Would you buy a high-end instrument with a barn door pickup system?

[M Hayden]

If it sounds ok & works well, fine. I have a couple of such instruments and they’re convenient when plugged in. I love having the controls right at my fingertips.

[Captain Jim]

Yes, I would. I have an Emerald with a B-Band pickup, and it is one of my favorites. I don't collect guitars, I play guitars. I have a variety of OEM pickups in my guitars and appreciate what each brings. But, that B-Band is still my favorite, other than the Level 2 pickups in my Emerald X10 (individual piezo pickups and a Krivo humbucking pickup on the top) - some purists would be horrified, I really appreciate the great sounds I get from that set up.

[alohachris]

Aloha,

Never! Barndoors devalue the instrument. I can do much better than ANY manufacturer in putting together a complementary live signal chain w/ the room control I need. Without marring the guitar. Ever heard of the SPS-1?

Barndoors are ugly, against the natural esthetic's & curve of an acoustic guitar. If you want all those onboard electronics & switches - then go play an electric! Spare acoustic guitars your ridiculous obsessions fiddling with your controls throughout your set.

You can't change out the electronics either without leaving a hole in the side of your guitar - bad for your guitar. And how many Taylor players have upgraded their 'from-the-beginning' poor onboard systems & left those tell-tale holes in the upper bout, even with plugs available. Ugly!

High-end acoustic guitars should NEVER have electronic holes carved into them, except maybe an endpin & there are options there. EVER!

As a former luthier, it's offensive & unacceptable to me to have a barn door. You can do MUCH better.

alohachris

[Roccorobb]

Originally Posted by alohachris

Aloha,

Never! Barndoors devalue the instrument. I can do much better than ANY manufacturer in putting together a complementary live signal chain w/ the room control I need. Without marring the guitar. Ever heard of the SPS-1?

Barndoors are ugly, against the natural esthetic's & curve of an acoustic guitar. If you want all those onboard electronics & switches - then go play an electric! Spare acoustic guitars your ridiculous obsessions fiddling with your controls throughout your set.

You can't change out the electronics either without leaving a hole in the side of your guitar - bad for your guitar. And how many Taylor players have upgraded their 'from-the-beginning' poor onboard systems & left those tell-tale holes in the upper bout, even with plugs available. Ugly!

High-end acoustic guitars should NEVER have electronic holes carved into them, except maybe an endpin & there are options there. EVER!

As a former luthier, it's offensive & unacceptable to me to have a barn door. You can do MUCH better.

alohachris

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

[emoji38]

[BluesKing777]

If you actually want to play everywhere, (and if that ever happens in this world again) - you buy the best you can afford that will hold together without carrying too much junk around to keep it working.

I had ...xx....guitar with ....xx....pickup plus ...xx.....preamp...plus....xxx...EQ...plus ....xxx...DI (names withheld to avoid argumentation) and of course, I got a buzz/rattle sound which after hours of swapping and mucking about seems to be the new pickup playing up.

So for a bit of fun and a double check, I grabbed the black Maton 808 and plugged it through all the stuff. All the gadgets are fine then. So I turned them all off and unplugged and played my Maton direct through the Boss VE8 for some reverb/delay and to my mixer...sensational! Don't need the junk. What a fabulous pickup system! Way, way, way louder than ...xx....pickup too!

EDIT: No good ordering a Maton - the factory has been closed due to the Covid rules for most of this year. One shop I know has 3 (budget) Matons left out of about 60 they had in stock for sale online and the other shop I look at has...none. Zip. (Absolutely no affiliation from me with anything - just giving credit where credit is due, my opinion - I am sure they make their share of shockers too).

BluesKing777.

[rockabilly69]

My favorite stage guitar to date. It wasn't uber high end but still not cheap ($1700) and I had no problem installing my favorite B-Band system in it, which sounded great and worked even better with the barn door pre! Unfortunately Delta Airlines manhandled this guitar in baggage and broke the pickup in the process.

[Petty1818]

Off topic a bit but one thing I do find odd is the fact that guitar manufacturers like Martin, push the fact that their pickups don't impact the aesthetic of the guitar itself but then add an ugly battery compartment at the endpin jack. I am happy that Martin are starting to use Fishman systems with controls in the sound hole but wish they would either put the battery in the guitar or try a Misi rechargable approach. Actually, Fishman designed the Fluence system with a rechargable battery. It would be neat if they could somehow work this into a system. I find sound hole controls are all I usually need.

