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Old 05-14-2017, 10:37 AM
Griffguitar123 Griffguitar123 is offline
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Default Do acoustic magnetic soundhole pickups do anything unplugged?

I'm getting a sunrise magnetic pickup to go over my soundhole, with the pickup affect anything when my guitar isn't plugged in? I heard the magnetic oickups make your percussive slaps possibly louder when unplugged so that would be cool😼
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Old 05-14-2017, 11:08 AM
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Whenever you decrease the effective size of the sound hole it will change the way your instrument sounds unplugged. Play up against a wall for a while and listen closely, then install the pickup and repeat. You'll have your answer.

I doubt that adding weight to the top of the guitar with a pickup is going to make your percussive slaps louder though.....plugged in, yes....
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Old 05-14-2017, 11:37 AM
dannyg1 dannyg1 is offline
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If you adjust the pole pieces too close to the strings, the pickup will pull your strings into a phasey, weird sound that's intonation killing and tremolo like.

The weight of the pickup and the clamp action across the sound hole does also change your sound greatly but, on my guitar with a M80 in it at least, doesn't kill the sound either. I play it mostly plugged in and Im pretty sure that the pickup makes the guitar quieter, which works out for practice.
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Old 05-14-2017, 12:33 PM
Pitar Pitar is offline
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It must be stated -

Mag pups do not pick up the acoustic sound of an acoustic guitar. They never have and never will.

Hence the name magnetic, as in magnet, as in electric flux field generated only by electricity and shaped only by a ferrous metal object cutting across its path, in this case a guitar string.

Nothing about the wood, species or otherwise, can act upon a magnet or the electrical properties of the generated flux field induced by the coil of copper wire it's wrapped with.

However, reducing, or blocking, the sound hole changes the resident resonance of the guitar body, or specifically the air chamber it encloses, such that air resonance (movement out the sound hole) is dampened resulting in the reduction of sound emissions as well as their character. This is a function of the so-named Helmholtz characteristics of the air chamber guitars are basically models of.

But, getting back to mag p'ups, the doping of current models gives them an acoustic modeling feature that can be closely associated with the sound of a cinder block which, if one is so inclined to strap some strings across, attach their mag p'up to and experiment with, he'll find it sounds like a cinder block...no...their guitar...no...wait...the packaging says....duped again.

A modeling circuit gives them a basic acoustic sound output. It's a lashed-up concoction of circuitry that does use a small portion of the sonic characteristics of the specific guitar but most notably all guitars will sound similar. The makers know no human ear can make a (legal) claim to truly hearing one guitar over the other, first, and also know no human ear can expressly state what their guitar sounds like, second.
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Old 05-14-2017, 12:41 PM
00-28 00-28 is offline
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Since I have no idea what you just said, I'll have to take your word for it. I'm not sure if my guitar came with a Helmholtz, is it too late to get one? One last point, you mention sound emissions. I live in California and any kind of emission is resticted. I had to install a sound emission control device in my guitar and get it tested every two years.


........Mike

Last edited by 00-28; 05-14-2017 at 12:53 PM.
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Old 05-14-2017, 12:51 PM
dannyg1 dannyg1 is offline
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Actually, the Baggs magnetics have their humbucking second coill floating in a liquid and it becomes somewhat microphonic, so it is a magnetic coil, producing a sound individual in character to the Instrument. Try talking into your guitar with the PU mounted. Its real and works something akin to the way a dynamic mic works.
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Old 05-14-2017, 01:31 PM
6L6 6L6 is offline
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Other than marring the finish...
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Old 05-17-2017, 08:27 AM
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You are clamping a chunky piece of hardware to the top of your guitar and it is going dampen the sound and partially block the soundhole.

I used Sunrise pickups for decades and I generally take them out of my guitar when not gigging. An internal jack wired to the endpin makes it easy.
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Old 05-17-2017, 12:24 PM
MartyGraw MartyGraw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Acuff View Post
You are clamping a chunky piece of hardware to the top of your guitar and it is going dampen the sound and partially block the soundhole.

