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  #31  
Old 05-23-2022, 05:00 PM
Rick Jones Rick Jones is offline
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Originally Posted by Al Acuff View Post
During my decades of gigging in rowdy So Cal beach bars I used a Sunrise pickup with a Tube DI. When you get a 12AX7 vacuum tube and a Jensen transformer in the signal path you'll hear what the Sunrise pickup can do.

Lyle Lovette uses the Sunrise/Tube DI combination. Richard Thompson has a Sunrise vacuum tube preamp. So I'm not alone in preferring the Sunrise through vacuum tubes. Kaufmann used to sell a tube preamp to go with the Sunrise. It may still be available.

During the Sally Rose Tour I saw Emmylou Harris playing her Sunrise through a mid-sixties blackface Fender Twin Reverb which was miked. It worked great! In bars I've used a Sunrise through a blackface Fender Vibroverb with a 15 inch JBL. You can rock a bar with that sound!

My guitar tech recently talked me into trying an Anthem SL system in my Waterloo guitar. Another friend gave me a Session DI. Together they make another excellent pickup and preamp combination. Not as feedback resistant as a Sunrise though.
A good FET, with lots of headroom is, I'm finding, a great substitute for tubes. I was running a groove tubes brick, I've used the little Sunrise buffer, I had a Sarno black box and they are all amazing, but I got less hiss and I didn't hear anything at all missing when I take it through the new Orange acoustic pedal (an 18v single-ended class A FET). It's as good as silent even with the treble all the way up, whereas the others all had some noise floor. It was the cheapest of the bunch, too.

I've tested them through the local Opera House system, a huge, full-range flown speaker array with bass bins under the stage and a Neve desk. Thanks to volunteering and helping out lug set stuff around with the local youth theatre, I got an afternoon to play with three of my guitars and my preamps and DI's in any empty venue with the sound guy who does the orchestras, back in early 2020. It was fun being that loud and clean! When I kicked the Boss OC5 octave pedal on in polyphonic mode, it was insane!

In that situation, the Sunrise was BY FAR the best-sounding pickup. Through the Bose L1 I use in small venues, it's not as dramatic a difference, but I still prefer it.
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  #32  
Old 05-23-2022, 05:45 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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I never did get to try a DP139 or even see one in the flesh though...
I just took this picture for you, it's one of my DP139s, and I'm testing it in this Webber Roundbody, and frankly, it sounds great. As good as I remember. It is quite a clunky looking thing though


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  #33  
Old 05-23-2022, 05:54 PM
Rick Jones Rick Jones is offline
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Originally Posted by rockabilly69 View Post
I just took this picture for you, it's one of my DP139s, and I'm testing it in this Webber Roundbody, and frankly, it sounds great. As good as I remember. It is quite a clunky looking thing though


Oh wow, I've honestly never seen one before. It looks like you'd not want a permanent install, but seems like it's no bother to get in and out. Tbh, sound would come over looks for me, and from what you've said I trust that it's a nice sounding magnetic
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  #34  
Old 05-23-2022, 06:26 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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Originally Posted by Snorse View Post
Oh wow, I've honestly never seen one before. It looks like you'd not want a permanent install, but seems like it's no bother to get in and out. Tbh, sound would come over looks for me, and from what you've said I trust that it's a nice sounding magnetic
Frankly I don't know whether I like the Sunrise or the DP139 better. The Sunrise has a little body sensing going on, the DP139 has a sweeter magnetic tone. I think they are both good and my opinion can change with the day.

I keep one of Dp139s and the Sunrise for when 'm up at my studio. And speaking of the studio, I've plugged my Sunrise into so many preamps up there that I can't count. I have Neve, BAE, Manley, Sebatron, Universal Audio, etc, and the Sunrise sounds good through all of them. When I used it live, I used it with my Grace Alix preamp (I didn't own the Felix yet, so I never dual sourced it).

