Hi all
I am thinking of trying out a pickup on my cheap but good Yamaha acoustic.
I am not looking for something that will faithfully reproduce the tones of the guitar or even enhance them. I really want to be able to plug into effects and try out a few fuzz/ distortion sounds.
Why not do this on an electric? Well I am playing the acoustic mostly these days and think it would be interesting to do something with that seeing as that's what I am composing on.
So, what would be the cheapest way to do this? Are the sub £15 ones on ebay likely to fit the bill (bearing in mind what I have said about quality above).
Also, will I need to change strings for any of the pickup types? The ones on at the moment came with it and EAD and maybe G have a bronze-type look to them.
Thanks all
Martin
Comments
I might have something suitable here come to think of it, i will check.
It will work fine with bronze strings, *especially* if you’re using fuzz and distortion - any difference in signal strength between the plain and wound strings becomes irrelevant.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Before bronze and phosphor bronze guitars used to be routinely fitted with steel (nickel wound) strings so no need to be precious.
Bronze/PB windings do not work with magnetic pickups, only the steel core, resulting in string imbalance and anaemic bass strings. Nickel (electric) strings sound great (if you like magnetic pickups) and, if they're a bit shouty, nickel/bronze are a reasonable compromise.
I will give the pickup a proper go when I have some time and I expect that will show whether string type matters for what I am aiming for at this moment in time. Longer term I may try some different string types out. I still have whatever Yamaha fit in the factory on mine and, while I am not against changing strings, these are still intact and not costing me anything