Seagull Merlin with electronics

[Mtbbirder]

Has anyone put hands on these? If so how is the sound verses the non electric ones? Oddly Seagull does not even mention the electric version on their website.

I'm not sure if I would need the electric option, but you never know it might come in handy some day.

[MikeBmusic]

Does it have an under saddle piezo?

I only played my Merlin live one time, miked it, and due to its fairly low volume/projection I was right up on an SM57, hard to not whack the mic (I stand, and move around a bit).
A transducer pickup like this was suggested: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ArtistXM

[Mtbbirder]

Yes it's a B-Band system, with a Emfit film, which translates to Electroactive Ferroelectret which from my reading is a type of Piezo sensor.

[MikeBmusic]

My wife bought me the Merlin as a Christmas gift, it's not an instrument I would ever buy for myself, I can't see I'll ever get a lot of use out of it, which leads me to the question:
How are others using this instrument? What type of music? Live? Recording? Acoustic jams?

[H2O]

I've had my Merlin since it was released. I take mine backpacking, and stuff like that, where a guitar is not very feasible to drag along. It's fun to noodle around on...

[Mtbbirder]

just something to hack on and lots of songs are able to be played on them.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Mtbbirder

just something to hack on and lots of songs are able to be played on them.

Oh sure, I did that on the couch when I got it, but I'd rather do the same on a guitar.

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

My wife bought me the Merlin as a Christmas gift, it's not an instrument I would ever buy for myself, I can't see I'll ever get a lot of use out of it, which leads me to the question:
How are others using this instrument? What type of music? Live? Recording? Acoustic jams?

I've sort of played the American dulcimer occasionally for decades. I like modal and drone based music, so it's a natural instrument to be interested in. Depending on how you play it, a dulcimer can mimic other instruments.

When I first started playing dulcimer it actually started to add something else to my guitar playing. I became aware of how I could use open strings against a single moving voice fretted on another string.

You can get a bit of a South Asian musical feel on them, you can mimic simple banjo and mandolin on them too. You can fret multiple strings and get a bit more virtuosic on them. And you can use them, as they were designed for, to accompany those great modal folk songs that traveled from the British Isles to the woods of America, using just the single melody string against the drones.

The Merlin is very portable, and I think it sounds very good. Like most dulcimers it's not very loud. If I ever jammed with it it'd be with a quiet finger picker (I loved Richard and Mimi Farina records back in the day) and even then I might need a mic. A table top can act as a bit of a resonator to help volume a bit.

I have the original with the 'hog top and without the pickup. I play my Merlin lap style or on a table, like a traditional dulcimer, and the shallow space between the strings and the soundboard makes this tricky to do.

I record with mine. You can use a mic like you'd use on guitar and I've even been able to use the iRig Acoustic Stage clip-on mic on mine.

Here's my Merlin recorded with electric bass, various percussion and electric guitar. I think I used the iRig on the Merlin for this.

William Carlos Williams' Arrival/

I love to hear how well the ones with the built in pickups work too.

[Mtbbirder]

Got the EQ, and I'm lovin' it. It's blast to play I love the bingy plucky sound. Reminds of a banjo almost. It even sounds neat when played dirty though an amp.