Pick-up for Nylon String guitar
 

I posted this in the Taylor forum but since this Nylon section has opened up I thought I'd try it again here. I am looking to replace the Fishman on my 2002 NS 7. Has anyone tried the LR Baggs IMix Onboard on a Nylon String guitar? Or does anyone have other recommendations? Since the hole is cut for the barn door anyways, I'd prefer to go with a "drop-in" replacement.

I am not sure of any direct replacement. Maybe the Takamine Cool Tube . I would probably go with an usd like the highlander and remove the fishman but leave the hole as a soundport. The Taylor nylons are not known for great volume acoustically. That soundport might help with that.

I'm a fan of the Schertler Dyn-G, which sometimes can be found used for around $200.

Completely external, removable, great starting point for a remarkable plugged-in sound. You could keep the Fishman and blend them externally, or just forget about the current system altogether (leave it in or not).

If you want to close the barn door, I bet any decent local luthier/repairperson could make a nice removable "plug" out of a rosewood veneer and some magnets :)

I'm looking at a dual source pick up of some kind. I am pretty sure I will put a sound board transducer on it. My question is whether to go with a UST to go with it or if I would be happier with an 'in the body' microphone.

Does anybody have any recommendations on which would be better on a nylon string guitar?

thanks

Jack

hi
playing nylon in concerts for a long time; i can say the best is a microphone.
but situations, like playing in open venus, make it hard.
for years i used a beyerdinamic m -160 ribbon like maine source, with a support of a contact mic( akg 415) this one just for get body, both sources
control by my in a small mix, with lexicon reverb. sounds good, having the
mic, getting the natural sound.
since i perform in festivals, in different countries, some times with short sound checks, i asked ditter from k& k a special pickup for my 8 string classical, he made me a 5 transducer mini. i got a tc electronic g natural
(for acoustic guitar) so for a quick set works great, close to the natural sound, but just close. where are you performing? the gear you need,depends in your concerts, venus and time for a sound check,
Eblen
www.myspace/eblenmacaritrio

I am very happy with my Dyn-G and David amplifier...great combination for small gigs. I owned a very nice Mustapick Concert Nylon crossover equipped with a K&K Classic and was amazed how much better it sounded using the Dyn-G.

I realize the installation is a bit more permanent (if you use glue), but has anyone tried the C-DYN? It seems the string is too short for me to use as a search.

Nick

I use a Dean Markley 'stick on' type when I need to amplify my classical. But, true classicals aren't supposed to amplified, are they :)

btw, I am looking for opinions on the Taylor NS-24e - looking to add one to my herd.

I'm not sure what system Greg Carmichael is using in this youtube clip - looks like a magnetic soundhole pick-up combined with a small external mic. I still don't care for the sound, albeit this is a compressed-to-death youtube clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyMN--JUfs8

Love the song, "Wind of Change". Just finished learning it...still needs some serious polishing.

Fred

For my application I would playing at church so it would be a known environment.

I would lean towards the K&K classic (SBT) pickup with internal mic, but I talked to Brian Applegate and he was suggesting the K&K with the FanTaStick UST.

Any thoughts?

Jack

Before you start throwing cash at systems that will, frankly, sound very similar to what you have, please try a Fishman Aura Spectrum. I have been playing professionally for over 20 years, have spent literally countless thousands of dollars of preamps/pickups/etc, always to walk away poorer and disappointed. I took part in the Beta test program on the Aura Spectrum last year and after my first night using it, my only fear was that Joe (Barbieri) would ask for it back!

Here's the link and feel free to PM me or post any questions you have.

http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=110

Jimmy

Hello Jimmy

That certainly looks interesting! Any idea of how the sound/function of the Aura Spectrum compare to, say a BBE Acoustimax?

Two totally different boxes that do 2 different things. The BBe is a sonic maximizer, it balances the bass/treble signal going to the board, I used one for years, and thought it improved the sound. The Aura Spectrum is an imaging device, where different guitars were mic'd (with different microphones). This was then then turned into a digital image. So, in the case of your Taylor, you set the box to "Nylon" and then you have 16 images to choose from. There is also a "blend" knob so you can use as much or as little of the Aura image as you want. I assume you've got a mic onboard as well. I think you need to cut that out of the mix if you go with an Aura Spectrum. Fishman recommends the A.S. to be used with undersaddle transducers. That said, it makes a great preamp as well and I plug my ukuleles into it (all have K&K Big Shot internals aka sound board transducers) and cut the "blend" knob all the way down.

Here's the Aura Spectrum link owners manual with guitars/mic combos used.

http://www.fishman.com/uploads/produ...uments/172.pdf

Jimmy



Jimmy

GF,

Just wondering if the Dyn-G was used to record the tracks (which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend) on your website? Maybe you might be willing to go a little deeper into that signal chain? :wink:

"Unfortunately" those are all studio tracks. :)

Most of the nylon ones (from the album Genteel) were recorded with two small dia. condensors (sorry, can't remember make/model, but my engineer borrowed them for the sessions and he was really excited about them), approximately 6' high and 7-8' away from the guitar in a performance space (SF Conservatory's Osher Salon). That's it, with some minimal eq, no reverb/funkification added.

Live I run the Dyn-g through a Headway EDB-1 (using an impedance transformer xlr->TS), sometimes mixing a condensor in on channel two. If it's a simple gig I plug straight into the Schertler Unico.

Hope this still helps!

gf