Best cheap pickup for cheap guitar
Hi,
I'm looking to buy a good cheap guitar ($100-300) off of CL. The vast majority of guitars in this price range don't have a pickup. So if I did, I'd be looking to add a pickup to it. Or if I could find a good one with a pickup already in it, that would be golden. What's the best pickup for this situation? Most bang-for-your-buck. Under saddle or under bridge doesn't really matter much - although I'd probably want an active system. I'd probably install it myself to save some money. This guitar will go to Uganda, South Africa to a missionary team there - ABIDE. Contact me if you are willing to donate a guitar to this cause. There is a team going over this summer and would hand carry the guitar on the plane and through customs. |
JJB 330. $50, sounds great, simple install.
http://www.jjb-electronics.com/prestige.html |
If you need to add one, a soundhole pickup would work and you could move it from guitar to guitar if needed. Fishman, Dean Markley and Seymour Duncan have them for 30-50 bucks.
I would suggest holding out for a used guitar that already has an under saddle pickup installed in...should be easy to find as it is the standard pickup installed for so many years for inexpensive guitars. Yamaha is good option. |
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$23 shipped with 9 foot cable and volume control - CLiCK And it can be put in other instruments in 5 seconds... |
JJB hands down, no question
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Another inexpensive option, and near bullet proof when it comes to feedback, are the Dean Markley ProMag and/or Semor Duncan Woody pickups - both in the $40 range. They slip into the soundhole, and plug directly into the amp. We have included these with guitars we take/send into 3rd world countries on mission trips where we play them while there, and then leave them with nationals when we leave. They are more expensive than the really cheap one with the volume knob I listed above, but they are also more rugged and really more applicable to situations where the pickups may need to be switched between instruments, and played through pretty inexpensive equipment. If you go to ebay and in the search box type ''soundhole pickup'' it will give you a couple hundred listings, and both of these magnetic pickup options are listed. They only apply to steel string guitars (not nylon string). Ebay soundhole pickup listings - CLiCK The difference is the Dean Markley ProMag pickups have a ¼'' jack which connects to the strap pin and can use a separate cable, and the Duncan have a 14 foot cable attached. |
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Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into those options if I get one without a pickup. |
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I edited the post above yours to include the info that the DeanMarkley ProMag pickups have a ¼'' jack which attaches to the endpin and accepts guitar cables. The thing we realized with $100 guitars (actually we use the $79 Rogue RA-100D from Musicians Friend - CLiCK) is they come without strap pins and cases. So I install strap pins as well (I also do this for student's guitars, and friends as needed. Strap pins are $.030 each and I get a dozen at a time). We buy a gig bag and 10 sets of strings to include them with the guitar, along with a magnetic pickup at a total cost of about $175 (including the strings). Magnetic pickups are still the best low cost option because they require no preamp to work, and are bullet proof when it comes to feedback prevention. Rogue actually offers a $129 Dread with Fishman electronics in it, but they really sound lame and crappy and feedback like crazy. Hope this helps... |
I've used the single and dual from Ridgeview Audio on 4-5 guitars with excellent results. I had him make me a triple one I put in an old seagull I had and it worked brilliantly. He also makes (or did) a simple, cheap pre-amp that does the trick quite well. http://www.ridgeviewaudio.com/mdk12d.html
Great service, great product and a fantastic price. |
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JJB also has top surface mount standard pickup for $20.
Scroll down the page: http://www.jjb-electronics.com/EXT-100.html |
There are several acoustic/electric guitars in the Chicago CL that would meet your needs. Here are a couple of interesting listings.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/msg/2882559787.html http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/msg/2867011703.html |
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