Seeking recommendations — pickup for X20

[BlueStarfish]

Hello wise ones,

Am seeking recommendations on a pickup for an Emerald X20. I’ve had four different pickups in my X20 so far, rotating through my collection, and not been fully happy with any of them. I like my X20 unamplified, it sounds good and has fantastic playability and comfort. So very frustrated that I haven’t been able to find a good sounding pickup yet.

Am particularly interested in responses from players that ...

... actually own and use an X20 (as I am finding that the carbon guitars seem to interact with pickups differently than wood ones) ...

... and play primarily or entirely with a flatpick (I think amplifying for flatpicking is a completely different game from amplifying for fingers ... just about any pickup can sound good for fingerstyle but very few sound good played with a pick)

... and are playing at lower volumes and seeking a more “natural” tone.

Here are the pickups I’ve tried so far:

1. Baggs Element VTC. This is what came stock in the guitar. Quacky with a flatpick. Plus has that overhyped bass and caffeinated piezo tone. Took it out pretty quickly.

2. Schatten HFN active. The basic tone is generally better with this pickup than the Element; much more natural sounding. However the trebles are off the charts hot. I had to roll the tone wheel on the pick-up all the way to 0%, and even then it’s still a bit shrill (though I can pull the trebles down further with a floor pedal). Most fatally, the string balance is off, strings #1 and #2 are twice as loud as the others. I experimented with multiple mounting positions and even tried mounting the Schatten with no adhesive on the plastic foot closest to the first two strings, but still can’t get a good balance.

3. Baggs Lyric. Doesn’t have the string balance issue that the Schatten has. But has even more of the “too shrill” problem. And then when I dial out the harsh trebles with a floor pedal, it doesn’t sound good or natural at all.

4. Seymour Duncan Wavelength. This is what I have in at the moment. It’s better than the Baggs Element, because it’s less quacky. But it still has that unnatural over-hyped and caffeinated piezo sound.

In my wood guitars, my two favorite pickups are the Baggs Lyric and Schatten HFN. I am able to get really great tone and string balance with those. But somehow the carbon reacts differently and they are not working well.

I also own a ToneDexter and have spent a lot of time trying to get that to work but have given up on it for now (including for my wood guitars) as I have found it very finicky and challenging to get dialed in for a good tone, especially if I turn the volume up. I’m currently using a Boss AD10 instead (and it sounds great on all of my wood guitars so ideally looking to keep that as my floor pedal).

Also not interested in anything that requires superglue to install (so no K&K recommendations!) But batteries are fine, I don’t mind those.

With all of those comments and parameters ... anybody have a recommendation for a pickup that has worked well for flatpicking an X20? Or at least, recommendations for pickups to avoid?

Thanks!

[douglasfan1]

Did you make the goove for sensor of Seymour Duncan wavelength pickup?

[BlueStarfish]

Hi Douglasfan1,

I'm not sure precisely what you mean by "groove." My saddle was already set up and drilled at the Emerald factory with a 45 degree access slot to accommodate the Element pickup. The Wavelength actually uses the same pickup sensor so it went in perfectly into the saddle without modification (including room for "a little extra" space at the treble end). I am getting a good string balance on the Wavelength which would be the tell if there wasn't enough room on the treble end. I turned the treble and bass boost pots on the pickup down to zero as well (as it didn't seem needed on this particular guitar).

Can you expand on your comment so I can be sure I'm not missing another "secret pro tip" step?

[douglasfan1]

I thought it's like Highlander IP pickup, need to make a groove for the sensor to hide in under the saddle. However, I checked with Seymour Duncan and no such information. Many people said that the sensor is similar to L.R.Baggs so there is no need for the groove. Or maybe I mix up with another UST pickup.

[guitarwebguy]

Well ... even though the OP mentioned no K&K, I’ll add my comments just to add to the mix of information. I have an X20-12 that I flatpick and it has a K&K Power Duo pickup system installed, and it gives me everything I need. I EQ’d the Power Duo when I got the guitar and have not touched it since. Sometimes, I’ll apply external EQ depending on the space my group is playing in or the amp/sound system that I am playing through.

