Mag pickups with mini-jack interface

[jseth]

Since no one has mentioned it, I will... the Seymour Duncan Mag-Mic has both the mag coil pickup and an internally direct mic... blend control and volume control at the unit...

When auditioning various pickups fro my new Goodall, I was fortunate that James had a bunch of around... folks send him stuff all the time to check out... of all the soundhole-type pickups I tried, the Mag-Mic was by far and away my favorite of the bunch.

It didn't take a whole lot of the "mic" portion to get a full round tone from the pickup. I seem to recall it had a mini jack/plug output, but I don't know if it was a stereo jack/plug or not.

In the end, I decided to go with a K&K Mini. My Goodall has a gorgeous mastergrade redwood top, and I was unwilling to risk leaving permanent marks in the wood, as redwood is more susceptible than spruce on that axis of stress...

On another note, I have known serious acoustic players who have used the Sunrise mag pickup for decades... and have NEVER thought of changing them. Never have had the opportunity to try one out; as working (sic!) musician, the cost was always off-putting, especially because there's no way to "know" until you spend the dough!

Good luck with your options; sounds as though you have a good idea of what you're after...

Lovely playing on the YT video, by the way... sweet tune. I was trying to imagine you playing that song in the Detroit Metro area; if I heard it walking down a street, I'd think I'd found an paradise in all the turmoil and hubbub!

[GCWaters]

I don’t think the Duncan has the Mini-jack the OP was looking for—I.e.,, you can’t easily put it in and take it out...

[vindibona1]

I'm going to throw in a voice for the Seymour Duncan Woody XL It is a magnetic pickup, installed in seconds, is noiseless with adjustable pole pieces. The adjustable poles IMO are "must haves" as you have a lot of balance control with them which is absent without them.

I am beginning to find that with the proper preamp/EQ I am having difficult finding an installed UBT pickup that would be much better than what I have in the Woody. As I think about it, it doesn't sound a whole lot different than the pickup system in my Taylor ES1 equipped 614ce.

As for a mini-jack plug in, it shouldn't be a problem. I've converted the super long 14' cable with a bobtailed version with a 1/4" plug on the end. I could have gone much shorter, but didn't see the need. The Woody is installed by inserting the pickup in to the soundhole, held in place by two compressed neoprene pieces. It takes about 30 seconds to install the whole thing and 10-15 to remove it. Because it's held in with neoprene rather than screws, you can easily reposition it without messing with tools.

While I think the MagMic is probably better as a dual source solution, with the battery pack it almost demands to be permanently installed- which is why I selected the Woody. I have since colored mine in to make it look like a darker rosewood, but I believe it comes in 3 colors now.

[VinceM]

Hey OP here - got busy this week and couldn't update this thread. I know y'all have been on pins and needles wondering what I'm going to do!

I had some very helpful discussions offline with meb - thanks!!

I ended up finding a used Schertler AG6 for a decent price (no mic though). Still waiting for it to come.

I thought this active solution would be worth a try - for my passive pickups, I currently use a short cable out the endpin to a PUTW belt clip preamp before going to a Solstice. It would be nice if I didn't have to deal with the belt clip. It sounds like the AG6 has some pretty decent preamp electronics built in. As well as the ability to blend in a second source (whether it be the mic or the Dean Markley Artist I'm currently using).

So there you have it. I'll report back after I get it! Woohoo a NPD coming soon.

[meb]

Originally Posted by 63telemaster

I have both the Sunrise and he BA and the Sunrise is certainly a "better" pickup imo. BA is tonally similar but just doesn't have the presence and depth of the Sunrise. Both are far "better" than the Baggs/Fishman pickups I've used. Again, in my opinion.

Hello 63t....After reading your comment and loving the BA, I bought a used
Sunrise. I think your description is spot on. I have only played with the
Sunrise briefly, but thought it had more output, but couldn't readily tell
if it was just more 'body' or or a higher output than the BA. Have you
noticed a difference in volume?

Thanks.

[63telemaster]

Originally Posted by meb

Hello 63t....After reading your comment and loving the BA, I bought a used
Sunrise. I think your description is spot on. I have only played with the
Sunrise briefly, but thought it had more output, but couldn't readily tell
if it was just more 'body' or or a higher output than the BA. Have you
noticed a difference in volume?

Thanks.

Yes, the Sunrise does seem to have a little more output than the BA but I also believe this has more to do with the increased 'body' as you rightly describe it.

If you get the chance to pick up the SB-1 preamp it's well worth it imo. As well as adding gain, it just seems to glue the sound together nicely.

[meb]

Thanks 63t...I feel better that I could not really tell 'why' the SR sounded
louder.

I will have some time tomorrow to do some testing and
comparisons. I have passed on the SB2 because I need a preamp
with a boost button in many cases. So far, I am off to a good start with
the Sunrise and Fishman Platinum Pro EQ, but I also have 6 other
preamps to try...........btw, it is a PITA to install/remove the SR vs the BA.

I will post further thoughts on my tests on the Sunrise Appreciation thread;
since the SR has no conforming mini-jack.

Mike

[Shredmaster007]

I have an M80 and also don't like the cutting highs. The tech 21 qstrip has a low pass filter that takes care of the silibance completely but still keeps the resonance and acoustic nature of the pickup. In was also looking at the Angel and others for the same reason but think the new EQ makes the M80 work for me. Will try to post a sound byte.

[VinceM]

Originally Posted by Shredmaster007

I have an M80 and also don't like the cutting highs. The tech 21 qstrip has a low pass filter that takes care of the silibance completely but still keeps the resonance and acoustic nature of the pickup. In was also looking at the Angel and others for the same reason but think the new EQ makes the M80 work for me. Will try to post a sound byte.

Wow the QStrip is a cool pedal. Seems quite useful for a lot of situations. How did you set the LPF to get rid of the annoying high frequencies? How did you set the cutoff? Was it around 10k? I am currently using a DTAR Solstice, which has a treble control centered at 10k. I'll have to experiment with that. However it's a pretty broad control so it will probably cut more frequency content than I would like.

[Shredmaster007]

Originally Posted by VinceM

Wow the QStrip is a cool pedal. Seems quite useful for a lot of situations. How did you set the LPF to get rid of the annoying high frequencies? How did you set the cutoff? Was it around 10k? I am currently using a DTAR Solstice, which has a treble control centered at 10k. I'll have to experiment with that. However it's a pretty broad control so it will probably cut more frequency content than I would like.

The LPF starts to cut off at 3k and above at 12db per octave. It basically takes out all of the harshness/zing/hiss of the LR Baggs pickup. It doesn't totally kill the highs, and I add just a little bit of high eq. I will record it with a mic on my J45 / M80 / S1 Pro and post it here for you.

I don't know of any other pedals that have an LPF. I have the align EQ and basically have to turn the 10k and 4.8k almost all the way down to use the M80 with the way I play. The fact that it can run on battery, 9v or phantom power, has 1/4" and xlr out, two parametric mids and a silent switch along with parallel out is pretty amazing. And it fits in my guitar case in the compartment under the neck.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by VinceM

Oh cool - I didn't realize the sunrise pickup connected to the wire via a mini plug. I thought the cable was hard wired to the pickup.

Is the pickup easy to remove from under the strings when not needed?

The cable is hard wired. The minijack solders
to the cable. short cable. but you can make
it even shorter. I did that to mine.