[lppier]

I installed this properly on my Taylor 514ce yesterday, putting the sbt portion behind the bridge as recommended.
Some initial thoughts:

The quality control is quite suspect. Remember the first one I had was not working out of the box, and as for this one , after the sbt portion got installed in the proper position it started not to work. It took half an hour of fiddling with the sbt wire to get it in a proper position such that there was still sound coming from the sbt. Needless to say, it was not an enjoyable install, and I really can’t recommend this pickup based on the qc alone.

I think putting this pickup dampens the acoustic sound of the guitar noticeably, more so than the other sound hole pickups I’ve tried. This is perhaps because of its substantial weight.

I actually do like the sound of the magnetic pickup by itself, it has a thick and sweet Tonality. I think the intention of the mic is to add a bit of air, so when you turn it up fully, it sounds a bit harsh. This behaviour is similar to the mag mic I had before.
The sbt adds some body dimension to the sound when you put it in the mix, but I think no matter how you mix the three sources, the overall sound is still magnetic. The magnetic pickup and mic is controlled by one main volume control, and the sbt is controlled by another independent main volume control. For the first volume control there is another control to adjust the amount of mic in the magnetic/mic mix.

Will follow up with some clips.