogany b/s Gibson i would definitely suggest also playing through a mike. For small gigs in a pub I think in future Ill just take my CW and play it through a mike. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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