But neither the DP139 or the Sunrise sound as good as the SA6 in my Martin. As I said, I just think it's a good combination. I did two gigs with that guitar this last weekend, and I was just dumbstruck at how good it sounded. In my house I tested the combo with my Bose Pro 16, but at my gigs, the Martin was plugged into my Schertler JAM 200. I was most impressed by the tight low'end, and how much mic I could get into the mix, which before when I tried it in other guitars, it seemed to give me more feedback problems. I might have to add a soundboard transducer and see what that does, will the sickness never end

When I was looking for the DP139 in the house to take a picture of it for you I couldn't believe how many acoustic pickups I had in my parts drawer. DiMarzio Angels, LR Baggs M1 and M80, Fishman Naturals and Infinity Matrix, K&Ks, Schertler DYN-G. As I said... a sickness!!! I keep them around just for fun, and every now and then I will try them in a new guitar.

Funny thing, I was going to put a Trance Amulet system in the Martin, and was just using the SA6 to check for intonation on my Peterson Strobe tuner. I like checking the tuning and intonation with a pickup better then the built in mic as I feel it's easier to lock onto notes. When I was done, and satisfied with the tuning, I tried it through the Pro16, I'm sure glad I did!
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  #35  
Old 05-23-2022, 06:39 PM
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I'm generally very averse to piezo quackery and dislike UST's.

I've tried several different options and landed on a Fishman Rare Earth Blend which is a sound hole magnetic pickup and an internal microphone which you blend into a built-in pre-amp with a thumbwheel.

In my loud cover rock band I've never had any feedback issues and it sounds great. When I want more delicate acoustic nuances, I play quieter and increase the mic in the mix
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  #36  
Old 05-24-2022, 01:05 PM
SGFletch SGFletch is offline
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I picked up a Rare Earth Blend a little while back to try out. I think it sounds really good. Better than I expected. One thing I like about magnetic pickups is that they seem to get really good note separation. Add in a little of that mic for air and it is a nice sound. Probably better for fingerstyle than strumming - but I think strumming is where many pickups break down.

Additionally, the Rare Earth Blend seems to have minimal effect on the guitar's top (at least the Martin OM I tried it with). I had a Sunrise years ago. It was like attaching a brick to the top.
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  #37  
Old 05-30-2022, 06:10 AM
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I recently picked up a K&K Double helix. It is one of the more natural sounding mags I’ve tried. It still has a bit of the mag-electric sound, but it sounds amazing as a sound support source when combined with a mic. The mic has the air and natural acoustic sound and the mag adds girth and low end.
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  #38  
Old 05-30-2022, 06:12 AM
Rick Jones Rick Jones is offline
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Originally Posted by Mbroady View Post
I recently picked up a K&K Double helix. It is one of the more natural sounding mags I’ve tried. It still has a bit of the mag-electric sound, but it sounds amazing as a sound support source when combined with a mic. The mic has the air and natural acoustic sound and the mag adds girth and low end.
I've been curious about that system. Are you running it into a preamp? Do you have a preferred setting out of the two on the pickup?
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  #39  
Old 05-30-2022, 06:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Snorse View Post
I've been curious about that system. Are you running it into a preamp? Do you have a preferred setting out of the two on the pickup?

It’s actually part of a 3 source Frankenstein system. I have an older 3 channel onboard K&K preamp (no longer made) to which I connected a K&K mic, mag and a Schatten HFN SBT.

As a solo source I was was never a fan of a Mag pickup, but I loath UST’s more. But since I had the pre-amp.....


It was just installed in a D-35 and I’m still experimenting with the blend, but I find removing the low end from the mic and adding a bit of extra low end on the mag (and removing a bit of the high end) makes a nice combo...... without the SBD. For now, with more mic then mag it makes for a natural clear sound with a nice low end. No feed back issues yet, but I’m playing solo, so the volume stays moderate........I think a 2 channel preamp with the Double Helix mag and mic would sound great as long as you can adjust the eq for each source individually.

Truth be told, I’m not sure if this is the guitar the 3 source system will stay in, 2 would work great. But having the 3 sources makes it a very versatile system, and I think it would be useful in many applications once I get to know the nuances of the 3 sources.
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Last edited by Mbroady; 05-30-2022 at 07:02 AM.
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  #40  
Old 05-30-2022, 07:26 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
. my mag. A sunrise.
Works well everywhere i plug it in.
I think Sunrise were and still are one of the best mag pickups ever made
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