Quote:
Originally Posted by mchalebk
The Fishman Matrix is a UST. The Martin and Takamine most likely have USTs as well. Probably 95+% of acoustics that come with a factory pickup use a UST.
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Taylors have an SBT as part of the system in the full ES (it also has a magnetic pickup under the fingerboard), the Cole Clark system has a sort of SBT mixed with a UST, and a few of the higher end Gibsons come with the Trance system which is an SBT. I don't know of any other factory guitars that come with an SBT.
On higher end guitars, they sometimes mix something else with a UST, often an internal microphone or an artificial microphone via digital modeling in the case of Aura equipped guitars.
Because the UST style pickups are so plentiful, many folk have come to associate their sound with what an amplified acoustic is supposed to sound like. Each company that makes USTs has its own sound so you may find you prefer one over the others. Baggs, Fishman, B-Band, Highlander, Pickup the World. Are the most common manufacturers in the US. As for SBT's K&K are most popular. Other manufacturers are JJB, McIntyre, Dazzo, and Trance. There are two other ways to amplify an acoustic - microphones (internal to the guitar or external) and magnetic pickups. Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses. Many folk mix two styles to get the best of both. My guitars have a magnetic pickup and an SBT.
Finally, I would say that virtually all acoustic pickups sound better with a preamp. They do come in a variety of forms - internal which may require a hole in the side and offer lots of control or many which offer no controls at all or only a volume at the soundhole, or external which also run from simple to extremely complex.
When you purchase a guitar with an OEM pickup system, you are allowing them to decide what is best for you. Sometimes they're right, and sometimes not. I almost always add an aftermarket system to my guitars.
Have fun.