#46
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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! |
#47
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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 But I can see where a 20 year old acoustic with 20 year old outdated electronics might not hold its value.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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Epiphone Hummingbird Pro Seagull M6 Spruce Gibson J40 (1972 era) Yamaha 365S (1980 ish) Taylor 110, 2004 Martin DC-160GTE |
#48
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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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Circa OM-30/34 (Adi/Mad) | 000-12 (Ger/Maple) | OM-28 (Adi/Brz) | OM-18/21 (Adi/Hog) | OM-42 (Adi/Braz) Fairbanks SJ (Adi/Hog) | Schoenberg/Klepper 000-12c (Adi/Hog) | LeGeyt CLM (Swiss/Amzn) | LeGeyt CLM (Carp/Koa) Brondel A-2 (Carp/Mad) |
#49
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Quote:
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. |
#50
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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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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#51
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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. |
#52
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Bullet holes and bloodstains are not necesarily deal-killers. It depends on what it sounds like.
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#53
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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:
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