I’m looking to put a pickup in my acoustic guitar. I’m not looking for a pop-in soundhole pickup, but rather the permanently-mounted variety. Maybe someone here could share recommendations about products that have worked well for you, as well as places locally or abroad where the item could be sourced. Cheers all in advance.
Tony’s.
Martin Thinline 332 pickup, just over 2000NT.
It’s a beaut.
Alternatively, Tony’s.
Fishman, ab’t 2500 bones installed, beautiful sound all across the board.
My acoustic ain’t all that and it sounds great.
[quote=“the chief”]Alternatively, Tony’s.
Fishman, ab’t 2500 bones installed, beautiful sound all across the board.
My acoustic ain’t all that and it sounds great.[/quote]
Erm… the Martin Thinline is a Fishman. Just sayin’.
activemusician.com/item–MC.24CTSG
Anyway thanks for backing up my advice.
Also, we should really mention all that shite we had to go through with pre-amps and all.
[quote=“irishstu”][quote=“the chief”]Alternatively, Tony’s.
Fishman, ab’t 2500 bones installed, beautiful sound all across the board.
My acoustic ain’t all that and it sounds great.[/quote]
Erm… the Martin Thinline is a Fishman. Just sayin’.[/quote]
Sure, Mister Smarty Pants, but I STILL paid more!!
Erm, I mean…
[quote=“irishstu”]Anyway thanks for backin up my advice.
Also, we should really mention all that shite we had to go through with pre-amps and all.[/quote]
Oh lord, where do we begin…
OK, well this is what I got. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Had to get it back in N.Ireland for 20 quid (about 1200NT$).
I’m sure the chief recommends his one too. There are many choices. Not all are good. Be careful (and don’t ask for advice about this at Tony’s. Their advice is dreadful. Just ask the chief about his experiences there (I wonder if that shop assistant is walking again?)).
Me, I went for this fella, since, in addition to needing a (active) DI, I also wanted the EQ/Boost, the Reverb is a nice add, and the Chorus is definitely a keeper.
I’ve never really figured out the Anti-Feedback function though…just ask anyone who was at our last Shannon gig…
Between around 2500-3K, if memory serves.
[quote=“irishstu”]Tony’s.
Martin Thinline 332 pickup, just over 2000NT.
It’s a beaut.[/quote]
I checked this one out at a music store in Kaohsiung… bastards said they would “give me a discount” and sell it for $3600. Thanks for the reality check. Do you mount a 9v battery in the guitar with this one?
[quote=“Salvatore Armani”]
I checked this one out at a music store in Kaohsiung… bastards said they would “give me a discount” and sell it for $3600. Thanks for the reality check. Do you mount a 9v battery in the guitar with this one?[/quote]
No, that’s the beauty of it. It’s totally battery-less. You can either use an active DI unit, like the one I got (or the one chief got), or you can use a passive one with my one (for some reason chief couldn’t get a passive one to work with his).
Anyway, I seriously recommend the active one. Real bright bouncy tone, plus you don’t have to worry if the P.A. supports it.
I also got quoted a stupid price by another shop (after they told me 2200 or something, three weeks later they wanted 3400). Anyway, Tony’s did me well. Also, they knocked a bit off the price that was advertised, and actually told me to always try to knock a bit off their advertised price.
They only ever seem to have one or two in stock at most though. If you need a hand with Tony’s, I’m sure several peope here could help you out.
Thanks for the info Irishstu. I don’t get to Taipei at all, so maybe someone could help me with the logistics of mailing it down here to the third world?
for electro-coustic pickups you’ll probably find that LR Baggs is pretty much the top of the heap in terms of build and sound quality… They are used almost exclusively in super high end electro-coustics from the industry leader brands… Plus they have all manner of electromagnetic and/or piezo crystal, pick ups, hole mounted, bridge mounted, pre amped, passive, you name it… You pay for what you get though, and they are available through US / EU based online music stores… alternatively you can check the Taiwan agent for LR Baggs through their website…
Here is LR Baggs’ product line up… pricey, but seriously quality stuff…
lrbaggs.com/html/products/pr … kups.shtml
but TBH, Irishstu and The Chief’s suggestions are probably a better, more reasonably priced, more readily available solution…
BTW, I’ve ordered stuff from Tony’s over the phone and they gladly shipped it to me here in Taichung for a few hundred clams… Just give them a call, they’ll sort you out… Top guys…
Also, you might want to check this out quick. It’s a Martin Thinline currently going for $9.99 (would need to pay to ship from the States though).
As Plasmatron says, you might be as well just phoning Tony’s and asking how much including shipping. Marks or Sean (they’re brothers, and hard to tell apart if you ever meet them) are good guys to talk to. Also, do try to knock down the price. Marks and Sean both seem to have the power to lower the price.
Thanks you guys. Giving Tony’s a call seems like the best option so far. I might look into one of those DI boxes as well.
