Howdy, Folks: Your Suggestion for Best Acoustic P/U less than $100

[Charmed Life Picks]

Hi, All. I'm not cheap, but I'm running very expensive Trance Amulet rigs in several guitars that I really love.

I recently purchased a gorgeous Blueridge 160A dread (Adi over Rosewood) and want to run a good sounding but relatively inexpensive rig in it. I bought it to play out in "questionable" open mics, etc., where I don't want to take my HD-28 or high-end Eastmans.

Thanks in advance for your insights and suggestions. Even after five years of membership and three as a Sponsor, I'm still amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this forum. The best on the Net, IMHO.

Thanks Again,
Scott

[jonfields45]

No one has said K&K Mini yet???

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

No one has said K&K Mini yet???

It's a wonder, isn't it? LOL

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hi, All. I'm not cheap, but I'm running very expensive Trance Amulet rigs in several guitars that I really love.

I recently purchased a gorgeous Blueridge 160A dread (Adi over Rosewood) and want to run a good sounding but relatively inexpensive rig in it. I bought it to play out in "questionable" open mics, etc., where I don't want to take my HD-28 or high-end Eastmans.

Thanks in advance for your insights and suggestions. Even after five years of membership and three as a Sponsor, I'm still amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this forum. The best on the Net, IMHO.

Thanks Again,
Scott

The Blueridge BR160A is a really good guitar so why would you want to go inexpensive on a pickup/preamp system for it? Maybe install another Trance M-VT system? You could install a K&K and then route it through an outboard EQ/preamp device but the Trance system already has an onboard preamp with Volume/Tone controls.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Oops, sorry, folks. I forgot to include the word PICKUP in the subject line on the OP. I've now gone in and corrected it. Yikes!

sm

[GuitarLuva]

Schatten HFN. Easy to install, cheap, and sounds way better than a k&k. As a matter of fact it sounds better than anything else that I tried.

[YamahaGuy]

The $10 one I got from Amazon. With an active DI it is pretty good. Today I finally tried it through my LR Baggs Para DI and it sounded extremely great!

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Schatten HFN. Easy to install, cheap, and sounds way better than a k&k. As a matter of fact it sounds better than anything else that I tried.

GL, you mentioned them before, in that other thread. Definitely sounds like exploring. Do you go into a preamp or anything before going into the amp? I play a lot of open mics that have quick change-overs between acts, and thus you go right into the PA.

Also, Luva, if I may ask, what guitar(s) are you currently playing with the Schatten rig installed?

Thanks Again,
Scott

[Petty1818]

I would try the Schatten HFN. I have had some string balance issues with mine but I feel that's a fairly isolated issue. It's cheap, easy to install and sounds great.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

GL, you mentioned them before, in that other thread. Definitely sounds like exploring. Do you go into a preamp or anything before going into the amp? I play a lot of open mics that have quick change-overs between acts, and thus you go right into the PA.

Also, Luva, if I may ask, what guitar(s) are you currently playing with the Schatten rig installed?
Ju
Thanks Again,
Scott

I currently have the Schatten HFN installed in an Emerald X30 carbon fiber guitar. It replaced an LR Baggs full anthem system that I couldn't fall in love with. I use it several different ways. If I'm playing in other rooms of the house or go to a friend's house I just plug straight into my fishman loudbox amp with no additional preamp. If I plug into my audio interface to record or just jam I use tonedexter as a preamp, though it's not needed. I use it mostly for the volume control where I have the passive version of the pickup. The thing is the pickup sounds so good on it's own that tonedexter wavemaps just make it sound different, but not necessarily better. Hope this helps.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I don't even have to eq it at all so for open mics it would be a good choice. Though I would probably want to have some type of external preamp if you were going straight into a mixer or you could spend a little extra and get the active version with 2000hrs battery life!

[The Kid!]

Schatten HFN passive version is definitely worth a try.

[MrErikJ]

K&K Pure Mini, JJB Prestige 330, Baggs LB6, Fishman Neo-D

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

I currently have the Schatten HFN installed in an Emerald X30 carbon fiber guitar. It replaced an LR Baggs full anthem system that I couldn't fall in love with. I use it several different ways. If I'm playing in other rooms of the house or go to a friend's house I just plug straight into my fishman loudbox amp with no additional preamp. If I plug into my audio interface to record or just jam I use tonedexter as a preamp, though it's not needed. I use it mostly for the volume control where I have the passive version of the pickup. The thing is the pickup sounds so good on it's own that tonedexter wavemaps just make it sound different, but not necessarily better. Hope this helps.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I don't even have to eq it at all so for open mics it would be a good choice. Though I would probably want to have some type of external preamp if you were going straight into a mixer or you could spend a little extra and get the active version with 2000hrs battery life!

Again, thanks for the tip. I'll definitely do some research on this. I tend to move slowly and deliberately. Love research!

thanks again,
scott

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Again, thanks for the tip. I'll definitely do some research on this. I tend to move slowly and deliberately. Love research!

thanks again,
scott

Haha yeah I hear ya! There's a few threads going on the Schatten HFN. I did a video for one of the threads comparing the Schatten to the Anthem SL. The guitars are apples and oranges different but at least you get to hear how the Schatten stands up to the mighty Anthem. Here's a link:

https://youtu.be/w2hjQgYsTsI

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by MrErikJ

K&K Pure Mini, JJB Prestige 330, Baggs LB6, Fishman Neo-D

The caveat being that the LB6 requires professional installation to shape the saddle and possibly enlarge the saddle slot (in the case of one of my guitars). There's also some soldering required.