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  #46  
Old 12-07-2017, 05:01 PM
Johnny.guitar Johnny.guitar is offline
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My wife is right. Everyone turns left...I turn right!
I do gig fairly regularly and have tried the k&k's. I don't like not having any controls at my fingertips and having to bend down and fiddle with an outboard preamp. I also found the k&k needed a lot of eq and can be prone to feedback. Gimme a good UST with some tone & volume controls please.
My current favourite is the dreaded Taylor ES2. But I'm not afraid of barn door electronics like the Takamine either.
However for those that don't plug in I can see why you wouldn't want it.
Although I highly doubt anyone could listen to two identical guitars, one with built in electronics & one without and be able to discern any audible difference....
I know my ears aren't that good!
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  #47  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:00 PM
markm2553 markm2553 is offline
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I am hearing about what I thought I might for reasons folks don't like them.
To each his own of course. The heart knows what it wants.

A built in active pickup was a selling point for my last purchase.
I also wanted to be able to get to the batteries without removing strings.

I end up playing blind a lot of times, never knowing what I am going to find. Most of the time its some kind of a PA. If there is a sound guy he is there to put a CD in if you use one...

I like having the controls at my finger tips. I have never bought a guitar with resale value in mind. I'm hoping I never get into a shape to have to worry about it. But I can see where a 20 year old acoustic with 20 year old outdated electronics might not hold its value.

Thanks for all the great replies.
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  #48  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:02 PM
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justonwo justonwo is offline
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I just don’t want electronics in my acoustic. Something about it just doesn’t seem right. I might feel differently if I gigged.
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  #49  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:09 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny.guitar View Post
.......Although I highly doubt anyone could listen to two identical guitars, one with built in electronics & one without and be able to discern any audible difference....I know my ears aren't that good!
The only feasible way to do this would be to compare identical carbon fiber guitars with and without electronics. CF material is far more consistent than wood (even adjoining flitches of the same log) and each guitar quite literally comes out of the same mold. And there would still likely not be any perceptible difference in a blind test.

If you need electronics, then you a pickup system of some kind is important. If not, then find a guitar that you like without electronics. It doesn't seem any more complicated than that - to me. So: Deal or No Deal? I used to gig and therefore have several guitars with electronics. I no longer gig, so the last few purchases have been au naturel.
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  #50  
Old 12-08-2017, 04:20 AM
gitarro gitarro is offline
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I do not mind pickups that do not affect unplugged sound quality like the K & K etc. But not pickups that replace the saddle or that insert piezos that sit under the saddle.

I agree that barn door cutouts and electronics that sit in those cutouts are truly eyesores that do not belong on an acoustic guitar that has been crafted with pride. They are functional, but they mar the lines of the instrument with a foreign element that does not belong organically to the instrument. Those are deal killers in my book.
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  #51  
Old 12-08-2017, 08:14 PM
rwmct rwmct is offline
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My Guild has a K&K mini that the original purchaser fitted. I have not taken it out, but would have been happier if it had not been fitted in the first place.

Definite deal killer for me on a new guitar. I won't buy one. I am sure there is some circumstance that would cause me to buy one despite the pick up, but it would have to be something unusual. In general, I just don't like the idea.
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  #52  
Old 12-09-2017, 03:55 AM
gigmaster gigmaster is offline
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Bullet holes and bloodstains are not necesarily deal-killers. It depends on what it sounds like.

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Originally Posted by HHP View Post
My only deal killers are bullet holes or bloodstains.
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  #53  
Old 12-09-2017, 04:17 AM
gigmaster gigmaster is offline
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It depends on what system you use. You can always install a Fishman SOnicore system. The only modification to your guitar that is needed is widening the endpin hole to 1/2", (or you can drill a new 1/2" hole underneath the strap pin if you'd rather) , drilling a small hole under the bridge saddle for the piexo wire, and that's it. The pre-amp mounts to the inside of the soundhole with adhesive, and the battery pack mounts inside the body with velcro. You access the Volume and Tone controls at the soundhole. Nothing is visible from outside the guitar. Installation takes around 20 minutes, if you have the right tools. And, they sound great. I have 2, mounted in my Martin USA DX1, and my Recording King Dirty Thirty Dreadnaught 12-string. You can't tell there is a pickup system mounted in them. A lot of Martins come with this system installed.

As far as reliablility, I have never had a Fishman, or LR Baggs system go out on me, and some of mine are over 20 years old. All I have ever had to do is change batteries. And I have been gigging 3 - 5 times per week for the last 30 years. I am a busker.

Another option, if you don't want to mount a pickup permanenetly, is LR Baggs incredilble MA1 active soundhole pickup. I use one on my Martin D-16 Mahogany, because I did not want to cut holes in it. The sound rivals that of the Fishman Presys 301 system. They have a new one that supposed to be even better, called the M-80, but I haven't played or heard it live, yet. It sounds great on YouTube.


Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewG View Post
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.
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