EDIT:
Got an e-mail from a friend in the states who has a Fishman pickup in his acoustic. He says that it gives the host at the local open mic headaches because he has no preamp/DI setup. Does Tony’s have anything that would fit the bill, or should I look elswhere? I saw a Behringer DI-120 on Ebay, but the listing said Autralia only. I don’t know enough about the subject to evaluate the utility/features of the various DI boxes that I’ve been looking at on musical instrument sites. Maybe you guys could say a bit more on that subject. I just want something simple that does the job.
Cheers,
-Sal
[quote=“Salvatore Armani”]Thanks you guys. Giving Tony’s a call seems like the best option so far. I might look into one of those DI boxes as well.
EDIT:
Got an e-mail from a friend in the states who has a Fishman pickup in his acoustic. He says that it gives the host at the local open mic headaches because he has no preamp/DI setup.[/quote]
Right. Exactly. The problem isn’t even really one of level, but more of impedence. It really messes up the PA system, and I think it can actually damage it if you’re not careful. You should NEVER plug one of those straight into a PA, or even a guitar amp for that matter.
[quote=“Salvatore Armani”]Does Tony’s have anything that would fit the bill, or should I look elswhere? I saw a Behringer DI-120 on Ebay, but the listing said Autralia only. I don’t know enough about the subject to evaluate the utility/features of the various DI boxes that I’ve been looking at on musical instrument sites. Maybe you guys could say a bit more on that subject. I just want something simple that does the job.
Cheers,
-Sal[/quote]
I would say the one I got was as simple as you would be safe to buy. Anything simpler and it is probably not active. OK, so to explain a bit more, the “active” bit means, of courese, that it had a powered pre-amp-type circuit. And in this case it is not only correcting the levels, but also the impedence. For that reason it is not really a good idea to just get any old pre-amp. My DI box can also be “phantom powered”, which means that it can use power supplied by (certain) PA systems (through the third pin on a mic cable). That’s great, cos it means your battery won’t run out very fast (not that it does anyway). HOWEVER do NOT buy a DI box that ONLY has phantom power, as not all PA systems will support this. Also, remember that phantom power cannot be delived through a normal quarter inch cable. It must be a mic cable.
Now as for the chief’s first attempt that didn’t work well, I can’t remember whether that was a phantom-powered DI, or completely pasive (perhaps he could add more info), but regardless, I recommend one that is ACTIVE (and like I said, even better if it can switch to phantom power when available).
Seriously, I can’t recommend my DI box enough, and it was very cheap, relatively speaking. Again, all I can tell you is that there are a lot of unsuitable DI boxes out there, so be very careful what you buy. I would seriously only recommend buying one that someone has personally recommended for your particular pickup.
Stu
My memory’s a little soft on this one, but I think it went something like this.
(As noted, Tony’s will take good care of you as long as you know pretty much exactly what you want)
I rented a DI for that gig, telling Sean it was for my Fishman-equipped acoustic.
They gave me one.
I just didn’t work.
It was equipped for phantom power, but the problem was that it was really just set up for a passive signal, like.
Now, I can’t tell you exactly what was wrong, but it didn’t work with my guitar.
It was probably meant for something like a bass.
For DIs, I’ve had pretty good success with the lr baggs para acoustic DI:
shorelinemusic.com/amplifica … padi.shtml
I’ve used it in a variety of situations ranging from crappy one speaker PAs to regular stages.
It’s a little bit more expensive than some of the other ones mentioned here, but the electronics are solid – I’m pretty sure it will cover any potential problems with impedance. The EQ works nicely, and the sound is clean. No mess, no fuss, which is what I prefer for onstage gear.
Tony’s probably doesn’t have it in stock, but I’d be surprised if they couldn’t order it for you. If you call them, ask for Marx. He’s the one of the managers there, and speaks English pretty well, if you don’t feel comfortable using Chinese.
Oh hey, about the DI unit that the chief used first, that didn’t perform as we wished, I found this communicaton I had with him shortly thereafter:
[quote]You might (or might not) be interested in the specs on that box you almost bought. Inside it’s basically ONE transformer, worth about 100NT$ max.
procosound.com/downloads/cb1.pdf
“Especially designed for electric basses” it says.[/quote]
Also, when originally investigating the subject of amplifying acoustics, I found this page. VERY interesting reading:
museweb.com/ag/technology.html
Also, Behringer DI for sale on ebay here (Buy it now price:US $22.99) I think they ship worldwide:
tinyurl.com/yaw4xp
Great info all. One 
to have here, one more for you all to take home. I’ve got some reading to do, thanks Irishstu, thanks David, so I’ll be back again in a little while when it all sinks in.
If you know how to install the pickup, why not order it from Stewmac? I bet it will come out a few bucks cheaper than buying it in Taiwan (with the usual import markup and stuff) As for customs taxes, keep it low and use USPS (postal service) and theres a good chance you won’t get taxed.