Electric Pickup for Acoustic
 

I bought a used Alvarez AD-60s 12 String at my local music store about a year ago. Although, a relatively inexpensive guitar, it sounds beautiful. And, I don't use a 12 string enough to justify spending high dollar on one. That said, when I do use it, I need it to be able to be electric. Right now I have one of those pickups that you place across the sound hole that is connected to the cord, which I plug into my amp. But the cord is awkward and I hate having to keep pulling it away from where I strum. Can any of you tell me how much expense I'm looking at if I wanted someone to install a permanent pickup in the guitar and how that would work?

$50.
http://www.jjb-electronics.com/prestige.html

I think you'll find a wide range of prices for an installed pickup. The pickup itself can cost $50-$300+ and installation can run $50-$200+ depending on the type of pickup, the time it takes to get it right, and who does the work.

This one, K&K Mini,

http://www.kksound.com/products/puremini.php

I've installed two of them in my guitars, so it can be done by a non-pro. They give a strong signal to whoever's running the sound and no battery to worry about. The 3 sensors are superglued to the underside of the bridge and comes with a endpeg jack. Doesn't have that brittle treble tone that undersaddle pickups have.

What's your budget?
There are lots of great options. Take some time to explore them all.
Opinions vary.

Thanks! I paid $280 for the guitar. So, I don't want to spend more than $100 or so. Again, I don't use this guitar much. But when I do, I need electric. I wanted to get something permanently placed inside the guitar with a hole drilled that I could plug into.

I second the K & K mini. After doing (and over-doing) a bunch of research, I went with the K&K mini in my Taylor GC8. I love it, and it was a relatively easy install. $99 and ships free with Amazon Prime.

https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Mini-Aco.../dp/B000P5OULA

The Prestige 330 is a JJB competitor to the K&K mini. Nobody claims they are other than almost identical.

The Prestige 330 costs $50 and can be installed for $40, or you can do it yourself if you have a drill with a 1/2" bit and trust yourself.

That's $90 installed, for the near equivalent of the highly recommended K&K.

Get a JJB 330 for the prices mentioned above, then order a reamer from Harbor Freight for $6. Save the money on installation costs and research on how to do it yourself. It's not that hard to do. I've done it twice. Better yet, just ream out the endpin hole and install a 1/4 jack there using your existing pickup.

There is no need to buy a whole new pickup if you already like the plugged in sound now. Just attach your existing pickup to an end-pin jack and have the cable hidden inside. All you need is an end-pin jack. You cut the wire that is currently there a lot shorter and solder it to the end-pin jack. No more wire in your way.

If you aren't comfortable doing that, get a competent tech to do it. It is very basic surgery that most music stores do. Most stores should have the jack in stock.

There are a lot of people who prefer sound hole pickups and that's all that's done to their guitars.