Soundhole pickup for small soundhole?

[SongwriterFan]

I'm looking at a Martin Terz (size 5) guitar, and it has a sound hole that's only 3-1/4" in diameter.

I was thinking of a passive soundhole pickup (like a Baggs or Fishman), but those appear to be too big to fit.

I did find this soundhole pickup that would probably fit, but it sounds very "electric" compared to a Baggs or Fishman to me.

https://lacemusic.com/collections/9/...emale-1-4-jack

I'd like to avoid batteries . . and I'd like to avoid the feedback issues that sometimes occur with the K&K. I suppose I could try the Ultratonic in it (these will both fit).

Any other options?

[keith.rogers]

Mojotone NC-1 is spec'd at Minimum Soundhole Diameter (83.8mm or 3.30”) . It *might* work. I don't think you'll find a smaller commercial [soundhole] pickup that's targeted at acoustic guitars, at least I couldn't find one.

[steelvibe]

They have the new NC- Passive now too. Not sure if it would fit but sure sounds good.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gMg2dHISbX0&feature=share

[shufflebeat]

The Taylor bt2 has a soundhole of 3½” or just under 9cm. I managed to fit a Baggs m1a but only after some "adapting" of the Baggs.

The Baggs is not one of the bigger s/h pickups so it seems clear that manufacturers are not feeling the need to accommodate very small s/h's

I have an old mandolin mag made by Vanden, who designed what went on to become the Fishman Rare Earth series (if I remember correctly). The Vandel is basically a coil resin bonded into a case and worked beautifully for years before I put a K&K in (I bought a Tonedexter).

I also came across a tiny mag pickup in a session which looked like a modern Fishman but half-size. I didn't get to chat to the guy so only saw it across a packed room for 10mins, but something of the kind does exist.

[open-road-matt]

The DeArmond Tone Boss will fit in a small sound hole. I bought it to carry as a backup pickup for a Maton 808 which has a smaller than average sound hole and it fit in there easily without any modification or having to remove strings.

I only briefly tried it out and I thought it sounded decent, especially for the price. I'm not giving up my Sunrise or Blackstack for it but if you need a smaller pickup, this could be an option.

https://dearmondpickups.com/toneboss/

[SongwriterFan]

Thanks for all the info.

The DeArmond Tone Boss should definitely fit: it should work with a sound hole size of a minimum of 77mm, based on the drawing I saw.

The Mojotone *might* work . . it lists a minimum sound hole size of 83.8mm. I measured the actual guitar's sound hole size today at 81.6mm . . . so I suspect with a bit of "modification" it can be made to work.

I ended up ordering both. For the Mojotone, I could their new NC-2 version, which combines an actual microphone for blending in a bit of mic. Probably shouldn't have done that, since I don't care for a lot of highs, and it appears that the mic is designed for highs . . but, I can always dial that back to zero if I need to, I guess.

Since the batteries last a LONG time (300 hrs) and since they're much easier to get to than a 9V buried inside a guitar (at least that appears to be the case), I didn't get the new passive version of the Mojotone.

I guess the only potential "issue" is that the pickup will have to sit right in the middle of the sound hole, rather than where they typically end up (much closer to the fretboard). Whether that becomes an issue or not, I don't know.

Thanks again!

[BluesKing777]

You would think after all these years of selling M1, M80 etc, etc, that a genius at Baggs would notice they do not fit OMs, a large slice of the population!

Then they could bring out the small soundhole version! Shucks.

No help with the Martin Terz, sorry, but for other people with pickups that won’t fit.....the Fishman Rare Earth fits 3 5/8” or 92mm.....one of the few to fit my old Martin 0-17.....and all OMs....

BluesKing777.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

You would think after all these years of selling M1, M80 etc, etc, that a genius at Baggs would notice they do not fit OMs, a large slice of the population!

How sure are you about that?

I always thought that my friend's Martin Eric Clapton Signature Model (an OM-sized guitar) had a Baggs soundhole pickup in it.

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

How sure are you about that?

I always thought that my friend's Martin Eric Clapton Signature Model (an OM-sized guitar) had a Baggs soundhole pickup in it.

He might have filed a bit off the pickup - a lot of people do that.

I measured my EC and it was 97mm, about 3.8 something inches.

Just about every Gibson I have owned, large or small has 4”.

The rest are all over the shop.


BluesKing777.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

He might have filed a bit off the pickup - a lot of people do that.

