Blend Three Sources?

[Sale80]

Right now I am using k&k pure mini and tonedexter. Internal mics (trinity) did not work for me because you can't krank them up without the feedback, and when you cover the hole, they sound weird. I have also installed baggs m80 and pure mini together. Now i have to ask my wife for some money to get me the new headway preamp to blend those 2 together.

[MrErikJ]

To piggy back off of Doug's comment, I saw David Wilcox a year or two ago and he sounded good but not "6 pickups worth" of good. He uses each pickup for a frequency range and, from low to high freqs, has a RMC UST, Sunrise Mag, McIntyre Feather, and a Joe Mills Mic. They run through two Pendulum SPS-1 Endpin Modules into a Bose mini-digital mixer. Like Doug said, the sound isn't bad, the juice just isn't worth the squeeze.

I find two sources EQ'd to their strengths or a single pickup through an IR is a more effective solution and has fewer phase issues.

You could also do like Jon Gomm, who uses a Fishman Rare Earth Blend (mag and mic) with a Fishman BP-100 (upright bass pickup), or different SBT of your choice, to get 3 sources out of two sources. Jon's the only person I've heard of using the BP-100 in a guitar so I bet a K&K or something comparable would work as well or better.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by MrErikJ

You could also do like Jon Gomm, who uses a Fishman Rare Earth Blend (mag and mic) with a Fishman BP-100 (upright bass pickup), or different SBT of your choice, to get 3 sources out of two sources. Jon's the only person I've heard of using the BP-100 in a guitar so I bet a K&K or something comparable would work as well or better.

I've done this with the Fishman Rare Earth Blend, and also the Duncan MagMic (an under-rated magnetic pickup), and it's a great way to get 3 sources out of 2. In both cases, I paired them with a K&K. You basically get the "Michael Hedges" mag+SBT sound with the added air of a mic. There may even be examples of this in my pickup test page, I forget.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by James May

That photo is a fake, it's been photoshopped. Not to fool people but rather to demonstrate what I mean when talking to plug and jack vendors. As far as I know, this doesn't yet exist. (Lest you wonder, my reason for pursuing a TRRS plug is not about triple source pickups. I'm interested in getting more info in and out of a guitar for other reasons.)

Another approach is to use a DIN connector like Trance uses in the original Amulet system. You get 5 wires that way, if I recall, and it fits in a standard end-pin hole. Actually kind of nice, since it locks in place at the guitar.

[ezellohar]

actually TRRS jack do exist, but in the 3.5mm size... I would not use them in a guitar since they would come off too easily.
But going on multiple signal I'd use XLR connectors, normal size you can easily go to 7 poles, and mini-XLR 4 poles connectors are easy to find (and I remember seeing also a 5 poles mini-XLR connector once).

As far as the OG question, I second most of what Doug and James said.
My main concern going into multiple sources is phase (a huge, often overlooked problem).
Also, going over the typical 2-sources setup, could be useful only in a rather limited situation, according to playing style (i.e. if you're mainly doing percussive sounds / tapping on the guitar, and so on) IMHO.

Also about Tommy and Pierre: as Doug said, I'm lucky enough to have heard them both a few times. The magic of their sound is in their hands, not their pickups