The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 12-07-2017, 05:30 AM
markm2553 markm2553 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Indiana
Posts: 473
Default Deal Killer?

I have read on here that for many electronics is a "deal killer" on a guitar?

Is the electronics just an issue of looks?
Or tradition?

I can see why most people that play acoustic don't need one.

But if you use one isn't a built in active pick-up just a "better" option?
__________________
Epiphone Hummingbird Pro
Seagull M6 Spruce
Gibson J40 (1972 era)
Yamaha 365S (1980 ish)
Taylor 110, 2004
Martin DC-160GTE
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-07-2017, 05:37 AM
HHP HHP is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 29,351
Default

My only deal killers are bullet holes or bloodstains.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-07-2017, 05:38 AM
AndrewG AndrewG is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Exeter, UK
Posts: 7,674
Default

Although both my 'L' series Yamahas have pickups fitted they are discrete passive systems with no onboard knobs, pre-amps or visible signs, other than the endpin jack, that the guitar is anything other than a pure acoustic. For my taste it's the aesthetics (or lack of), of active systems which I find off-putting, and a definite deal-breaker. Sensible practicality aside they just look wrong, but I absolutely get why they are useful.
__________________
Faith Mars FRMG
Faith Neptune FKN
Epiphone Masterbilt Texan
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:34 AM
Filum Filum is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 70
Default

All electronics are bound to die no matter how well you take care of it. Replacement 10 or 20 years later? Good luck. One can argue the value of a free sound port heh..

Just go to the custom section of AGF. How many comes with those ugly sliders or knobs or buttons? Literally 0.

Yamaha L series did a wonderful job with their zero impact pickup. You cant even see it.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:39 AM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 5,961
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by markm2553 View Post
...isn't a built in active pick-up just a "better" option?
There's no such thing as a "better option" that is "better" for everyone. People have individual needs and preferences whether it be guitars, pickups, picks, cases, etc.
__________________
Jim
2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi
2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood
2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar
2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce
2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce
1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce

along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos.

YouTube
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:45 AM
MC5C MC5C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Tatamagouche Nova Scotia
Posts: 1,136
Default

For me, a "scabbed on" active pickup control panel on the upper bout of an acoustic guitar is a real distraction, detracts totally from any sense of beauty or elegance, hence I don't like them. But if I was buying a guitar as a tool for amplified performance, my view would change and I would buy a Takamine rather than a luthier built pure acoustic masterpiece. So if you use a pickup in an acoustic guitar, choose the very best one you can find and embrace the effectiveness of your choice. If you don't use a pickup and find them obtrusive, then by all means choose a guitar that doesn't have one and embrace that choice.
__________________
Brian Evans
Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:45 AM
Samogitian Samogitian is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: London
Posts: 83
Default

Before I bought my first Taylor (114ce) I thought that electronics inside would affect the sound (I'm sure it does just not sure to what extent) and I never intended plugging in. Then I bought my current Taylor and even though my goal was to record with a mic, I plugged it in expecting to be disappointed (saw a few videos on youtube before), but was surprised when it sounded rather good (Expression System 2), so now I no longer think electronics is a drawback.
__________________

2020 Taylor 814ce DLX
2017 Taylor 414ce-R (Sold)
2015 Taylor 114ce (Sold)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:51 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Mohawk Valley
Posts: 8,711
Default PUs

A pickup isn't a deal killer for me. I have no need for one, even when I play out (no loud bars), so I don't feel they add much value either. For me, in my situation.

But barn doors, knobs and the such-like; that's a different story. They permanently affect the looks, and I don't like to see them. That would probably be enough for me to walk away from a deal. I'd have to really want and need that guitar to put up with it.

But these are things you mostly see on the mid and lower end guitars, as someone kind of pointed out. The players most likely to buy these may see electronics as a plus, not a negative. Manufacturers have this figured out.
__________________
The Bard Rocks

Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle
Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale
Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk
Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany
Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle
MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood
Goodman J45 Lutz/fiddleback Mahogany
Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber
'31 National Duolian
+ many other stringed instruments.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:56 AM
mercy mercy is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Inland Empire, So California
Posts: 6,246
Default

DEAL KILLER for me. Dont use them dont have a need for them and they have to effect sound. Im all acoustic and dont play out.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:02 AM
llew llew is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Coastal South Carolina
Posts: 13,754
Default

It's not a deal killer for me. Most of my guitars have passive bridge plate pickups like K&K or JJB or McIntyre Feather. I definitely prefer a minimalist approach however.
__________________
Jim

Dogs Welcome......People Tolerated!
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:29 AM
fitness1's Avatar
fitness1 fitness1 is offline
Musical minimalist
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Central Lower Michigan
Posts: 22,130
Default

Almost any system besides a passive AST (like K&K) is not to my liking. Cables, battery harnesses, preamps inside the body of a guitar add to the weight, reduce the volume and tone and just are not necessary. If I need a pickup, a passive pickup with a single lead to the endpin and external preamps etc are the only way I want to go.
__________________
"One small heart, and a great big soul that's driving"

Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:46 AM
Pickcity's Avatar
Pickcity Pickcity is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,166
Default

Not a deal breaker for me.

I prefer a pickup for playing live, but I definitely want them to be non intrusive. No extra holes in the body, and non visible.

I have a Taylor 114e that I really like. It is a great gigging guitar. I do not like the volume and tone knobs protruding out of the upper bout. I'm not crazy about the battery port right next to my end pin either, though it is convenient.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:05 AM
devellis's Avatar
devellis devellis is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 8,399
Default

Typically a deal-killer for me. I don't amplify and have no need or desire for a pickup.

I bought one mandolin, years go, that only came with a pickup (Rigel G-110). I think I plugged it in once out of curiosity. The pickup dded no value as fr s I was concerned. On that particular instrument the installation was discrete and the instrument's appearance was unconventional enough that an end pin with an integrated jack hardly was noticeable.

But in general, on a guitar, a pickup would lessen its desirability for sure and might be a deal breaker for me.
__________________
Bob DeVellis
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:05 AM
Goat Mick Goat Mick is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bristol, TN
Posts: 6,573
Default

It really depends on the pickup and install. All of my guitars have pickups and are working guitars (some more than others), but I'd really have to like everything else about the guitar to go for a big barn door on the upper bout. More and more guitars now with factory pickups are using the soundhole access controls and I don't mind those at all as they can be removed without leaving holes in the guitar. Usually though a factory installed pickup is some sort of UST and I don't like the sound of those so I pull them out and install a K&K or JJB.
__________________
'59 Gibson J-45 "Spot"
'21 Gibson LG-2 - 50's Reissue
'94 Taylor 710
'18 Martin 000-17E "Willie"
‘23 Taylor AD12e-SB
'22 Taylor GTe Blacktop
'15 Martin 000X1AE

https://pandora.app.link/ysqc6ey22hb

Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:06 AM
Spyvito Spyvito is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: North Georgia
Posts: 231
Default

Does drilling a large end pin hole bother you? I can’t bring myself to it.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=