I used Sunrise pickups for decades and I generally take them out of my guitar when not gigging. An internal jack wired to the endpin makes it easy.
Ditto. Sunrise are wonderful pickups. IMO they make K and K minis sound like junk and I have had 4 guitars with K and K's. The caveat is they are clunky and heavy. One of my guitars has a Sunrise and K and K. When not using guitar amplified I take Sunrise out as it is connected to 1/8 phono jack by sound hole.
There is a reason the who's who of guitar artists use them. In addition, Jim is available to answer any questions and he does promptly. Great guy. Make sure you get a Pre / Buffer Box...
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Old 05-18-2017, 10:43 AM
M Hayden M Hayden is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitar View Post
It must be stated -

Mag pups do not pick up the acoustic sound of an acoustic guitar. They never have and never will.

Hence the name magnetic, as in magnet, as in electric flux field generated only by electricity and shaped only by a ferrous metal object cutting across its path, in this case a guitar string.

Nothing about the wood, species or otherwise, can act upon a magnet or the electrical properties of the generated flux field induced by the coil of copper wire it's wrapped with.

However, reducing, or blocking, the sound hole changes the resident resonance of the guitar body, or specifically the air chamber it encloses, such that air resonance (movement out the sound hole) is dampened resulting in the reduction of sound emissions as well as their character. This is a function of the so-named Helmholtz characteristics of the air chamber guitars are basically models of.

But, getting back to mag p'ups, the doping of current models gives them an acoustic modeling feature that can be closely associated with the sound of a cinder block which, if one is so inclined to strap some strings across, attach their mag p'up to and experiment with, he'll find it sounds like a cinder block...no...their guitar...no...wait...the packaging says....duped again.

A modeling circuit gives them a basic acoustic sound output. It's a lashed-up concoction of circuitry that does use a small portion of the sonic characteristics of the specific guitar but most notably all guitars will sound similar. The makers know no human ear can make a (legal) claim to truly hearing one guitar over the other, first, and also know no human ear can expressly state what their guitar sounds like, second.
\]

This is not quite true.
Mag pickups are mounted (usually) to the edge of the soundhole, which is part of the vibrating membrane which is the top. Nominally, a magnetic pickup only picks up string vibration, but remember that the top also moves on an acoustic, and in consequence, this introduces a bit of additional motion which the pickup reads as variations in string movement, and which may (depending on pickup and taste) be a good sound.

I know the Sunrise does this, having put it into variously more or less flexible tops, and it definitely does sense some top movement as described above. the M80 with the floating coil does this as well. I don't know if the tiny mags that fit right at the end of the fingerboard do....
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Old 05-20-2017, 07:47 AM
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Al Acuff Al Acuff is offline
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The design, materials, craftsmanship and age of your instrument have a huge effect on it's amplified sound. This is true of the Sunrise pickup and of most other acoustic (and electric) pickups.

For example––a buddy of mine is waiting on a custom tele. He agonized over the wood choices more than over the pickups and rightly so. The point is that the wood body has a major effect on the plugged in sound of a solid body electric guitar and therefore the same can be said of acoustic pickups.

Whether it's an Anthem or a Sunrise system, if you put a top quality pickup in a great sounding guitar the amplified sound will be pretty good. If you put a $300 pickup system in $200 guitar you will prolly end up disappointed.

For what it's worth, a popular go-to combination for concert artists like Lyle Lovett and Keith Richards is a Sunrise pickup into a Demeter Tube DI and an xlr cable from there to the mixer. The DI replaces the Sunrise preamp box in your sound chain. It's vacuum tube circuit enhances the sound of the pickup beautifully so that it sounds more extended––clear and shimmery. IMHO the Sunrise and Tube DI go together like a 52 tele and a tweed deluxe or like pancakes and maple syrup.
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Last edited by Al Acuff; 05-20-2017 at 08:01 AM.
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