Official Luthiers Forum!

Helo friends
i want to know more about pickups
i have never used pickups till yet
my customer wants clear sound of his guitar while performing
for which pick up i should go?
is undersaddle pickup prefereable for his choice
also let me know which company is best
waiting for ur advice
thanks in advance

In my opinion LR Baggs make some of the best pickups around, especially the anthem and lyric with the internal mic. A lot of people on here use K and K pickups too.
To me most undersaddle pickups sound 'quacky' and don't convey the true sound of the guitar very well.

_________________
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

thanks sir for ur reply..
pls suggest me which pickup i should go for

We've been installing a lot of LR Baggs Lyrics lately and folks seem to be thrilled with them. I am too!

Acoustic pickups have come a long way in the last several years and there are lots of great choices out there these days.

Currently though for a more budget application where a UST (under saddle transducer) fits the bill the LR Baggs "Element" is still a favorite here. They do have to be installed correctly which is not difficult if you actually read the documentation and understand why they do what they do.

For a mid priced pickup that has killer acoustic tone, great balance, and is very easy to install the LR Baggs Lyric which is a newer offering is the current fav here too. Good news for classical folks in so much as the Baggs Lyric is now available for classicals too.

When cost is not an issue the Baggs Anthem also remains a favorite and has the same "tru-mic" technology as the Lyric only an earlier iteration. A little more labor intensive to install in so much that the Anthem has a UST and a mic with blend capability this is a very versatile set-up and usually pleases everyone that we install them for.

disclaimer: We are not a Baggs dealer and there are other great pickups. It just seems that lately the Baggs stuff has been the most asked for AND offerings that we are very impressed with as well. So much so that I have been buying them in threes and still can't keep them in stock.

For a natural sound and simplicity it's hard to beat a K&K pure mini. Put a lot of them in, even put on in my own guitar. Not the best for a small loud room but much better sounding than a plain undersaddle transducer and a fraction the price of the Lyric system...Which ids also a very good system.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I continue to be a big fan of DTAR's Wavelength. 18 volts means less quack. Buy their Multisource so that the mic warms things up even further. Straightforward installation. I've installed 10 of these and still have not encountered a balance issue or anything that needs tweeking. Plus the service from Evan and the staff, even for a hobby builder like me, is awesome!

To keep it simple I'd say if he plays quieter gigs, a K&K pure western mini. If he is on loud stages with a band where feedback is an issue use an under saddle like a Fishman Matrix.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

thnks friends for ur advice
the player performs in band. so he want that type of pickup
so pls suggest any specific model

Nothing beats the Trance Audio systems, as far as I'm concerned. They are the clearest, most natural sounding pickup I've hard bar none, with none of the boominess associated with the K&K or Lyric systems.
The bridge plae transducers sound different in every guitar with varying degrees of success, but I haven't instlled a bad Trance system yet. I'd get this one:
http://www.tranceaudio.com/amuletm.html
The Trance Audio Amulet M system. Get the configuration with a volume control, but not the tone. It's unnecesary and degrades the signal a little.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Hesh, next time you get a chance, could you get a measurement of the mass of a Baggs Lyric please?
That is one aspect about them that has me concerned.

That looks really interesting. How much mass do those transducers add to the bridge plate? Acoustic changes? How are they on a loud stage?

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I haven't actually measured the mass, but they don't seem to weigh much at all, and they haven't hurt the tone of any guitars I've put them on.

I was actually concerned at one point with the preamp box 'cuz it looked kinda big to me and I thought that maybe it would reduce the airspace somewhat, but that doesn't seem to be a problem either. It mounts onto the end block too, so it's not touching the back or sides, which I consider to be a big plus.

They have a strong output signal too, but like all bridge plate transducers you need some kind of feedback control.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

I like McIntyre feather light pickups. http://www.hmmcintyrepickups.com/ Al Petteway turned me on to them. Very light and easy to install. This link shows the sound of the pickup well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP1JAOYodOo

_________________
_____________

EddieLee

Jeff I'll weigh one this week when back in the city. The pup itself weighs virtually nothing though, very light, likely several grams or so but I'll get back to you with the exact weight.

An advantage too of this system is that mic placement is not critical at all and it simply sticks to the plate forward of the pins, dead centerish... With other systems with multiple stick-on transducers you have the option of sticking them somewhere and calling it a day or using silly putty and lots of time attempting to optimize placement. If one does great work which option do you think that they would take? So for us these systems, with the multiple stick-on transducers are a crap shoot and far more dependent on what kind of box it's going in, where the transducers are placed, what it's being played through (more so because of the variance in install amps can matter more so here too) and ultimately what the client hears..... and has..... at home..... and on stage...... to deal with.

More specifically one of the great things about the lyric is that you don't have to spend your billable hours or lose limited hair playing around with transducer locations, playing styles, output devices, etc all of which introduce variables when with the Lyric it's stick and play and sounds fantastic.

Last week Pat Metheny's techs came by to borrow a trim pot adjustor that comes with the Lyrics and Anthems, he was in town and performing down the street from us and uses LR Baggs stuff. And yes we were put on the guest list out of appreciation for our efforts.

Did I mention no quack either, none!