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#1
11-05-2009, 01:36 PM
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Which Pickup To Buy?
O.K, so I have decided to keep my 2005 Taylor 214 and have a pick up installed.
Now I'm overwhelmed at the number of acoustic guitar pick ups there are out there! I have read a little bit about some of them. What do you suggest? LR Baggs, K&K, Fishman, Dimarzio, Seymore Dunkin, Dean Markley??? Help! Please! Pros and cons. Which do you have installed? I wont be gigging with the guitar. I will be doing home recording. I finger pick as much as flatpick. Thanks Shane
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2005 Taylor 214 Ventura V3-Red Fender Strat Peavey T-15 Peavey Falcon "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten!" 
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#3
11-07-2009, 07:09 AM
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I installed Fishman Infinity Matrix's on all my guitars. Simple and sounds good. It has a volume and tone control inside the sound hole.
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#4
11-07-2009, 07:13 AM
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Most pickups you plug in direct for home recording, will not be too airy, woody and natural. You get that with a mic.
Maybe a pickup with a mic combo? Seymour Duncan has the mag mic. But as you have listed, there are many brands. For home recording, I have used my Zoom H2 recorder as a USB mic into my iMac/garageband. Last night however, I plugged in my dual-source LR Baggs M1 passive and K&K pwm through my new Ultrasound DI Max stereo pre-amp direct into my Zoom H2 achieving my best, direct, plugged-in sound yet. ( http://www.box.net/shared/cpe7qarr2v ) Still, even as decent as I thought it was, there is always a "pickup sound" (which can and will be defined many ways here). You will also note the cliks of the pick on the M1. I also added reverb and delay in Garageband. This combination I am using after 12 years is very likable for me compared to my past pickup and EQ efforts. I notice your guitar is a 05 214. All wood right? I am using a GA3 so we are very close sonically. Too many options I agree. In the end try to find examples, play other guitars plugged in and take your time finding the sound you want. We often spend a great deal of time and money on the search.
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Taylor K14c Engleman, PUTW #27 Taylor GA3, K&K pwm-LR Baggs M1 passive dual source Martin 1951 O-15 Yamaha FG730S Gretsch G5120 Fender Blues Jr NOS Tweed SWR California Blonde Ultrasound DI Max preamp Ultrasound AG30 Last edited by DMZ : 11-07-2009 at 07:42 AM.
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#5
11-07-2009, 10:23 AM
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DMZ is right. Forget a pickup and get a good microphone.
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"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." G. K. Chesterton. "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton. "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden Saville Guitars.
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#6
11-07-2009, 11:26 AM
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If yo want simple, passive and very good I would recc K&K pwm. I got it and its the bomb.
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Fight the Good Fight - Keep the Faith. II Tim. 4:7 Taylor GSrc K&K pure- joy Breedlove OM/SM Atlas Retro Martin LXME- indespinsable Alvarez- 50 smackers www.austintistic.blogspot.com
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#7
11-07-2009, 12:01 PM
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Quote:
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woody b politically incorrect since 1964 Brackett Instruments Handmade Acoustic Guitars. Ask me about my Economy Model Big companies build guitars for profit. Small builders, like myself build guitars for musicians.
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#8
11-07-2009, 01:53 PM
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+4 on the mic. Obviously the next question is "which mic?"
If you really want to know that answer, check out this thread by Harvey Gerst. It has been going for 8 years with almost 1,000 posts and is, IMHO, the best "university" on microphones for recording guitars. http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=27030 Gary
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Taylor 512 (1997) Taylor 612c (1994) Taylor 812c (1997) Taylor GA-6 (2007) Larrivee OM-03MT Forum I #9/17 Guild GAD 30R ASB (2006) Greg Bennett OM 8CE Yamaha FG730S Yamaha CGX 171 SCF Flamenco WTB- Taylor 512M - mid '90's
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#9
11-07-2009, 02:35 PM
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Definitely a mic. If you are recording, there is no comparison. It's not quite as easy as just plugging in, but you can get a variety of different sounds from different mic placements and you will be able to find a sweet spot. I'd recommend getting a Rode NT1A if you are looking for a single condenser for recording. You'll probably get the best recordings with a matched pair of mics and a good mic preamp.
That said, you could probably just get the K&K Trinity Mini and get some great recordings. That setup comes with the Transducer pickup (which every one raves about) and a 5" gooseneck mic that you mount inside the guitar. It has a dual source external preamp that is plugged in with a stereo cable (that comes with the system). It also won't require you to cut holes in the guitar and you'll be able to gig with that if you some day decided you need to. That is just my 2 cents...or maybe 4  Also, check out http://www.tweakheadz.com There is a TON of great info about home recording and it is formatted in a pretty interesting way.
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Jason
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#10
11-07-2009, 04:07 PM
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Generally, for recording an acoustic guitar, a small condenser microphone is preferred. So if you were looking at a Rode mic, the NT5 would be a good choice. Acoustic Guitar Magazine uses that mic for its recordings. Its street price is around $220 but some places only sell them in pairs. That, a $40 MXL MicMate, and DAW software is all you need. You can spend much more than that and not get appreciably better results. If the budget is larger, I would spend more money on the mic/computer interface.
http://www.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT5 http://www.mxlmics.com/products/USB/...e_Classic.html
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