Soundhole Pickup with Soundhole Cover?

[PANDAPANDELO]

Hi there, folks! It's me, again, trying to pick the brain of the wiser ones!

As I said in another post, I'm starting to play in a few pubs and restaurants, with people talking, and I'm using, in a few days, experimenting, the Baggs M80 pickup with IR that Cuki made for me.

It sounds nice, but I'm afraid that it can cause a little feedback depending on my luck. As I'm trying to reduce my rig (I would probably not use a mixer, to reduce weight), I'd like to know if there's some kind of "soundhole cover for soundhole pickups"... Or if it would work if I cut a normal one to fit my M80.

What do you guys think?

Thank you!

[Brent Hahn]

I have an M80 now, but I don't use it in loud, feedback-prone situations. But I used to with a different magnetic, a Bill Lawrence. I had the best luck suppressing feedback by stuffing a block of styrofoam wrapped in a dish towel inside the guitar so it was pressed snugly against the top. This helped a lot in keeping the top from going into sympathetic low-end oscillation.

[PANDAPANDELO]

Wow, Brent! That's new to me! Thank you for the tip!

The M80 uses the vibration of the top of the guitar as one of the sound sources... maybe this technique messes a little with that... but that's something for me to try!

Thank you very much!

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO

Wow, Brent! That's new to me! Thank you for the tip!

Got the idea from Gibson -- they have two very similar electric guitar models, the ES330 and the ES335. The 330 is fully hollow and feeds back pretty easily; the 335 has a block of wood wedged inside between the top and the back, and it's a lot harder to make it feed back.

[varmonter]

I always wondered if you could cut a regular rubber soundhole plug to fit around the magnetic
pup. There wouldn't be too much space left for
sound to get in. Also a mag pup like the sunrise
That doesn't pickup body vibration might be
more feedback resistant.

[rockabilly69]

https://www.amazon.com/Fishman-Neo-B.../dp/B019410SWU

[PANDAPANDELO]

I did it! I just installed the M80 in the place that Noledog teached us in a video, and then I set the Soundhole Buster exactly on top of it, where it would be if it was installed. Using a sharp blade, I just set the point of it, and then I have used my eyes to try to do it proportionally. It fitted perfectly!

I will test it live on saturday!

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO

I did it! I just installed the M80 in the place that Noledog teached us in a video, and then I set the Soundhole Buster exactly on top of it, where it would be if it was installed. Using a sharp blade, I just set the point of it, and then I have used my eyes to try to do it proportionally. It fitted perfectly!

I will test it live on saturday!

That looks great..let us know how it works.
Do you use the m80 in active or passive mode,??

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

https://www.amazon.com/Fishman-Neo-B.../dp/B019410SWU

Have you ever used one of these. ??

[PANDAPANDELO]

I always used the M80 in passive mode. I hate the idea of a dead battery in the middle of a gig. I know that's hard to happen... with the indicators and everything, but it's a phobia. Hahahahaha. Batteryphobia.

.

And no, Varmonter... I have never used a Fishman product in my life. Nothing against them. I just have never had one in my hands (living in Brazil is boring in the "gear availability" matter.

[sam.spoons]

Originally Posted by varmonter

I always wondered if you could cut a regular rubber soundhole plug to fit around the magnetic
pup. There wouldn't be too much space left for
sound to get in. Also a mag pup like the sunrise
That doesn't pickup body vibration might be
more feedback resistant.

I did this and it worked well. Part of the effectiveness of a sound hole bung is the mass damping the top. In addition to this I later put in a couple of blocks wedged between the bridge plate and back as I had gone on to play with a loud country rock band.