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Old 03-05-2015, 06:33 AM
35' Sunburst 35' Sunburst is offline
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Default PUTW Quackbuster

Anybody heard or used one of these Pickup The World (PUTW) Quackbusters?
Interesting.
We are putting an LR Baggs Element system in my sons new Taylor 214 and came across this Clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avneH9cFHTc
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Last edited by 35' Sunburst; 03-05-2015 at 06:42 AM.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:39 AM
35' Sunburst 35' Sunburst is offline
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Here's the link to PUTW:
http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/acoustic.htm
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Old 03-05-2015, 08:05 AM
jalbert jalbert is offline
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I have the equivalent of a QuackBuster, that is PUTW's Dynamic Duo pickup. It's a PUTW's own undersaddle pickup wired together with their soundboard transducer. I'm very pleased with the sound it produces! And while IMO/YMMV/etc, if you're handy with installing things like this it could be a fun project that improves the sound of the Element.
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Old 03-05-2015, 08:21 AM
35' Sunburst 35' Sunburst is offline
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So you're using the PUTW undersaddle with their soundboard Quackbuster?
I may want to use this Dynamic duo in my Martin 00-DB.
Are you using an external Preamp?
What type?
And do you go straight into the PA board or are you using an acoustic amp?
Thank for the info.
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Old 03-05-2015, 08:41 AM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
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Rather than an under saddle pickup, for which you would want to add a soundboard transducer, why not simply put in a transducer system? I would recommend the LR Baggs Anthem for genuine acoustic reproduction. Much less invasive too. Unless he's playing in a rock band at VERY high volume, the transducer or mic units are the most popular.
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Old 03-05-2015, 01:37 PM
Dadzmad Dadzmad is offline
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I had a PUTW Quackbuster added to a Westerly made Guild S4CE with a factory Fishman Matrix undersaddle transducer and preamp system. Nice guitar but I was never really happy with the quacky amplified sound. I use a Trace Elliot TA30 with it. The improvement in sound with the PUTW Quackbuster greatly exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with the mod.

The soundboard transducer is wired in parallel with the factory undersaddle transducer and ahead of the preamp. As far as the sound goes there is more to this setup than going to a dual source. Don't bother with any switches or anything between them as the two transducers work together. The manufacturers claims seem to be spot on in my case.

I used to keep adjusting the settings on the preamp and amp all the time trying to deal with the quack. Now I can leave all the adjustments centered and get a decent sound for starters and just a few minor tweaks to really get the sound I want.

What I like is that I did not have to swap out the original system as I think this guitar will have some collectors interest in the decades to come. I highly recommend this mod for anyone who has an older factory installed transducer / preamp system that needs some updating.

The only downside is that you will get some signal loss. In places where I used the amp with about a 1/3 on the volume now I need to go at least 1/2 way up as an example.
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Old 03-05-2015, 02:03 PM
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Joe F Joe F is offline
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I used one several years ago with a Fishman Prefix Plus UST system. The sound improvement was quite nice with the added wood to go along with the UST.

As noted, running the PUTW and the UST in parallel does reduce signal strength output so you'll have to up your gain/volume elsewhere (onboard volume, D/I, Amp or at the sound board). While it worked well in quieter venues, I found feedback to be problematic in high volume band situations and had to resort to a sound hole plug. I always wished that it had some way to dial in more UST or more PUTW transducer rather than being a fixed parallel configuration. All in all, not a bad mod to a UST based system.
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Old 03-05-2015, 02:13 PM
pipedwho pipedwho is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadzmad View Post
The only downside is that you will get some signal loss. In places where I used the amp with about a 1/3 on the volume now I need to go at least 1/2 way up as an example.
That is intentional. There are two elements to what is generally referred to as piezo quack.

The first is due to the location of the piezo UST itself which picks up a set of frequencies that tend to be dry, bright and chirpy. (Think of how the tone changes between the neck and bridge pickups on an electric guitar and go one step further from the bridge to directly under the saddle.) Too much string and too little body resonance. This is why people like to combine the under saddle tone with a mic, an SBT, or a magnetic pickup under the strings.

The second element is due to overly large transients clipping in the preamp. This is even more annoying than the above and is why high headroom preamps sound better. This can also be resolved by reducing the level of the signal being fed to the preamp. I generally find a 1nF (approx.) capacitor in parallel with the pickup does the job of halving the signal well. Some brands need more, others a bit less. The capacitor divides the signal because a piezo is primarily capacitive, and therefore won't dull the tone like it would an inductive magnetic pickup.

The quackbuster seems to achieve both of the above mitigating techniques in one device. So you get a little more body resonance added in, plus a reduction of the signal by about half.

One thing of note, and why I use a capacitor at the preamp is that the Fishman Aura pedal that I use works best with the raw (reduced level only) sound, as it adds the body resonance back in itself. The capacitor is also very easy to add to the preamp which is really at fault. That way if the preamp is changed out for a high headroom preamp, the capacitor is no longer necessary and stays with the old preamp. This also keeps the feedback resistance of a UST.
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Old 03-05-2015, 03:09 PM
35' Sunburst 35' Sunburst is offline
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Thanks pipedwho
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:13 PM
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Hi 35'…

I decided that I'd just bypass the whole quackbuster issue by just avoiding undersaddle pickups. Nothing I ever did to or with a rigid or woven (coaxial) undersaddle piezo pickup rivals the quality of soundboard transducers, or other contact pickups.

I no longer own any guitars equipped with undersaddle pickups, because there are so many better sounding pickups. Several used to have an undersaddle pickup, but those are gone from my instruments forever (as long as I own them).

The last one that had an undersaddle in it had it replaced with a K&K Pure mini as fast as I could get it to my tech.




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Old 03-06-2015, 08:50 AM
jalbert jalbert is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 35' Sunburst View Post
So you're using the PUTW undersaddle with their soundboard Quackbuster?
I may want to use this Dynamic duo in my Martin 00-DB.
Are you using an external Preamp?
What type?
And do you go straight into the PA board or are you using an acoustic amp?
Thank for the info.
Yes, I am using the Dynamic Duo in two guitars. It NEEDS a preamp. I am using PUTW's "Power Plug", though I see on their web site that has been discontinued while they are developing a replacement. It's not the quietest preamp I've heard, but practically speaking on stage it's fine. I go into an acoustic amp (a Fishman Loudbox Performer, also discontinued).

I did some A/B tests, and it is possible to go straight into the amp but only on my 12-string (stronger signal), with a 10' low-impedance cable, and with the gain cranked all the way up. In other words, use a preamp!
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Old 03-06-2015, 09:38 AM
35' Sunburst 35' Sunburst is offline
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Thanks for the info jalbert
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