my es go pickup doesn't pickup my bottom e string

[09dewaed]

Hey guys, first post!!

Thank you for hosting this forum. I have a GS mini that I added an ES Go pickup to. Long story short the pickup doesn't gather much sound from the bottom e and a strings. The remainder of the strings play well. I am not claiming that the pickup is not working correctly, but rather that it is not doing what I want it to do. I like being able to slap the bottom e string and drum with my palm off of the body of the guitar (Ed Sheeran style).

What type of pickup and or other equipment do I need to pickup the guitar body drum as well as Lower frequency strings? Would the gs mini E perform better?

thanks from the new guy!

ed

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by 09dewaed

Hey guys, first post!!
What type of pickup and or other equipment do I need to pickup the guitar body drum as well as Lower frequency strings?

You have a magnetic pickup, which picks up strings only, like an electric guitar. They will not pickup any kind of body percussion, for which you need either a soundboard transducer (eg K&K, Dimarzio Black Angel Piezo..) or an internal mic.

Note you can get a magnetic with a mic included as an additional source eg Fishman Rare Earth, or the Seymour Duncan Magmic.

Why your current pickup is not working well with the 6th and 5th I can't say, unless maybe the guitar setup is poor?

[09dewaed]

can I run my es go and tie in a K&K (or any other device that will register body percussion)?

[JonnyBGood]

It depends what you mean by 'tie in', but yes, you can have as many pickups as you like in a guitar, the issue is blending and mixing them.

You could have the K&K fitted separately (with a new jack hole drilled) which would allow you to control both sources independently, or you could wire the ES-Go in stereo to the K&K jack. You would then need a TRS cable to split the sources and to enable you to blend/mix them separately with an external preamp or mixer.

However, you wouldn't want to do any of that until you have solved your problem with the pick up not picking up the lower strings, so I'd investigate that first - take it to a good guitar tech for an opinion.

BTW if you had bought a K&K instead of the ES-Go that would have done everything you want, so another option might be to return/sell the ES-Go and just get a K&K fitted.

There are lots of ways to do this, it kind of depends on your budget and your goals.

[The Growler]

No offense intended, but have you double checked to make sure that the ES-Go is installed correctly and properly seated below the lower strings? This might be a little off and why you have a weak pickup.

[09dewaed]

thanks for the responses! I misspoke regarding the es go and the E/A strings. It does pickup those strings, just not to the same degree as the higher strings. The way to resolve this is to turn the amp gain up.

Lets say I remove the es go and replace it with the K&K. Do I want the Pure Mini?

Again, my goal is to pickup both strings and body percussion.

[The Growler]

Have you looked at the LR Baggs Lyric?

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by 09dewaed

Lets say I remove the es go and replace it with the K&K. Do I want the Pure Mini? Again, my goal is to pickup both strings and body percussion.

Yes the pure mini or any SBT will do that, I have one installed for the same reason. It needs to be glued in (i.e permanently fitted) for best results, I wouldn't advise attempting this yourself.

There are many other options for SBT pickups that work on the same principle as the K&K (eg JJB, Dazzo, PUTW, Black Angel Piezo..), some cheaper, and also other types of pickups (microphone type) like the Baggs mentioned above that will also do what you want.

If you search through the archives here you will find tons of info to help you make an informed decision, including Doug Young's pick up test webpage.