[Akousticplyr]

I know a professional gigging musician who had his Taylor ES system removed so he could put in a Fishman Prefix blender.

I've got one in my 1999 710 and the Prefix is fantastic for gigging with.

[M Hayden]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

I know a professional gigging musician who had his Taylor ES system removed so he could put in a Fishman Prefix blender.

I've got one in my 1999 710 and the Prefix is fantastic for gigging with.

Yup. I have instruments with Prefix Plus and Prefix Blender, and am looking for another ca early 2000s Martin-branded Blender as a backup (hint if anyone has one and wants to sell it - they’re hard to find used!). Both Prefix systems work great in every situation where I’ve used them, esp the blender.....the ability to use the mic for quiet shows and the pickup for louder stuff makes it super versatile.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Yes, I would. I have an Emerald with a B-Band pickup, and it is one of my favorites. I don't collect guitars, I play guitars. I have a variety of OEM pickups in my guitars and appreciate what each brings. But, that B-Band is still my favorite, other than the Level 2 pickups in my Emerald X10 (individual piezo pickups and a Krivo humbucking pickup on the top) - some purists would be horrified, I really appreciate the great sounds I get from that set up.

My first Emerald was an early X20 which had the pointy bridge backwards and the B-Band pickup system. I bought it used here on AGF just to try it out and while I liked the guitar well enough I didn't like the neck shape or scale so sold it. But I liked the B-Band barndoor pickup system which sounded pretty good. I liked that the B-Band had a very small footprint. More of 'pet' door than a 'barn' door! That's one of the things I like about the Cole Clark system is the small onboard control footprint.

Too bad B-Band is gone now. I had many Emerald customs after that one but none amplified as well as that B-Band which is a big reason why they all were eventually sold. I recently saw an Emerald custom woody with the Baggs Anthem Stage Pro which is a barn door so I might end up with another custom woody one day that would feature this pickup system. At least with the Emeralds, the barndoor systems don't look out of place as much as on a fine, high-end wood acoustic.

[Doranged]

Hell yes! No one but guitar nerds would even know about barn doors. Ease of use and no one sees it except the player and as a huge bonus you get a sound port!

[varmonter]

I think if it was my custom build I would
Not add a barn door. There is a plethora
Of great pups out there. All my tonal control
Is outboard gear anyway. That being said
I probably wouldn't let a barn door sway me from a purchase if I liked the axe and the pickup system sounded good.

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by DavidE

I don't get this prejudice against barn door electronics in high end guitars if they're factory original. To me, that's just snobbery.

Let's try another word,... aesthetics.

To the OP's question, only if that high end guitar blew me away sound wise AND price wise. Barndoor electronics always mean a piezo based system which is useless to me. And I don't gig high end guitars, I have a Waterloo WL-12 and a Martin 00-15 for that.

A high end guitar would be a home/recording guitar w/ a barn door would upset my sense of aesthetics. Which maybe I could get over w/ a fantastic sound and extremely good price.

There's always duct tape.

[KevWind]

For me a guitar is first and foremost a music creation "tool".....
For me aesthetics , which we all can appreciate, is not only (totally subjective) , but great aesthetics are simply a bonus feature , and not really a predefined list of exclusionary requirements.

Me personally if I like the guitar, it plays well, I like it's acoustic tone, and did want the option to plug in as well ?
I would not think twice about it . You can't hear aesthetics

I have one on my older Taylor 810 CE, and honestly I don't stare at the edge of the upper bout while playing

[stephenT]

Stating the obvious. Is not part of a high end guitar guitar's appeal the aesthetics?

Guitars are way more than tools, a screwdriver is a tool. A good guitar is a magical thing.

Originally Posted by KevWind

For me a guitar is first and foremost a music creation "tool".....
For me aesthetics , which we all can appreciate, is not only (totally subjective) , but great aesthetics are simply a bonus feature , and not really a predefined list of exclusionary requirements.

Me personally if I like the guitar, it plays well, I like it's acoustic tone, and did want the option to plug in as well ?
I would not think twice about it . You can't hear aesthetics

I have one on my older Taylor 810 CE, and honestly I don't stare at the edge of the upper bout while playing