Guitar with Pre-amp

[H77]

Hi all,

 

Some people say that acoustic guitar with pre-amp that is attached to the body, has less authentic acoustic compared to the acoustic that has built-in pick up. Is that necessarily true?

[ballcorner]

I will try to answer your question. I believe what you are comparing are guitars with a pre-amp (active pickup) and guitars with no pre-amp in the body (passive). But, I also believe you are asking about the spaces that get cut in the side of a guitar to hold the electronics. You want to know how these systems affect the tone of the guitar when it is not plugged in. So, if I have read your question properly, here is my two cents worth:

 

There is a mythical belief among guitar players that cutting a small piece out of the side to install controls and a battery holder will compromise tone. If this is true, the compromise would be very small. The primary sound of a guitar comes from the top and is impacted by the bridge, saddle, bridge plate, bracing and the nut at the other end - none of these things get rearranged or compromised to accommodate the controls or battery holder.

 

However, active pickup systems that require an under saddle piezo component will require one or two tiny holes to be drilled in the channel where the saddle sits and material from the saddle itself needs to be removed if the action is to remain the same as it was prior to the installation of the pickup system. Both the drilling and the removal of saddle material can impact tone, volume and sustain.

 

Still, these concepts apply to guitars that come from the factory as acoustics, not acoustic-electrics. The bigger concern where the guitar comes from the factory with a pickup already installed, is that many factories adjust their braces and slightly deaden the top to make the guitar less likely to cause feedback on a PA system. This is where you notice huge differences in tone between an E model and an acoustic model.

 

The choice I make is never to add a pickup to a guitar I purchase as an acoustic. The acoustic electrics I buy are models designed specifically to be stage guitars, and usually I find that they do not have the same quality acoustic properties as guitars that ship with no pickup.

 

A decent compromise to modifying your acoustic guitar is to use a sound hole pickup that can be removed after each use. You can also consider transducer pickups that do use an end jack (so that has to be drilled but shouldn't have any tonal impact) but mount to the underside of the bridge with adhesive. The sound hole pickups are more forgiving if you tap the top when you play etc. The transducers sound very much like the guitar does acoustically, but they are very sensitive, prone to feedback and otherwise tend to be challenging to work with.

 

I have one transducer made by Schatten. It is passive, so I use a direct input box or a tube pre-amp when I play that guitar plugged in. It sounds great on that guitar and I am happy with it, but I use it only for gigs where I sit on a stool with the guitar facing forward. I would never attempt to use it in a standing performance or with a wireless system.

 

I hope something in this diatribe is of use to you.

[onewilyfool]

I don't know if it is true, but I got a nice little system on my acoustic archtop. Two K&K pickups were put on the opposite edges of the lower bout then ran through the end pin. Then I have a belt mounted K&K preamp that clips to my belt. It has , treble, mid, low, and volume knobs facing up. Nice little system. Beats reaching into the hole to try to turn little knobs, plus I don't want anything glued to the top of my guitar. Also, I don't like trap doors being sawn into the sides of my guitars for those top mounted preamps. Check out other K&K systems for flat tops....

 

http://www.kksound.com/purepreamp.html

[L5Larry]

Is that necessarily true?

 

I don't think so. The preamp and battery power is used for a combination of three things.

 

1. To boost the output of the pickup to make it compatible with "industry standards", for plugging into an amp, PA system, or recorder. Otherwise the volume level of some acoustic pickups is very low.

 

2. To run an on-board EQ system. This gives you even more flexibility to dial in your sound.

 

3. To run a built-in tuner. A very handy option to have.

 

The preamp is only there to help, the more important question is the type of pickup system does the guitar have, that's where your sound comes from. There have been a lot of technological improvements since the days of sticking a microphone in front of an acoustic guitar at Woodstock.

 

You should check into the different types of pickup systems being offered today. Even some very inexpensive guitars have very good electronics in them these days.

[H77]

Thank you everyone for your inputs. That really gives me good knowledge about the pickups. I have a Gibson L4-A with a pre-amp (Fishman) attached on the body itself. When I play on stage, it sounds really good and clean to me.

[Taylor Player]

Thank you everyone for your inputs. That really gives me good knowledge about the pickups. I have a Gibson L4-A with a pre-amp (Fishman) attached on the body itself. When I play on stage' date=' it sounds really good and clean to me. [/quote']

 

There is your answer then! If it sounds good, no problem. I have both active under saddle pickups in two of my guitars and a K & K mini western in my Gibson which is a passive pickup. I purchased a LR Baggs PARA DI which boosts the signal from my pickup and allows some additional tone shaping. I find it works great with all my guitars with just a little tweaking. I don't really need it with the active pickups, but it does add something to the mix and makes it really easy to play through a variety of amps or PA systems.