Side-mount or not?

[wenmiester]

Hey gang,

First, great forum! I'm learning a lot here just by reading.

I just acquired a new guitar (custom OM-50 Larrivee). Very excited about playing it but need to figure out what I'm going to do about the pickup (it currently doesn't have one). I'm a worship director at a church, so I plug-in and play regularly for several hours each week.

While I would like to avoid cutting into the guitar and side-mounting a pre-amp, I also really appreciate the convenience of that and, also important, quick and easy access to the battery. When a battery goes out, which is often in the middle of a service, I need quick and easy access to change it.

So I'd like to avoid side-mounting, but do any active sound hole options provide both 1) great blend sound w/ internal mic that compares to an onboard preamp and 2) quick and easy access to the battery (ie, without taking strings off, etc.). Finding #1 seems easy, but so far I can't find #1 and #2 together.

So while I'd like to maintain the aesthetics of my guitar, I'm a (half-time) music professional and I need reliable sound (and power) above everything else. If I can get that in a sound-hole format, that would be great.

Any ideas? I would also like to avoid outboard power if possible, as that requires bringing "one more thing" to any gig.

thanks!

[SpruceTop]

You could consider the Shadow DoublePlay system that consists of the NanoFlex and NanoMag pickups with a soundhole-mounted preamp with battery access. This is pretty much the same system that Epiphone installs in their DR-500MCE guitars except theirs is the side-of-the-guitar preamp system.

http://us.shadow-electronics.com/pro...nic_doubleplay

soundhole fitted preamp with phase invert switch, volume, blend & tone control
easy installation
easy battery access (2 x 3V batteries)
incl. active Nanoflex pickup
incl. NanoMAG fingerboard pickup
incl. endpin connection
extremely light system
Battery life: 180 h

[wenmiester]

Thanks SpruceTop, very helpful!

[pieterh]

There are neat sound hole dual source options - Fishman for example. Other options would be an external preamp you could have with you on the guitar strap for example. Very few on board preamps (if any) are going to give you the control that an external floor unit will give you. My preamp is a Tonebone Pz-pre but there are other options that would do fine as well.

You could also go completely passive and install a K&K Pure Mini (which would be my chose). That way you know you will have great tone whatever happens - and with the money saved get a Radial Stage Bug to go in the case so that you know you will be giving a sound tech a good balanced signal. And if dual source is what you want in the future you can add an internal mic at a later date and wire it to the end-pin jack which is prewired for two sources.

[Uncle Pauhana]

You asked specifically about active solutions. And although I apologize for not having any solutions for you in that regard, I also was wondering if you had considered passive options?
The K&K Pure Mini, as pieterh pointed out, is very popular as the basis for a dual-source set-up. (I use the K&K by itself with excellent results.) The external preamp world offers possibilities that exceed those of side-mounts. And frankly, the idea of you getting a hole chopped in the side of your new custom Larivee makes me sad.

[Br1ck]

With all the LED battery condition checkers, there is no reason to run out of power. I'm constantly amazed that many Taylor owners don't know this exists easily visible from the sound hole.

Misi has a system that charges a capacitor in minutes, too. No battery at all.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by wenmiester

…Any ideas? I would also like to avoid outboard power if possible, as that requires bringing "one more thing" to any gig.

Hi wenmiester

I must say that 'one-more-thing' I bring to any gig (my two channel preamp/blender) is not only part of owning a dual source system, but explains why my guitar is the best sounding guitar in the house.

The techs at our church really appreciate my external preamps when it comes to interfacing with their system, and when necessary to a stage amp (simultaneously). It allows a player to control a stage amp separately from their house system.

Our main worship leader uses a K&K equipped guitar through a Baggs Venue preamp, and it works great. Before that he used a ParaDI and one of my UltraSound preamps at the practice facility. They all sounded great, and provided all the tone/volume options necessary. The Baggs brought the sweepable mids, and a mute button.

If you are hooking up to a house PA system, then you are likely using a Direct Box/Interface, which the external preamp merely replaces. Perhaps your church supplies that, so it could well involve you carrying an additional piece of gear. In my case I'd call it a very important and non-intrusive addition.

A preamp like the Fishman Platinum Stage is small (90% size of a ParaDI)…about the size of our church's stage direct boxes. It fits in my pick drawer.

The Fishman Platinum Stage brings 3 way tone (sweepable mids) input/output volume, phase, auto-ground lift, Low cut (selectable freq), phantom power from the mixer (eliminating battery changes), Boost (adjustable), post/pre out from the XLR to the mix…for $120.

Using external preamps for me brought individual volume/tone controls over each element of the pickup rig. Most Direct Box capable external preamps (except the RedEye) allow much more control over the signal/tone and output.

Just some off-the-top-o-my-head thoughts as I read your post.

[myersbw]

I see you have two points to fulfill. The first being the easiest for you. So, if you do find something that meets #1 AND uses a 9V battery...this solution doesn't avoid a hole, but does minimize it and you can put it in the most inconspicuous place of your choice...

https://jet.com/product/detail/df3d4...FQtFaQoddHEFxg

(or something similar...but, the footprint is small.) If you don't want to cut/splice wires, you can use a 9V battery lead assembly...mate it to the original internal connection and route that to the jack box. Just keep in mind polarity and lead color reversals. This should preserve the original unit and it's warranty. Some mount this style box close to the end pin, but avoid cutting into the tail block.

And, search...you may find it cheaper elsewhere...I just posted the first result for size reference.

[wenmiester]

thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice. this has been very helpful. I've moved on to some follow-up questions, which, though they've been answered elsewhere in some form or fashion, I still would appreciate direct feedback.

After doing more research and looking over external pre-amp options, I'm now less concerned about a dual-source and the active/passive issue, and now more concerned about tone.

I'd like to address my playing style and setup. So I lead worship every sunday morning. It's a typical medium-sized sanctuary with a soft-to-medium volume level. I want to keep an eye out for feedback, but I don't imagine it being a problem with our volume levels. I'm mostly strumming, palm-muting, and doing a bit of flat-picking here and there within an ensemble/band setting. So more emphasis on rhythm/percussive elements and less emphasis on finger-picking.

My other RW larrivee has a Baggs iMix system that I keep dialed all the way on the iBeam. I've come to really enjoy the iBeam tone and have never had feedback issues with it (which shows what volume levels I'm normally working in). So that's the baseline tone I'm looking to achieve in the new larrivee (if not better).

-So should I just get an iBeam? If so, can I go passive, or should I just stick to active? I will likely be buying a fishman platinum analog EQ, or baggs venue, etc.
-Or should I consider the K&K mini or Baggs Lyric? The real question here would be how do those pickups deal with rhythmic/percussive strumming in an ensemble/band setting?

thanks for the help!

[wenmiester]

thanks everyone for the advice. i ended up going with the K&K mini. will likely pick up the red-eye or one of the other recommended preamps around here. we'll give it a shot and see how it does.

[cotten]

Good choice. If the volume level on stage gets high enough, it can be prone to feedback, but this can often be addressed by simply redirecting your monitors a bit. I've not experienced that issue, but have known others who have. With the right preamp, I think you'll be very happy!

cotten