Best acoustic pickup

lincolnblue · November 2020

In my current search for a new acoustic I think I'm limiting myself by only looking at acoustics that have a built-in pickup.

So one option is to look for a standard acoustic and then fit a pickup.

For such a job, what would you say is the best pickup for an acoustic balancing cost and sound.

ICBM · November 2020

Most natural sound - least difficult/invasive to fit other than a soundhole pickup - easiest to amplify - not the cheapest but not as expensive as a full preamp system...

K&K Pure Mini

But you need to check whether it's compatible first - it's glued onto the inside of the bridgeplate, and there are a few it won't fit due to the plate being too small or other issues.

There also now a fair number of decent-sounding soundhole pickups, which are even easier to fit, but some people don't like the look of them in the guitar. The really good ones aren't that cheap either.

thomasw88 · November 2020

LR Baggs M1a or the M80.

They don't feedback, sound great and they're awesome.

ICBM · November 2020

thomasw88 said:

LR Baggs M1a or the M80.

They don't feedback

Actually they do - or at least much more than the Fishman Rare Earths do.

I suppose I shouldn't really use distortion with them though

.

I think the Baggs ones do sound more natural.

lincolnblue · November 2020

ICBM said:

Most natural sound - least difficult/invasive to fit other than a soundhole pickup - easiest to amplify - not the cheapest but not as expensive as a full preamp system...

K&K Pure Mini

But you need to check whether it's compatible first - it's glued onto the inside of the bridgeplate, and there are a few it won't fit due to the plate being too small or other issues.

There also now a fair number of decent-sounding soundhole pickups, which are even easier to fit, but some people don't like the look of them in the guitar. The really good ones aren't that cheap either.

Thanks. I hadn't thought about compatability. I'll wait and see what guitar I come up with and go from there

RickLucas · November 2020

For me, Fishman Rare Earth blend. You get a soundhole pickup and a condenser mic. You can blend the signals and route them separately. Pricey but flexible and sounds great.

RickLucas · November 2020

I have had good results with an LR Baggs Lyric too.

TheMadMick · November 2020

Came across this after I'd chosen mine:

If your guitar is rigidly braced e.g. Guild, the LR Baggs type of pick up is preferred.

If your guitar top moves more freely, e.g. Martin then K&K is preferred.

Also depends on your expectations and amplification.

dtr · November 2020

I've got a K&K Pure Mini. One thing about them - you have to be careful of the input impedance of what you plug it into. A lot of acoustic preamps are made for USTs or Piezos and have high impedance values that make the K&K muddy and boomy in the bass. K&K recommend 500K to 1M input inductance. The nice thing about that is it matches the Boss GE-7 perfectly - the two together makes for a great pickup/preamp solution with great eq shaping (and inexpensive too!).

Redlester · November 2020

thomasw88 said:

LR Baggs M1a or the M80.

They don't feedback, sound great and they're awesome.

I know the Baggs have a good rep.

They are a very similar design/ concept to the old Takamine Triax pickup. If a Baggs is out of budget, you might be able to pick up a Triax used at a lower price.

Trude · November 2020

I’ve never heard a better plugged-in acoustic sound than my K&K Pure Minis running through an Audiosprockets Tone Dexter.

jaymenon · November 2020

Any piezo device (under saddle or K&K type under bridge plate) has the ‘quack’ factor - sounds great when you play finger style but starts to quack when you strum hard. (To my ears that sounds like a nylon string guitar through an overdrive pedal). In conjunction with a Fishman Aura however, you can get a decent sound.

After noticing that some recordings just using the microphone on my iPhone sounded rather nice, I was taken by the information leaflet about the Irig Acoustic - and indeed if you’re looking for a mono sound, it does a pretty decent job. Feedback may be an issue with loud volumes...

The LR Baggs Anthem is a good device, combining an under bridge plate microphone with a piezo UST.

Soundhole magnetic pickups in conjunction with a microphone can sound lovely to. The microphone compensates for the slightly metallic sound of the pick up. And you don’t have the piezo quack factor.

if you want stereo, the simplest thing is to use an X-Y coincident cardioid condenser microphone like the Ride NT4. There are however many significantly cheaper microphones which do a really decent job. Zoom makes an X-Y cardioid with a lightning connector that plugs into the iPhone...

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Zoom-iQ6-XY-Stereo-Mikrofon-for-iOS-Lightning-Port/art-REC0011606-000

Gandalph · December 2020

I’ve found this quite helpful as a place
to start from:

https://youtu.be/OAFQeS6ECyc

Currently trying to decide between an Lr Baggs m1a/m80 and the schatten hfn.

Lestratcaster · December 2020

Following with interest, got a Tanglewood acoustic I'd like to use for live streams, recording, etc. Do mostly strumming/chord stuff and want something nice and warm, natural unplugged.

Heard good things about the LR Baggs M1 too.

BahHumbug · December 2020

+1 for K&K pure mini.......
......although the installation isn’t for the faint hearted, so it’d be a good idea to understand what’s involved and whether you’re willing to DIY, or pay someone to do it.

smigeon · December 2020

BahHumbug said:

+1 for K&K pure mini.......
......although the installation isn’t for the faint hearted, so it’d be a good idea to understand what’s involved and whether you’re willing to DIY, or pay someone to do it.

+1 for the +1. They are great, but to install one of these successfully you really do need to understand the instructions thoroughly, and be very slow and systematic about it. I was quite pleased with myself when I did mine - cos I'm usually a bit of an impatient bodger - but fortunately it turned out very well. I suspect that if I can do it, almost anyone could, given sufficient care.

As was said above, they sound different depending on the impedance of whatever you plug them into. I plug mine into an Orchid Electronics DI, which supplies the "right" impedance load (approx. 1 Mohms), and that combination really does sound good.

(I've not tried mine into a Boss GE-7 but the comments above about them being a good match are intriguing - what with getting the EQ and impedance matching in the same box.)

Santona1937 · December 2020

Trance Audio Amulet M. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but just a stunning piece of kit, sounds just like an unplugged acoustic

thomasw88 · December 2020

Redlester said:

thomasw88 said:

LR Baggs M1a or the M80.

They don't feedback, sound great and they're awesome.

I know the Baggs have a good rep.

They are a very similar design/ concept to the old Takamine Triax pickup. If a Baggs is out of budget, you might be able to pick up a Triax used at a lower price.

Absolutely - I have a triax in one guitar and it was identical to the M1a (which I also had and promptly sold..)

lincolnblue · December 2020

I just got a Taylor acoustic with their Expression System 2. Very impressed with it - much more realistic than normal piezos

Lestratcaster · December 2020

Can anyone offer an insight on the differences between the LR Baggs M1 Active and the Anthem?

(Apologies for hi-jacking the thread).

Funkfingers · December 2020

Different technologies. Magnetic soundhole pickup with fancy noise-rejection circuitry versus undersaddle piezo transducer and microphone combination.

I used to have an Anthem SL system but was frustrated by its over-simplified mixing system. I would have been better served by the proper balance control of the full-on Anthem. That way, I could have selected 100% mic.

I use the Baggs Lyric.

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Best acoustic pickup

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