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  #1  
Old 08-12-2022, 03:04 PM
Little Jay Little Jay is offline
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Default Skysonic A-810 magnetic pickup

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a Sigma JM-SG45, Sigma’s near clone of Gibson’s J45. A very nice guitar, plays and sounds great, but…… the onboard Fishman Sonitone undersaddle piezo with active preamp was rather underwhelming to my ears…. Especially thru my AER Alpha acoustic amp. On my ‘normal’ tube amps for guitar it sounded okay-ish. I absolutely hate the battery in a little pouch inside the guitar…. You can’t change it without taking the strings off….. who came up with this?!?!?



I know this is a rather cheapish pickup system that is not considered great by many.


So I saw the Skysonic A-810 passive magnetic soundhole mounted pickup for $30 dollars and thought what the heck.



It arrived yesterday, I mounted it in the soundhole and I am absolutely blown away by how much better it sounds to my ears than the Fishman! I realise it might play a role that I mostly play electric jazzguitar and I am perhaps much more used to the darker mellow sounds and that is exactly what this new pickup delivers. I play it mostly thru a normal (tube) guitar amp btw.

I am now actually thinking of taking out the Fishman and installing this pickup permanently (with the input permanently installed in the heel block, doubling as strap holder). That would get rid of the battery change problem with the Fishman as well.

What are your thoughts on this?

Last edited by Little Jay; 08-12-2022 at 03:12 PM.
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  #2  
Old 08-13-2022, 09:26 AM
Marshall Marshall is online now
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I like Skysonic pickups. I'm using the Skysonic Pro-1. It's a Mag, with a Mic, with a SBT. It does have that pesky internal battery though. But it allows mixing the 3 pickups to your taste right on the Mag pickup. (3 wheels). No tone control, though.
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Old 08-13-2022, 04:50 PM
Little Jay Little Jay is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marshall View Post
I like Skysonic pickups. I'm using the Skysonic Pro-1. It's a Mag, with a Mic, with a SBT. It does have that pesky internal battery though. But it allows mixing the 3 pickups to your taste right on the Mag pickup. (3 wheels). No tone control, though.

Yes, I thought about the Pro-1, but I opted for the A-801, even if it was just to put it in the case for those awkward moments where you find your battery is dead and you didn’t bring a spare one. But I really like the sound a lot better! But th tone control seems actually a bit redundant. I set it wide open and control trebles from the amp.
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Old 01-08-2024, 07:22 AM
Per Burström Per Burström is offline
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Just ordered a Skysonic A-810 with the hope that it will fit in the small soundhole of my Enya X3 Pro Mini (as a secondary pickup). I have several magnetic pickups that doesn't fit. I hadn't seen the praise for the Skysonic here before ordering it though. I'll post here again when I get it.

/Per
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Old 01-10-2024, 10:42 AM
Marshall Marshall is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Per Burström View Post
Just ordered a Skysonic A-810 with the hope that it will fit in the small soundhole of my Enya X3 Pro Mini (as a secondary pickup). I have several magnetic pickups that doesn't fit. I hadn't seen the praise for the Skysonic here before ordering it though. I'll post here again when I get it.

/Per
It won't fit, Per, as it comes. You can saw off part of one of the feet that goes inside the soundhole right after the screw and plastic fillets and then it should fit in (slide in the full foot first.) There will still be enough "grab" on the short foot to engage the edge of the soundhole strongly when you slide the pickup towards the neck.
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Old 01-10-2024, 12:01 PM
RogerPease RogerPease is offline
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If you are going to more or less permanently install the pickup couldn't you unscrew one of the inside feet, slip the main part into place and then screw the removed foot back on?
Seems like less modification than sawing part of the foot off.
Of course, if you want to remove and replace often sawing might be better then the risk of losing small parts in the field.

Just curious, _RP
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Old 01-10-2024, 02:44 PM
Marshall Marshall is online now
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You possible could do that. But that means reaching inside that small soundhole with a pickup in it and trying to engage the screw into the tiny hole on the foot. I tried a quicky shot at that and decided it wasn't going to work easy for me. Maybe you could make a home made "rig" that would hold the foot in a steady position and allow you to hunt for the hole with the screw from the top side. That'd probably work.

But I had a modeling saw handy and just went for it.
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Old 01-10-2024, 02:53 PM
Marshall Marshall is online now
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Now that I think of it, it might be possible to remove the foot and just tape it in place inside the guitar after positioning it where you want it, and then hunt and find it with the screw from the top.

I probably should have tried that first.

Good call, Roger.
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Old 01-11-2024, 04:15 PM
Marshall Marshall is online now
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Of course every time you want check or change the internal 9V battery, you have to drop the pickup in the guitar to get your hand in there. And if the full foot is used, you have to do the fancy placement every time. I've already had the pickup out and in a couple times in my internal machinations. Trimming the foot makes that a simple task, as the foot is always attached.


Six of one; half a dozen of the other.
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