Hey guys, was wondering if anyone can recommend a pickup for an acoustic? I know less than nothing about them. If the guitar is going through an amp (ie - not DI'd through a mixing desk) would i need to purchase a pre-amp aswell? If this is the case, are there any really good pre-amps available?
Nothing too expensive, but i don't wanna buy a piece of cack. The guitar is a Yamaha acoustic from (i think) the 70's.
Cheers.

since you dont want a piece of cack lol some good acoustic pickups are the LR baggs i beam or the fishman matrix.

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guitar[ibanez grx40]>digitech hot head> danelectro fish and chips equalizer>DOD FX64 Ice box stereo chorus>digitech RP200A>(boss ns-2)Crate Gt15

acoustic[takamine eg530sc,eg115, ibanez acoustic/w dean markley soundhole pup]>ibanez TA20

Thanks, mate. I'll be sure to check them out. The Matrix looks like an absolute biaaatch to fit. I'm sure i'll muddle through it if i go for that!
Keep 'em coming, please!!

Are you looking for permanent or removable?

The Seymour Duncan Woodies and the Fishman Rare Earth's are great soundhole picks, with many rave reviews.

They do, of course, still have that piezo "twang" - which is no real bad thing with some decent EQ.

Pickup to amp should work fine, most pickups will be designed to run into an acoustic amp or into a DI (just double check the impedance levels to be sure). Guitar amp or acoustic guitar amp?

To get the best tone you may need to add a mic, but then you have the added woe of feedback and if it's not a guitar mounted mic you will envitably move around and move away from the mic's sweet spot.

Hewesy

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I was going to ask the same question. Don't run it through an elec. amp. They're just not built to handle acoustics.

If you're using an acousic amp, I went that way for several years and went through what were supposed to be the best amps out there. I just never felt like my tone was any good. I finally just went straight to the board, and it improved 100%.

My guitar has a Fishman in it, and I'd second that rec.

Don't know if you've seen it, but this acoustic pickup database might help: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data3/

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Guitars: Gibson L.P. Standard; Gibson L.P. Studio; Guild F47-RCE.
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Other: AKG Guitar Bug Wireless.

a really sweet under-the-saddle that i put in an old takamine is the Dean Markley Sweet Spot... And the output is loud enough and pretty balanced that you don't really need a preamp. When I bought that one i think they were around $80...

I've never heard a soundhole pickup that I really liked for rhythm, though they're okay for lead or fingerpicking... (and i've played with quite a few)

If you want a relatively inexpensive preamp to go with it, though, you could check out the LR Baggs GigPro... It has a volume knob too... Which might be nice to have... They're about $80 too...

Thanks for all your help, guys.

Bizarrely enough, he's starting to just plug straight into the board for gigs now.

I think we are gonna go for the Rare Earth. Seeing as i'm kinda the unofficial "tech" for my band, it doesn't look too hard to fit, which is a big bonus for me.

Anything to stop my singer using his current electro is a good thing. He really can't stand it at the moment.

Many thanks, again.