Best pickup for fingerstyle

[royd]

couple more of my opinions here... (and they are that, opinions, feel free to agree or disagree, I won't take it personally)

I think the experience of playing acoustically vs. amplified are very different experiences and that you cannot completely reproduce the acoustic experience amplified. So, I have long ago given up trying to get the sound of my Lowden only louder when playing live. Instead, I like to imagine it as my Lowden only bigger.

the experience of listening to a recorded guitar and the acoustic guitar in your lap is not exactly the same either... closer perhaps to "acoustic" but still not there - why else would we have long discussions about microphone choice and placement when recording? And we know that placement and choice makes a HUGE difference in how the recording sounds.

so... a pickup is not a bad choice, but it is a different choice. I have almost always mixed some of my pickups into the mix when recording. In one case I had two pickups, two small diameter condensers close to the guitar, and a large diameter condenser at a distance getting the room.

So, Bill you asked what I think is the "optimal" choice... I really do agree with PastorSteve that they all work, you just need to decide which one works for you, make the best choice you can and run with it. Listen to some players and ask them what they're using. Make mental notes as to what you like and don't like about their sound. I've heard good examples of all types and terrible examples. And some of the examples I would call terrible, other folk really, really like (Monte Montgomery's sound is one that I really don't care for, but he obviously likes it and is an amazing player so who am I to tell him how to amplify his guitar?). In reality, unless you are playing serious fingerstyle for an audience that is quietly listening to your playing, I doubt anyone will even be able to tell what you are using or care. Your performance will be much more important.

Specific recommendations. For simple, I would go with either a Duncan magmic or a fishman rare earth blend and leave it at that. With them you're mixing an internal mic with a mag. pop in and out of the soundhole and plug it in. For a little more complicated, maybe the K&K Trinity with either an internal pre or an external blender. I have a Sunrise mag and a McIntyre SBT in my Lowden that come out spearately to a Sunrise stereo buffer to either a Raven PMB-1 or Dtar Solstice. Complicated and expensive but I like it. I've never had good luck with an internal mic but lots of folk do. I like the sound of the Baggs M1, but find that I hit it too much and don't like the loud click that makes. I've had three of them and sold them all. I still have a Sunrise. Personally, I prefer the sound of a mag to a UTS. I don't think either one sounds particularly "acoustic" at its worst but they do sound very different and I prefer the failures of the mag - hence, the Sunrise. I'm a fan of the Taylor ES too but again that is personal preference. I understand they will do an install even in a non-Taylor now. If I was looking at a system for another guitar, I would seriously consider that.

good luck with your decision

[nsurround]

Originally Posted by jjrubin

But for recording, whether home-computer, pro studio or YT video, an external mic(s) will always sound more like the natural acoustic guitar than any p/u.

Yes? What am I missing?

What is missing is the environment you are recording in. A good condenser mic placed in the right location to the guitar can sound really good and better than almost any pickup system. However that condenser may also pickup noises from the room you are recording in, such as ac, heater, fan or external noises such as traffic etc. It depends a lot on how quite the room is and the room acoustics in general. This really is more of a problem for home recordings or non-studio type. This can be compensated for by mic and pattern/location selection to some extent but AVAC rumble will be difficult to get rid of unless you turn it off for the recording. So in some cases a pickup system might be better if your environment is not the best suited for recording via external mic.