Passive pickup questions for Sable (and suggestions?)

[joepr3.6]

I recently came to the discovery that my element pickup that came preinstalled with my mcpherson is no longer functional. I troubleshot my way through every weak link in the chain and settled on either the piezo wire itself or (more likely) the preamp.
I decided it was probably time for an upgrade anyway, and was looking all around and found a couple passive options (I’m trying to go passive and non-UST because hopefully they’ll last longer/be less finicky). I am looking at 3 right now and was hoping yall could help narrow it down. I can’t decide between the dazzo and the HFN, because they both sound pretty good but have heard flaky reviews on both. My third choice is the Barbera because it seems rather delicate to be in a guitar that’s going to be going all over the place and gets dinged somewhat frequently. also the wood on the saddle seems like it would warp in varying weather.
Any other suggestions (other than the K&K because it sounds awful) would be very much welcome. Additionally, if anyone has experience with putting an aftermarket system in their sable, any tips are welcome. Here’s to hoping the Jack will just fit in the predrilled hole!

[KevinH]

I installed a James May Ultratonic in my Emerald X-20 and have been happy with it. The 12-position switch on the UT is pretty good at minimizing feedback.

[jollyroger55]

I am not a fan of passive systems at all. But that is just me. But a couple years ago I bought the James May system and of the passive systems this is the one I would go with. He is great to deal with. I just don't like carrying around a pre amp with me. With the James May, most of the time you won't need one though.

[Melt in the Sun]

With a Sable I would go active - the easy battery access makes the only real downside of those systems moot (having to loosen strings to reach in the soundhole to change batteries).

Any non-UST pickup has the potential to be really finicky with placement in any particular guitar - for that reason I've always avoided glue-ins, even the Dazzos which tempted me for a long time. I agree w/ your opinion on the K&K's sound...

There are lots of good choices but for what my opinion's worth, I am very very happy with a putty-installed HFN active in my X20. Battery right there inside the offset soundhole, easy tweaking of the location when I first installed it. I wish I could fit one in my octave mandolin!

[jdinco]

Not a bad idea to ask McPherson for any suggestions too....

[Marshall]

I don’t expect McPherson to have anything to offer more than the collective wisdom of the AGF. Yes, I think an active SBT is an easy option. An HFN or a HiFi should be easy to install. And the battery and VT controls can be mounted for easy access in the off-center sound hole. And neither of them is glued in permanently, nor is the saddle altered

[BlueStarfish]

I have a Sable, and was not satisfied with the stock Element so tried a couple of different pickups from my collection in it. One of the ones I tried was the active version of the HFN Schatten. I was not satisfied with the Schatten, I don’t know if it was just being fussy with placement or what, but I could not get a useable tone from it, even at low volumes.

Surprisingly the pickup that has worked best for me in that guitar is a Baggs Lyric. In the Sable, it does require an external notch filter in either your preamp or elsewhere in the signal chain, at about 160 hz to control feedback. But with that in place, it works well and sounds great, at least at the low-to-moderate volumes I use. Flat EQ other than the notch. If you are playing solo or duo (and without drums and electric guitars) and can manage with a notch filter, it’s a good sounding choice. The battery is easily accessible via the soundhole if that’s your concern. You may want to shim your saddle, after taking the Element out (but you’d have the same decision with a soundboard pickup).

[buzzardwhiskey]

My Sable came with a factory installed Anthem SL pickup, which I really like after dozens of gigs big and small.

[Fixedgear60]

I would do what John earlier suggested.. and talk with McPherson. I remember back in the day working with Joe @ Blackbird and wanting passive pickups on one of his guitars and he said that non-center hole guitars are very hard for some reason to dial in a balanced sound and tend to be very base heavy. I am not sure why but back in the day we had lots of threads with people trying to do passive pick-up with the CA cargo with poor results. Just some random thoughts ...

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Fixedgear60

I would do what John earlier suggested.. and talk with McPherson. I remember back in the day working with Joe @ Blackbird and wanting passive pickups on one of his guitars and he said that non-center hole guitars are very hard for some reason to dial in a balanced sound and tend to be very base heavy. I am not sure why but back in the day we had lots of threads with people trying to do passive pick-up with the CA cargo with poor results. Just some random thoughts ...

I was one of those doing the experimenting back in the days of the MacNichol forum. My Cargos have K & K pickups. I modified a couple of different pedals and even the K & K preamp. All of these were successful, but I suspect that many who would be interested wouln't be equipped to do that sort of design and/or modification. As I get older (70 now) I don't have the eyes or steady hand for that. Bummer, but there it is.

The best, and ready made (!), solution is the Empress ParaEQ pedal. The original that I have is now discontinued, but they came up with a MK II version that I would think might be even better.

For the record, I have the original pickup in both my Sable and Touring and they seem to work fine for me. They are L.R. Baggs something-or-other (sorry, can't remember what model of pickup). It goes under the saddle and there is a 9v battery in a pouch inside the guitar.

I, more recently, acquired two Emerald guitars (X20 and X20-7) from David here on the forums and neither has a pickup in it. I may want to look into getting something for these at some point, so will be watching this thread for clues. If I do decide to do that, I would want the pickup to be the least invasive install possible.

Tony