# Acoustic guitar pickup/mic ?



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Does anyone have experience with aftermarket mic/pickups for acoustic guitar? I have a failry nice Taylor (214) which doesn't have anything at the moment. I'd like to get some kind of mic/pickup installed which will be used mainly for recording but also for occasional live playing. I'm a little too lazy to mess around with microphones/room set-up to record my acoustic. Obviously I"m not looking for Pink Floyd recording quality - just a nice recorded acoustic tone. I called my local store and they recommended the LR Baggs Elemement, which they can also install:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--LRBEAS

Does anyone have this installed? Comments? Anything else I should be looking at?


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## rbbambino (Oct 10, 2007)

bagpipe said:


> Does anyone have experience with aftermarket mic/pickups for acoustic guitar? I have a failry nice Taylor (214) which doesn't have anything at the moment. I'd like to get some kind of mic/pickup installed which will be used mainly for recording but also for occasional live playing. I'm a little too lazy to mess around with microphones/room set-up to record my acoustic. Obviously I"m not looking for Pink Floyd recording quality - just a nice recorded acoustic tone. I called my local store and they recommended the LR Baggs Elemement, which they can also install:
> 
> http://www.zzounds.com/item--LRBEAS
> 
> Does anyone have this installed? Comments? Anything else I should be looking at?


I have installed K&K pure western pickups in a number of guitars, including a Taylor 710 and a Martin 000. I usually just put the mini version in them. They are passive (no battery) and they have a nice tone without the undersaddle issues. Anyway this site http://www.shorelinemusic.com/ is a good place to get information on most pickups and also seems to have the best prices. You will get many opinions. They will all work to some degree, but I would recommend that you just keep it simple. The K&K pure western is simple and effective.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

I will second the advice to go with a K&K. They are very easy to install and sound quite nice, especially if you use them with one of the K&K preamps.

Unless you are going to play in a very loud stage situation, where the K&K may suffer form feedback, I would stay away from under saddle types. They require a good tech to install (the saddle slot needs to be routed) and certainly don't sound as nice, IMHO.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestions - it sounds like the K&K Pure Western is the way to go for what I need. So, I guess the 3 little mics just get glued, or taped, underneath the bridge?


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Here is a link to the installation manual for the K&K (I recommend the Mini version) pickup:

...and another showing a complete setup using a different home made jig.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

ronmac said:


> Here is a link to the installation manual for the K&K (I recommend the Mini version) pickup:
> 
> ...and another showing a complete setup using a different home made jig.


Awesome information - thanks for the links. From reading the info above, it sounds a bit involved - making the jigs etc. It also sounds like the mics wont work correctly if they aren't exactly in the right spot. I'm trying to decide if its something that I can tackle myself, or if I should pay someone to do it. I'm not exactly the Worlds greatest handyman!


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

Try out some of the higher end soundhole pickups like Fishman Rare Earth,Baggs M1, Sunrise and even a Dimarzio Acoustic Reference. They will perform well live and as far as recording at home use a mike.


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## Grenvilleter (Dec 22, 2007)

I personally like the Schatten Design P/U. It too, like the K & K is a soundboard/bridgeplate type of transducer and is very easy to install assuming you can use a drill to install the endpin jack.
I much prefer the sound of this type over a under saddle type piezo.
It's a Canadian company as well.


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## rbbambino (Oct 10, 2007)

Grenvilleter said:


> I personally like the Schatten Design P/U. It too, like the K & K is a soundboard/bridgeplate type of transducer and is very easy to install assuming you can use a drill to install the endpin jack.
> I much prefer the sound of this type over a under saddle type piezo.
> It's a Canadian company as well.


Are you talking about the Schatten Dualie or the Schatten Artist? Thanks.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Good condenser mic, hands down.

Or when that's impractical, I prefer the K&K, though I've used and use Schatten Dualies, and a variety of others. I dislike under saddle pickups intensely. There have been some good reviews of the new Rick Turner device (I'm a fan of Rick's) but I haven't tried it myself...yet.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Grenvilleter (Dec 22, 2007)

I agree with you Mooh on the condenser mic. I use the Schatten Artist P/U with the preamp.
My biggest beef with it was, the model I had, there was no volume control except with an additional endpin pot that could be attached.
Subsequent models now provide a tiny little pot that protrudes out by the sound hole and allows a neater method of controlling level.
I currently plug into a foot switch box with a little more gain set and when I take a lead part of a song, I step on the button to get a little more accentuation and then when I go back to rhythm, I return to the normalized setting.
It works ok but I think I would like to add the pot that mounts beside the sound hole. Makes 1 less piece of gear to haul around and less likely to experience a failure of some sort not to mention the additional patchcord needed.
The pickup is very hot with the preamp and consequently, I'm usually way down on mixer gain compared to everyone else who is plugged in.

I've never had any feed back issues and the sound is very close to the natural sound of the guitar.


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