[zeeway]

I went down the same rabbit hole, trying different pickups and preamps for my X20. I think the top of an X20 is so responsive, it is a special challenge to find a pickup that works well. I currently have an HFN passive pickup (which I wasn't crazy about, by itself)...and a Tonedexter. Have you updated the software for the Tonedexter (new version is much smarter in surpressing feedback)? And have you used a small diaphram condenser mike in training the Tonedexter?

[Goodallboy]

I've owned a LOT of acoustic guitar pickups.

None is better in my X30 than the K&K Mini that was in it when I bought it.

[douglasfan1]

How's K&K Mini enter PA without preamp sound? I'm interested in getting one too [emoji16]

[Danz567]

I’m wondering if anyone has put a K&K Ultrapure Classic System in a X20 and their thoughts.

[BlueStarfish]

Hi all,

Thanks for the kind replies. I’m glad I am not the only one struggling to find the right pickup for an X20.

I wanted to share one promising update. After making the original post, I remembered that I had one additional pickup in my collection which I had not yet tried in my X20 — which is a Seymour Duncan Wavelength Duo (the dual-source version of the Wavelength). I had taken a Duo out of another guitar a few month ago, because I couldn’t get a great tone from that other guitar with that pickup (and had put the Schatten HFN that had previously been in my X20 into it, which is working great). Anyways, at the time I did not think of trying the Wavelength Duo into my X20 because Duo has a physical design that is a little awkward with the offset soundhole of the X20. It has the condenser mic and pickup controls attached to a crescent-shaped piece of plastic circuit board which is mean to fit around a soundhole. To get the mic placement right, it really needs to be mounted right where a standard soundhole “would” be which means the controls would be well down inside the X20’s offset soundhole. So I had assumed it was not a candidate, put it into a drawer awaiting a future purchase of another wood guitar, and forgotten about it.

After making the original post, I remembered it and said to myself “there’s no downside, let’s try it out the Duo.” So I put it into the X20, with the mic / control plate lightly taped to the soundboard with some masking tape instead of permanently installed just to have a listen. That is ... I stuck the Duo inside the X20, with a placement right where it would go in a standard guitar, as if there was a center soundhole. And it sounds great!

Here’s why, I think:

- The UST is the same as the regular wavelength — so little to no quack
- The Duo also has a volume control which lets me back off the gain on the pickup and get rid of a lot of that over-caffeinated piezo sound. I have plenty of gain left on my amp so I just turned it up there instead. The plain Wavelength doesn’t come stock with a volume control.
- And of course the Duo also has the condenser mic. Because the X20 is so lively I couldn’t turn it up all the way without getting feedback. But just a little seems to be a huge help, even 20-30%.

Put it all together and I am able to get a “pretty darn good” tone from the Wavelength Duo. It’s not the mythical “my guitar but louder,” but it definitely sounds good and I’m satisfied for now.

With the pickup controls — yes I have to reach my left thumb about 3 inches into the soundhole to reach the knobs. But it’s doable for sure. (At least for me, I have long fingers).

So bottom line, if somebody is stuck on matching an X20 to a pickup, this is one I can say is working for me even though one would not think it to be a good candidate based on the physical design.

(And thanks to all those endorsing the well loved K&K, I know that pickup has many strong fans ... but no crazy glue for my guitar please!)

[dadio917]

Not sure how it compares with X20 but i put a K&K mini in mine RS Parlor and it sounds really great with or without my K&K Pure XLR preamp.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by dadio917

Not sure how it compares with X20 but i put a K&K mini in mine RS Parlor and it sounds really great with or without my K&K Pure XLR preamp.

I put a K&K Pure mini in a Shorty and also had great sound, but I did prefer to run it through a preamp- of which the RedEye was the best sound to my ear.

[Goodallboy]

I use a Baggs preamp with my K&K Mini.

The combination of that monster X30 and that pickup is a thing of beauty.