eiseyrokker Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 I htink is officially my first thread here. I've been surfing aroudn for a couple of months, but never asked a question before. *Pats self on back* OK, i work at a guitar building and repair shop, so any suggestions you guys have are very feasible. I need a good way to mic/amplify my acoustic guitar because i will most liekly be playing in my school's worship team for next year. I would liek to go piezo, but i dont know the advantages of maybe a magnetic pickup and whatnot. I've got enough money to get a piezo that i may have to drill a little for, or a magnetic. I've been lookin a little bit at the Dean Markely ProMag and the Seymour Duncan Woody, which are both mountable without any alterations. One of these pickups would require a clunkily placed wire dangling from the pickup, but i'm sure i could jimmy-rig a way to wire it through the strap pin. however, would an under-the-saddle piezo liek the Martin Thinline be a good option? I think it would be more convenient for a standing up and moving around kind of show, because i would drill out a new hole where the bridge pin would be and it owuld eliminate having the wire hanging accross the body. Also, piezo sound tends to be truer. I could totally go either way, so you guys' input is extremely important here. Thanks a ton! -Tom Eisenbraun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 First off...if you work at a guitar repair shop I'm not sure why you're asking us this question . Piezo is a very good option. Some of the new generation stuff with onboard preamps are great, but they are really serious mods. Again, if you work at a repair shop, this shouldn't be a problem. My stage guitar has a Fishman active piezo system. I really like it. You need a preamp of some kind with a piezo whether it's onboard or not. The signal normally needs more meat and EQ. The new trinity or trio (I forget which it's called) seems to have a lot of promise. I think it's piezo, mic, and top sensors combined and mixed onboard. as I recall that's rather expensive though. No matter what kind of system you go for, I'd put the output on the strap pin. Much more convenient and cosmetically appealing than the othe options. I think StewMac makes a mic that hooks right up to the output jack and doesn't make contact to the body. Supposedly good for not altering fine guitars' tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eiseyrokker Posted May 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 thanks, yeah i wouldve asked my guy, but i forgot and I wont see him again til next thursday, so i figured i'd get soem input before hten,a nd ask him with a little more intelligence on the subject. What about liek those old Martins that have the Piezo and an output, and nothing between teh two? My friends dad has an old Gibson J45e (very nice nad very rare) that ahs this and it soudns nice. Is there some sort of hidden preamp on it? or is it just made so that its already preamped, and no preamp is necessary? sorry if this all sounds ignorant, I'm still learning. EDIT: I just found a Dean Markley Sweet Spot under the saddle pickup for $10 on eBay. It has no EQ and no need for a preamp, and apparently is a very good pickup. Should i go for it with a price this low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 No experience with that particular pup, but for 10 bcuks, it sounds like a winner. I have a friend who has just a piezo in his Martin, with no preamp. Sounds decent, but my tone from my Fender DG-20ce (I got for $120) is way way better than his plugged in. Way too unbalanced. Very trebly. It's fine to go without one onboard, but it's a good idea to have a floor unit preamp if you do. Here's the mic I was talking about. Doesn't say it in the description, but from the picture it looks to me like it has a built in preamp. You don't necessarily have to have EQ and volume control if you put a preamp in. That's pretty invasive to your guitar, and if you'd rather be gentle, I'd say just find a decent preamp that you don't have to install controls for. I've even seen output jacks with preamps already installed, but I can't seem to find one now. Boo yeah. I knew I'd find it. Here's a page with several preamps. Hope I've been helpful, but I've gotta run. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eiseyrokker Posted May 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 thanks man, i think i'm gonna go with the Dean Markley. I read some great reviews on Hamrony Central. Its passive, so no preamp, and apparently it catches every nuance of your playing and accurately reflects your guitars tone, instead of just giving you straight strings. It sounds great, a lot of people said they would never use anythign else, and Wechter guitars uses them as a standard for their acoustics. So I think i'll give this puppy a spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 You can definitely hear a difference between the piezo-only and piezo+microphone (blended) sounds, with the latter sounding better to me. It is much more "picky" in that you can hear the pick snapping off the strings when you pick or strum. It is even better if you play fingerstyle, the mic picks up that sound much better than just the piezo. But it is pretty invasive, and more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eiseyrokker Posted May 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 what does microphonic+piezo consist of? is that liek having an under-saddle and a regular six-pole-piece pickup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 what does microphonic+piezo consist of? is that liek having an under-saddle and a regular six-pole-piece pickup? Yep, and a small microphone is another possibility. It is actually the microphone that I think adds a sparkle to an amplified acoustic sound. Here's a link to an all-in-one type of unit; they offer all kinds of different combinations (though I haven't used one, so I can't vouch for the quality). Artec Anyone else have any experience with Artec stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 No...microphonic+piezo is rather self explanitory. It's a mic (usually condenser) inside of the guitar, and you mix it's signal with the piezo. The sound is MUCH better with the combo in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard_King Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 You're talking about acoustic guitar pickups, I have a New York Pro acoustic that was givin to me by a friend who gave up playing. This is one of the many acoustics I have. Although it's a cheap guitar(very cheap i might add lol) it had a great sound to it and for some reason I like the action on it. I was wanting to add a pickup in it just in case I decide to plug it in sometime but I didn't want to spend $50+ on a pickup for this cheapo. So......I picked up a piezo transducer at the local Radio Shack and as well as an output,volume,and tone controls but they weren't purchased at Radio Shack lol. I installed in in the soundhole by placing a shim of wood in between the braces and gluing it into place. It's not a bad way to amplify your guitar. Though now I'm trying to find a failry cheap preamp to install maybe even an eg, but once again I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on this thing, it's just an old beater. I have 27 other guitars to worry about, so this one is just a play toy or experiment you might say. Any suggestions would be great. Thank You everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stageleft Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 You may also want to try one of the GHS mics: http://www.acousticon.com/soundholemicsl.htm I've installed three of these now, and they are amazing. You have to watch the placement of the mic to avoid feedback, but the warm, rich, natural sound is amazing. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/index.html. There's a link to a FET preamp I'm gonna put in my next guitar. In fact, I'm wiring the guitar up either tonight or tomorrow, so I should be able to give some feedback on it. It's an electric guitar, but the preamp is going on a piezo signal in the guitar. It's pretty simple to make. I'd never done anything other than guitar electronics, and I wired it up right the first try. All the parts are inexpensive, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 Devon, I'd be interested to hear from you what kind of 'acoustic' tone you get on your electric from that setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 I'll post a thread on it when I get it up. I'm using a piezo element instead of saddles, so we'll have to see how that sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 not to confuse things but you might look into l.r. baggs also. 'course i'm a dealer so i'm a bit biased but they have under saddle pups, what they call an i-beam system which mounts under the sound board and combination mic/piezo also. they are available with an end pin pre amp that only requires that you enlarge your end pin hole to 1/2". they have one of the truest acoustic reproductions that i've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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