Good budget soundhole pickup

[vinnie1971]

Hi all

I just purchased a pretty decent soundhole pickup. Obviously I won't record with it, I'll use an external condenser mic for that.

But to gig with, it's hard to beat for the price. I used to have a Shadow Single coil like the Seymour Duncan Woody. It was expensive and sounded like a budget strat pickup.

This Homeland stacked soundhole humbucker and gooseneck condenser mic from Andoer on the other hand works pretty well, especially when blended with a little humbucker mixed with the condenser mic you can bring the volume of the condenser mic down if feedback is an issue.

Obviously it's not going to perform like the highest price point from LR Baggs or K&K but for £27 it's several times better than the Shadow it replaces. It's also in a nice rosewood body and has abalone decoration on the polepieces.

I got it off Amazon and was quite sceptical. But I am very pleased with it so far.

Here's a little demo
https://youtu.be/3N2iavjw9HA


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[Methos1979]

Nice review, Vinnie. Also love your guitar!

Like you said, for the money, it's a pretty decent choice for live work. I liked they way you did the three-way comparison with both strumming and fingerpicking. Well done.

My concerns are mostly with the covered pole pieces which I assume means they are fixed. My very limited experience with sound hole pickups is with the LR Baggs M80 which has adjustable pole pieces and I found I really needed to be able to adjust them, especially the high strings. This seems to be reflected in the demo as the low end is all but gone with the tone or at least the high end is way more forward.

But for the price it's certainly a bargain and a cheap solution for those looking for something really inexpensive. Thanks for taking the time to review and post the recording.

[vinnie1971]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Nice review, Vinnie. Also love your guitar!



Like you said, for the money, it's a pretty decent choice for live work. I liked they way you did the three-way comparison with both strumming and fingerpicking. Well done.



My concerns are mostly with the covered pole pieces which I assume means they are fixed. My very limited experience with sound hole pickups is with the LR Baggs M80 which has adjustable pole pieces and I found I really needed to be able to adjust them, especially the high strings. This seems to be reflected in the demo as the low end is all but gone with the tone or at least the high end is way more forward.



But for the price it's certainly a bargain and a cheap solution for those looking for something really inexpensive. Thanks for taking the time to review and post the recording.

The humbucker on its own is not so great but the mic on its own or blended with the humbucker give very usable tone for the money. Although I am totally sold on iRig acoustic stage, this is a good backup.

The poles are fixed but then they are in a few high end pickups - bronze isn't magnetic which is why I think magnetic pickups don't work so well.

Very happy with that Washburn too. It's got a big sound.



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