I wish I could ask her . . but she's been gone for over three years now.

She had another pickup in there, too (I could see the volume control, and it appeared to also be a Baggs of some kind).

I never really knew what she was using (except one time, when she left her tuner/mute pedal at home, I could see her fiddling with the volume knob on the sound hole pickup, so I knew she was using it that time.

She bought that guitar from Greg Bennet (the guy who owned Franklin Straps and the Glider Capo), who unfortunately left us a few years ago, too. The only reason I know that is that I commented once on her strap, and she said she got it when she bought the guitar from Mr. Bennett . . he let her pick out any strap they had in the factory. And he gave her a glider capo and told her to never use another capo with it.

The strap you see in that photo appears to be the one I bought her to replace the one she got from him (she lost it in Nashville somewhere . . . I had to replace it with a brown version, as the natural was no longer in stock), and she's also using a different capo in that picture (she lost the glider capo somewhere, too, and I replaced that for her).

I just now noticed how centered that pickup is in the sound hole . . . indicating that the pickup is just barely small enough to fit (otherwise it would be mounted much closer to the fretboard).

Here's a video I took of of her playing that guitar with her original strap and the glider capo. The song is her most well-known . . one she wrote to her three-year-old daughter. I didn't notice until after she was gone how she palmed her pick for most of this song, only pulling it out for a few strums in the chorus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6EaBSMn5UY

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by open-road-matt

The DeArmond Tone Boss will fit in a small sound hole.

Just got that pickup (Amazon one-day delivery is amazing . . . I'll have to wait until Friday for the Mojotone pickup I ordered from Sweetwater).

Installed it in a 1937 Martin O-17 of mine. A bit larger soundhole, and the pickup fits OK (fits up near the fretboard, so it should work on a smaller soundhole, too). Works fine on the treble strings, but can't get anything out of the three bass strings . . . probably because they're "John Pearse Fingerpicking Strings" by Thomastik Infeld, which are a hybrid between steel and nylon . . . so I suspect there's not much steel (if any) in the bass strings.

I'll get the Martin Style 5 (Terz) guitar tomorrow, and can try this pickup out while I wait for the one from Mojotone.

[SongwriterFan]

I bought the guitar today, and had them install the Tone Bass by DeArmond.

It BARELY fit in there. Had to remove one of the side pieces that clamps from below during the install. Not sure how the tech made it work (must've used some bent needle-nose pliers or something to hold it.

It sounds amazingly good. They had a used BodyRez pedal which made it sound even better, so I bought that to try out.

I took it home, and my Baggs Session pedal sounded as good (probably better), and it also can add a lot of GAIN, so I think I'm gonna prefer that. I might even get a Session DI to use.

The MojoTone NC-2 was supposed to arrive yesterday, but with the icy conditions here in the DFW area, it's been delayed. Maybe I'll get it on Friday or Monday . . who knows?

Not sure I'm gonna bother to try it out in this guitar or not . . but I might put it into another guitar (on a temporary basis at first) just to see if I prefer it.

[SongwriterFan]

Here's the guitar (being played acoustically)

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=664581

[jricc]

Cool that the Tone Boss worked for you Songwriter. I had one for awhile and it was a good sounding mag. I remember it did need a pre.
Let us know how you like the Mojotone.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

I'm looking at a Martin Terz (size 5) guitar, and it has a sound hole that's only 3-1/4" in diameter.

I was thinking of a passive soundhole pickup (like a Baggs or Fishman), but those appear to be too big to fit.

I did find this soundhole pickup that would probably fit, but it sounds very "electric" compared to a Baggs or Fishman to me.

https://lacemusic.com/collections/9/...emale-1-4-jack

I'd like to avoid batteries . . and I'd like to avoid the feedback issues that sometimes occur with the K&K. I suppose I could try the Ultratonic in it (these will both fit).

Any other options?

I recently purchased another California Lace to re-live the experience of having a mag pickup which doesn’t have pole pieces to tear up my fingernails and doesn’t talk back to me when I strike it with a pick or a nail.

It’s possible that I may even find a way to make it sound pretty decent this time around. 🙄 (Hope springs eternal.)

Interestingly, we have a fingerstyle player in our area who can do wonders with this pickup in an old 000 sized ‘50s Gibson. I never needed to do any special processing for him. Just a Fishman preamp EQed flat. I suppose it was just another case of the player’s skill transcending the gear.