Can anyone recommend me an acoustic guitar pickup?

[chrisjedijane]

I've started playing a lot more acoustic recently and it's got to the point where I'll be doing a lot of gigs with it in the near future. I just got some money in, so I'm looking to get a pickup put in my Avalon acoustic. It has to be a passive undersaddle one, as I don't want to have to cut a hole in the side of the guitar for a preamp.

any suggestions?

[zhivago]

A Fishman perhaps?

I've heard great things about them

I also need to stick a pup on my Epiphone acoustic at some point....

[chrisjedijane]

Yeah, I've heard great things about the Fishman Matrix pickup. I might go with whatever they normally use in the Avalon workshop - I've found that Avalon/Lowdens usually sound better than any guitar I've worked with plugged in.

[Regan]

I'll second....or third.....the Fishman. I had to replace my LR Baggs piezo pickup in my main guitar and it was going to take a while to get the Baggs replacement. So, I bought a Fishman and installed it and it did a good job. Of course it had the Duet preamp system. After I got my Baggs replacement and installed it, I put the Fishman on my old beater, and it sounds good without the preamp.

Regan

[tsalwel]

dont know what they use but my lowden sounds very good ...
and the knobs are reasonable discreet and the electronics and battery are inside
d

edit :should have done this before 

Pick up Options 
 
Fishman Rare Earth dual system ( fitted )
350 
  Headway or Highlander full frequency system ( fitted ) 275 
L R Baggs under saddle piezo system 125 

think this is what i have  :under saddle piezo system  :-\

[tsalwel]

did some more research ( boring sundays  )

this is  whats on my lowden 

http://www.benellyimport.nl/mfishman2.htm 

:-\

anyway chris if you tell george about my dingeling strings ......
ask him whats the best 
by the way my D 12 is 10  years old  so things might have changed a lot..in the field of electronics


  d

[chrisjedijane]

thanks dirk! I think I can do without the onboard controls though (I'll just get a preamp pedal or something if I need it, but I don't think I will).

I actually met George last week - he was in a guitar shop in Belfast that I hang around in quite a lot. 

[aquietdisaster]

i worked for guitar center for two years and had a lot of experience with acoustic pickups (i had no idea how popular they were until i spent a couple of years selling them!)  if it was my money to spend, fishman all the way.  as far as what model, how much do you have to spend?  as far as passive undersaddle, i say the natural is the way to go.  they go for about $120 here in the states, no idea about your side of the pond though.

anyway, there's my two cents chris.   good luck!


-brian-

[jetset]

I use a K&K Sound pickup in my Yamaha Jumbo: http://www.kksound.com/purewestern.html  It has three mini mikes that attach to the soundboard at the bridge.

I think for any passive acoustic pickup it's key to get a decent pre-amp unit that'as designed for acoustic guitar.  I use a Fishman pro eq II.
-J

[idiotbear]

I recently bought a Fishman pup for my cello. I'm running it through an EHX LPB-1 (and thence into my "crazy" pedalboard). It sounds excellent.

[chrisjedijane]

Thanks for all the help, guys.

Yeah, Fishman pickups are great - my dad was struggling with banjo pickups for years, and now he has a Fishman one that rocks.

I called the Avalon workshop and they said they normally use Fishman Matrix II's (I think) - active, but with no controls. It's £170 for the pickup, and they install it while you wait. I might go tomorrow and get it done.

[marcusss]

i use a fishman. can't think of anything better than that

[flatfiver]

I like the L.R. Baggs iBeam, but they're a pain in the ass to install and find the proper placement for.  They may also be a little more prone to feedback than piezos.