Bassist needs a acoustic guitar pickup

[ejaggers]

I don't know where else to post this, so I'll give it a shot here.
I cannot learn guitar no matter how often I try,
But I have a decent acoustic guitar for jam sessions (Washburn WD40S).

I need a pickup for it w/o paying an arm/leg,
The cheaper the better since I don’t play.

I got ripped off buying a Lase soundhole PUP from CL,
which has a short in the cord,
and I’m skeptical of buying used except from TBers.

I’m thinking about a Chinese PUP off eBay less than $50,
But I’m listening to any and all since I don’t know squat about guitar PUPs.

Can anyone help?.....057912

 

[Jeff Scott]

ProMag™ Acoustic Soundhole Pickups

 

[ejaggers]

Thanks @Jeff Scott for responding.
A few words about your experience with it would be helpful.....057912

 

[Jeff Scott]

An old friend of mine used one on his acoustics in a band we were in for many years. Sounded great through the PA, better than the pickups in my Martin (Fishman Ellipse Matrix Blend) and Taylor (ES-N) guitars.

 

[Slater]

A word of warning…Sound hole pickups just flat out don’t work very well with acoustic bass guitars. The bronze strings aren’t picked up by the magnets very well, and the low frequency of the instrument makes things difficult as well.

 

[ejaggers]

A word of warning…Sound hole pickups just flat out don’t work very well with acoustic bass guitars. The bronze strings aren’t picked up by the magnets very well, and the low frequency of the instrument makes things difficult as well.

Thanks, and I know this is a bass site but I'm talking about a 6 string acoustic guitar, not a bass....057912

 

[Slater]

Thanks, and I know this is a bass site but I'm talking about a 6 string acoustic guitar, not a bass....057912

Ah, I missed that.

 

[WillyW]

For a sound hole pickup I wouldn’t trust anything other than a Dimarzio

Acoustic | DiMarzio

I have used a dp136 and they can be had used around $50.

I had a fishman undersaddle installed in a 64 guitar I own, and my J45 came with one.

 

[ejaggers]

@Jeff Scott and @WillyWonka,

What I'd like is a PUP that has the output jack as the tailpiece because:
- seems like a hardwired PUP is no good when the cord shorts out (like what I got).
- do cords coming from the soundhole rub against the spruce top and scratch it?

Or maybe one with a removeable cord like this one at least: https://www.amazon.com/Donner-Acous...&sprefix=acoustic+guitar+pick,aps,212&sr=8-11

But again, I don't play guitar so I'm not sure. Any thoughts?....057912

 

[WillyW]

Those thin cords will short out much quicker that a regular gauge cord.

I have guitar cables over 20 years old, abuse is what ruins them.

 

[Jeff Scott]

It is easy to take the fixed cord of the pickup and rewire it into a heel-block jack. You lose the flexibility of simply pulling the pickup out if desired, but it can definitely be hardwired to the endpin jack.

There are several ways this can be accomplished and a way to make the pickup removable to put into a different guitar if desired.

 

[ejaggers]

@Jeff Scott,
I only have one guitar, and it's for guests.
Once it goes in, it stays.....057912

 

[Element Zero]

Not to derail your thread... but what’s up with the 057912? Guitar Center employee number?

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

I have this one on my acoustic guitar, and am very satisfied with it.

A friend of mine uses this one and does not complain.

Please note that the first model has a built-in microphone as well as piezo pickup, so it is able to blend two tones to create a deeper sound.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Why not get the cord fixed on the one you have?

 

[bassliner50]

If you know your "cord is shorted out", why not remove short out of the circuit? Either splice it out or reinsulate the conductors with rubber tape. Resolder if necessary. That would be my first move.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Martin used to make a pickup called the "thin line" which was a piezo under the bridge to the end pin jack. Installing one of these requires sanding the saddle, drilling through the top, and reaming out a hole for the end pin.

Without a preamp or battery though, any under saddle pickup will usually require boosting of the signal or some other preamp. So consider that in your price point. A clean DB boost pedal would get the job done.

But at that point, it might be worth considering buying a guitar with a pickup already in it after what you will do to modify the existing guitar.

When I worked at a music store, we sold tons of the Dean Markley Promag sound hole pickups, but these can get kind of boomy and feedback prone. I think those work pretty well in a situation where you are a solo performer and volumes can be controlled.

Fishman makes a sound hole magnetic pickup that comes attached to a feedback buster sound hole cover called the Neo-buster.

Consider just getting a mic for the acoustic, and then you at least have a mic that you can use for other things. Sure it kind of sucks to have to stand by the mic, but if the goal is to just be heard, then it will be fine. You would probably need a condenser to get the top end, but you would also have to eq it somehow to avoid feedback.

 

[rtslinger]

A word of warning…Sound hole pickups just flat out don’t work very well with acoustic bass guitars. The bronze strings aren’t picked up by the magnets very well, and the low frequency of the instrument makes things difficult as well.

Not to derail the thread, but I found one and it works great with my Acoustic bass guitar

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I've had a Dean Markley pro-mag in my old Yamaha acoustic for years now, wired to a strap pin input jack.
My band gigged hard with it for years...no problems. Costs less than 50 bucks for the pickup itself. Can't remember what I paid to have it wired to the strap pin.... wasn't much.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Martin used to make a pickup called the "thin line" which was a piezo under the bridge to the end pin jack.

Martin doesn't make pickups, they market them (IIRC, the Thinline was made by Fishman).

Consider just getting a mic for the acoustic ..... You would probably need a condenser to get the top end, but you would also have to eq it somehow to avoid feedback.

Condenser mics (good ones, anyway) are certainly the best way to go regarding microphones for acoustic guitars, but I have many great sounding recordings I've made with a good old AKG D200E dynamic microphone.