Factory Electronics - the "thing" in acoustic guitars these days.

[Petty1818]

I am not sure if anything has changed, at least not in the past 20-25 years. I think the only really big change is that Taylor has jumped into the acoustic/electric market full force. As previous posters have mentioned, it's difficult to find a Taylor without the ES2. In terms of other major brands, I don't find the electronic thing to be an issue. If a Gibson has a pickup, it's generally an aftermarket Baggs system that can be easily removed. I know Martin offers their various Fishman systems but to be honest, I hardly ever see Martin guitars with pickups. It's typically the more affordable models.


With all that said, you are probably looking at these three major brands as examples. Step out to companies like Collings, Santa Cruz, Boucher etc and there's a dramatic drop in guitars with electronics. It's typically a speciality order at that point if you want a system.

[Rudy4]

Wade's post is spot on!

In the large majority of these topics it always brings out the folks who feel strongly anti-pickup, so it sometimes looks like the majority of players are having pickups pushed on them.

Taylor always comes up, but oddly enough my local Taylor dealer has entire wall of Taylors, roughly half of them are non-E.

I used to play out a bunch and a pickup was a useful thing to have. Anyone who's dealt with using an acoustic guitar in a live band situation with a microphone knows exactly how much a decent pickup can ease the pain of doing that. I now (other than Covid-related self-isolation) play out only occasionally, but I still use my K&K equipped acoustic for Youtube videos and looping at home.

My last half-dozen guitars have had K&K Pure Minis installed and they have always suited my needs. Are the "better" pickups? Probably. Are they worth the extra difficulty in installation, electronics that may fail or become obsolete, and need a battery that might leak or not be useful when you need it? Probably not. The K&K Pure Mini is always there when I need it, I don't have to worry about anything not working, and it does not change the acoustic tone or volume of the instrument in any perceivable way.

Guitars today are truly available any way you want them, so "Have it your way" is the order of the times. Guitars with pickups built in are out there because people want them.

If anyone doesn't want a pickup then they can simply move on and buy something else. Nobody is forcing a purchase on any player that I've been aware of.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

With all that said, you are probably looking at these three major brands as examples. Step out to companies like Collings, Santa Cruz, Boucher etc and there's a dramatic drop in guitars with electronics. It's typically a speciality order at that point if you want a system.

Sounds like my exact statement in the original post

"you almost have to spend like $2500+ to get away from it to where it's almost, then, non existent in many/most brands."

[EZYPIKINS]

I've got enough acoustic/electrics. The best sounding one (which is the most expensive) Sounds much better with a mic in front of it, than out of the pickup. I have a beater that always got more gig play. Just because it's cheaper and if anything happened to it, it wouldn't bother me so much. Next on won't have a pickup at all.

[BluesKing777]

There are factory installed electronics and there are Factory Installed Electronics!

The first type in lower case can be some kind of fob off to make the sale attractive but are usually quackers made worse by a plastic saddle....

The other type is the seriously stunning Maton AP5-Pro dual source pickup system installed in most Matons since about 2013. I have 3 small body 808 models. Controls enough at your fingertips to plug and play anywhere, anytime but take an extra gadget and lookout! I have spent a mint on pickups mentioned here and I am standing up for my......oops....getting steamed.


BluesKing777.

[saxonblue]

I might be seeing it through a different lens to others but I'm pretty sure that while browsing through music shops checking out & playing new guitars in my youth (late 70s/mid 80s) a lot of those had inbuilt pickup systems but I would say the overwhelming majority were Yamahas, Takamines, Ibanez, Daion & locally made Matons. Generally the cheapest of those were without pickups as amplification was seen as an asset even though the standard back then was well below what it generally is today.

Most of the Martins & Gibsons I ever saw were on the album covers/sleeves at the time & Taylor were pretty new on the scene so didn't see any of those either. This all may be more a function of where I live and I would most likely have needed to travel to specialist shops in Sydney & Melbourne to check out any substantial range of higher end unamplified American instruments.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

There are factory installed electronics and there are Factory Installed Electronics!

The first type in lower case can be some kind of fob off to make the sale attractive but are usually quackers made worse by a plastic saddle....

The other type is the seriously stunning Maton AP5-Pro dual source pickup system installed in most Matons since about 2013. I have 3 small body 808 models. Controls enough at your fingertips to plug and play anywhere, anytime but take an extra gadget and lookout! I have spent a mint on pickups mentioned here and I am standing up for my......oops....getting steamed.


BluesKing777.

I was thinking the same thing. When it comes to performing guitars, nothing beats a guitar that was built from the ground up to sound great amplified which means a proprietary system tweaked for just that. That means Takamine, Maton or Cole Clark. This is why you see SO many Takamine headstocks on big stages. Most other guitars that come with a system installed from the factory will not sound all that great amplified and those systems are geared toward the hobbyist who wants to play amplified occasionally.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

I've owned exactly one acoustic guitar with factory electronics (Cordoba GK Studio) and never plugged it in during the 2 years I owned it. If you check some of my other posts, you'll find that I'm totally against electronics in acoustic guitars which IMHO turns them into poor electric guitars. There is absolutely NO pickup that can be installed in an acoustic guitar that retains the true acoustic sound. Only a good microphone will accomplish this but too many people want to jump around and be rock stars so they can't sit still in front of a mic. If it's good enough for Tony Rice and Norman Blake to play into a mic, it's good enough for me. Even Doc Watson sounded great acoustically but his amplified tone was, generally crappy - a real disservice to how great Gallagher guitars are. As always....IMHO and YMMV.

Tony Rice didn't play with bands like Zeppelin, Aerosmith and the like. If he came up to a gig with them with only a mic, he would've been laughed at out of the venue.

[Br1ck]

The nature of electronics is the rapid improvements. There will always be better down the road, a quicker than you'd like, so I don't want built in.

[alnico5]

When I bought my 412 in 1996, Taylor had no electronics. When I started acoustic gigging I installed a K&K. I am happy with it. When I don't plug in the K&K is not there.

[BluesKing777]

Well, we are still in lockdown here and the pickups on my acoustics are great because I have the Addams Family living on 3 sides! And the Munsters across the road! They can all make noise just standing there. I have never lived near such noisy and selfish people like this in my whole life.

Plug in a preamp and guitar and on go the headphones or in ears! Acoustic dreams, yeah!


BluesKing777.