What pickup do you use in your acoustic?

K & K Sound 'Pure Pickup'(passive) in both of my El Cajon made acoustics. I bought both without the electronics: no knobs or ugly plastic control panel that would deface the wood. And we use the low budget, but effective, LR Baggs Para Acoustic for the external preamp.
 
I think my PS Tonare Grand came with a McIntyre Acoustic Feather pickup.

I'm not big on pickups for acoustic guitars, but this one would be good enough to play live with.

If I played live...

However, I play in the studio, and I always mic up the guitar because it sounds better to do it that way. Still, this is a very good pickup compared to most.
 
I have a Faith Venus Trembesi Moonburst with Shadow,nanoflex 2,pickup's &shadow performer preamp & an Aspen I bought back in 87 which I had an Artec Age -Tn put on.
 
I have tried both the LRB M1 and M80 and found them both decent pickups. Haven't tried the LRB Lyric but may at some point. Currently I'm using the factory installed ES2 on my Taylor and PRS on my A30. I have a Cordoba C7 coming and may try the Lyric on that.
 
Coming back to this after some time....
Decided against soundhole pickups (no offence!) ...
Baggs Anthem sounds great but I'll only being playing unplugged infrequently so for a non-invasive option, I'm likely going to go for the K&K Pure Mini with some sort of DI.
Very affordable, too.
 
guitarman001 said:
Coming back to this after some time....
Decided against soundhole pickups (no offence!) ...
Baggs Anthem sounds great but I'll only being playing unplugged infrequently so for a non-invasive option, I'm likely going to go for the K&K Pure Mini with some sort of DI.
Very affordable, too.
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I’m confused, do you need the mini pickup plus preamp system (Trinity) to use with an amp, or just the mini? Thanks
 
I have K&K Pures in my Taylor’s and Blueridge guitars. I do use the K&K preamp. It’s a must.

I was happy with that until I bought my first Breedlove.

My Oregon made Breedloves came with an LR Baggs under saddle pickup and sound hole mounted volume and tone control with a preamp and battery pack mounted inside the top left corner of the guitar.

I like the Baggs a lot more and the Breedloves are all I play now. Might as well sell the Taylor and Blueridge guitars.

I do have a Sunrise pickup in the sound hole of my old Seagull. It’s set up for slide and sounds great,
 
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I have an LR Baggs under saddle piezo/mic blend pickup. Really nice.

No @LSchefman its not the same as a mic in front of the sound hole, but slightly more practical when I’m trying to do my standing on one leg, Iain Anderson impression.

“They said she was a middle-distance runner, the translation wasn’t clear”
 
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Alnus Rubra said:
I have an LR Baggs under saddle piezo/mic blend pickup. Really nice.

No @LSchefman its not the same as a mic in front of the sound hole, but slightly more practical when I’m trying to do my standing on one leg, Iain Anderson impression.

“They said she was a middle-distance runner, the translation wasn’t clear”
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I can no longer stand on one leg. However, I did see Jethro Tull perform live in their heyday.

That has to count for something! :)
 
I have the Fishman Rare Earth Mic Blend Active Soundhole Pickup which is a Rare Earth Humbucking Pickup and Condenser Mic combo unit in my Martin J40 and I HATE it! Looking for a replacement and in live settings, every one that I have heard that I like has been a K&K with their preamp so I will probably go that route when ready!! Of course, when ready could be a while considering all I want to play is my PRSi!!!
 
I use an LR Baggs dual source . Piezo bridge and a small mike in a foam block inside , there's a vol and blend wheel
the rest of my taylors have the built in expression system which is excellent, my PS Tonare has the PRS ( Macintyre feather) is clean and strong
 
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LSchefman said:
I can no longer stand on one leg. However, I did see Jethro Tull perform live in their heyday.
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It's very easy to stand on one leg - if you take the bones out. Then it's just like a thick cushion. Leaving the bone in makes balancing a little difficult.

Unless you're a lumberjack, then you just roll that sh!t.
 
Moondog Wily said:
I have the Fishman Rare Earth Mic Blend Active Soundhole Pickup which is a Rare Earth Humbucking Pickup and Condenser Mic combo unit in my Martin J40 and I HATE it! Looking for a replacement and in live settings, every one that I have heard that I like has been a K&K with their preamp so I will probably go that route when ready!! Of course, when ready could be a while considering all I want to play is my PRSi!!!
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Interesting. Can you elaborate? I've been using the Fishman REB for years with excellent results. I was doing a live radio show a few years back and the sound engineer commented on how it was the best acoustic sound he'd heard (and he'd been there for years). I get regular comments on my tone at just about every show, so I'm curious what application you're using it in - are you using effects, etc.?
 
CelticDave said:
Interesting. Can you elaborate? I've been using the Fishman REB for years with excellent results. I was doing a live radio show a few years back and the sound engineer commented on how it was the best acoustic sound he'd heard (and he'd been there for years). I get regular comments on my tone at just about every show, so I'm curious what application you're using it in - are you using effects, etc.?
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It is probably due in most part to my green behind the ears status in the acoustic pickup world. I just can not for the life of me dial it in to where it sounds like anything I want. That said, I have yet to try it through my Axe FXIII which I got about a year after installing that pickup, so maybe I will have some luck there once I give it a go. I am such a fan of the "Martin" acoustic sound, so maybe it is just that it is not sounding like what I hear acoustically, which of course is to be expected to some extent. I know however, that I can mic up my acoustics with a couple of Shure SM81's and get the sound I want, but that is a whole different story. Doubt this helps much, but it is all I got ;~)) Besides, the acoustics have taken a back seat once I got my PRSi (and I have tried the PRS acoustics but they did not work for me).
 
Moondog Wily said:
It is probably due in most part to my green behind the ears status in the acoustic pickup world. I just can not for the life of me dial it in to where it sounds like anything I want. That said, I have yet to try it through my Axe FXIII which I got about a year after installing that pickup, so maybe I will have some luck there once I give it a go. I am such a fan of the "Martin" acoustic sound, so maybe it is just that it is not sounding like what I hear acoustically, which of course is to be expected to some extent. I know however, that I can mic up my acoustics with a couple of Shure SM81's and get the sound I want, but that is a whole different story. Doubt this helps much, but it is all I got ;~)) Besides, the acoustics have taken a back seat once I got my PRSi (and I have tried the PRS acoustics but they did not work for me).
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Are you using a D.I./EQ?
 
CelticDave said:
Are you using a D.I./EQ?
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When I was playing with it (2020-2021) I was going into a Boss VE-8 pedal (singer/songwriter vocal/guitar pedal) and into PA. Between mixing the mic on the pickup and the magnetic bits or each one independent, I never found a sound that I liked. In defense of the VE-8, my PRSi always sounded fine through that pedal. I also tried going direct to my PA speakers (JBL IRX108 BT's) and did not like the sounds their either. Also tried going through my soundboard and into my DAW, did not like the sounds their either. I probably could have spent a couple of hours tweaking and found something useful there, and may still do so at some point (as mentioned previously, putting through the Axe FXIII perhaps), but it is back seat on my list at the moment. If you have any suggestions on how to get some good tones out of that pickup system, I am all ears but at the moment have a lot of other equipment that is giving me more than enough to keep myself entertained ;~))
 
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