Replacing a Sonotone

[lowrider]

Almost a year ago I removed the Sonotone pickup from my Martin Road Series. Now I want to be able to plug in.

My choices for a new pickup right now are JBB, K&K, or Schatten HFN.

My biggest question is; should I try to wire one of them into the Sonotone pre-amp or should I just forget about the Sonotone and put the endpin jack into the now empty battery box and be done with it.

It seems easiest to just put in a passive unit and I don't know anything about pickups, amps, or pre-amps. But I did wire my own house when I built it so I'm not afraid to try.

So what do you think? Give me your advice, I'll take all I can get.

[jonfields45]

The HFN has the lowest output of the three you are considering and others have successfully connected it to a Sonotone preamp. It is also has a single relatively easy to work with thinner coax wire to solder. I use passive HFNs and have no problems direct plugging to a "guitar" amp/mixer input.

For K&K and JJB I would remove all Sonotone vestiges as it will be a hassle to wire and might overdrive the preamp (and one of the nice things about those two choices is a strong no-battery signal that can drive just about any high impedance input).

Without a preamp, none of your choices will drive a mixer line or mic input.

[lowrider]

Someone here mentioned that they removed the wire from the Sonotone pre-amp and soldered the Schatten in it's place. Can you just solder the wires together?

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Someone here mentioned that they removed the wire from the Sonotone pre-amp and soldered the Schatten in it's place. Can you just solder the wires together?

You would cut off the HFN output jack. Then cut off the Sonitone pickup (the wire braided part) from the black wire coming out of the Sonitone preamp. Then you would splice the two together (the HFN wire to the black preamp wire).

[lowrider]

Thanks, is the Sonotone pre-amp any good? It's already out of the guitar, so is it worth putting it back or should I just move on from it?

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Thanks, is the Sonotone pre-amp any good? It's already out of the guitar, so is it worth putting it back or should I just move on from it?

My prejudice would be to discard the Sonitone and go passive. No internal preamp will match what you could do with a ToneDexter (or any external pedal for EQ and volume control will be far more versatile).

For a small upcharge you can buy the active HFN if you want a preamp for direct plug and play into a mixer mic or line input.

[RedJoker]

I removed the sonitone from my road series and replaced it with a JJB. I pulled the battery box out and made a plate to replace it so the passive jack is in the same place.

[GuitarLuva]

I was one of the individuals who tested the HFN with the Sonitone preamp and it does work fine. It really comes down to what you want. The majority of people here seem to prefer passive pickups, myself included, no messing around with batteries and less clutter inside your guitar. I don't need to EQ the HFN so I prefer to keep everything minimal. Keep an external preamp on hand just in case you don't know what you're plugging into. I almost always plug into my Fishman loudbox artist amp without a preamp.

Since you removed it already I would personally keep it that way and get a passive HFN.

[lowrider]

OK, I'm going with the Schatten HFN and installing it passive. If I need a pre-amp later, I'll get one.

[GuitarLuva]

For a preamp the Behringer ADI21 works great and at $30 is a real bargain.

[JackB1]

I replaced the pickup in my Martin Road Series with a Baggs Anthem.
Was able to use the existing battery compartment and guitar jack.

[lowrider]

Thanks for the tips. I'll be leaving the battery box empty and installing the HFN output jack in the place of the Sonotone jack

And the Behringer pre-amp does look like a bargain!