Mojotone NC-1 Soundhole Pickup

[jklotz]

I just received a Mojotone NC-1 soundhole pickup. I wanted something I could swap in and out of guitars. I'll probably mount it permanently in one when I decide which will be best suited for it. So far, I've only put it in one, an eastman E20-OM, but I'm pretty impressed, so I thought I'd share my thoughts for anybody else who may be interested. Please keep in mind I've had it for exactly 1 day. This is far from a long term review.

Things I like about it:

It's very light. Barley made a weight difference in my guitar.

It installed in about 60 seconds with a philip head screw driver (pickup only, I haven't routed the cord through the end pin). I was able to do this without loosening the strings at all.

It's alive and natural sounding. I totally get the sound of my guitar. There is no "electric guitar" sound that I get from most soundhole magnetic pickups. It is percussive, meaning if you tap on the top, it comes through the pickup, which I think is one of the reasons it sounds natural. Soundwise, I think it is on par with my LR Baggs Anthem I have in a similar guitar. I did find it a tad bass heavy going through my Bose S1 Pro, but a little bass rolloff fixed that in short order. After that it was balanced string to string and required very little EQ to get it where I wanted it.

The battery compartment is easy to get to. It uses 2 cr2032's in a little "drawer" that slides out. They claim 500 hours of battery life and there is a button that provides a battery check.

They provide a clip for the output jack in case you don't want to permanently install it. (Can clip it to a strap, your shirt, etc)

The mounting pads are cork and don't feel like they will mess with the guitar finish. It secures very firmly without needing much pressure at all on the sound board.

It's noise canceling and is very quiet. For my purposes, it might as well be silent.

I had it at a pretty high volume tonight sitting right next to the speaker and it didn't even hint at feeding back.

The wiring is minimal. Don't have to have a bunch of crap inside my guitar. Just 1 wire from pickup to endpin.

Things I didn't like about it:

The volume knob is on the bottom of the pickup between low E and A strings. It's difficult to get to. I can reach under there by stretching the strings out of the way a little, but I don't see being able to make subtle adjustments while playing. My big sausage fingers don't help.

The cable is permanently attached to the pickup. it would be nice if you could unplug it to remove the pickup when not needed but leave the wiring in place.

It might just be me, but I think I detect a bit of decrease in the resonance of the soundboard when it's attached. Not a ton, but I notice it. Plugged in, this makes zero difference, but acoustically.... It's not just this pickup though, I hear that with all soundhole pickups. Hence the comment above - it'd be nice to be able to remove it, especially with how easy it is to take on and off, and leave the internal wiring in place.

There is no adjustability for volume of individual strings. It didn't need it on my Eastman. I plan to try it in some of my other guitars, so we'll see.

Overall I think they've got a winner on their hands. It's the best sounding magnetic soundhole pickup I've ever tried. Easy to install, feedback resistant, light weight, long battery life. Definitely worth consideration.

[southbeck]

I have only heard some clips on youtube but from what I´ve heard didn´t sound good at all. In my opinion. I thought it sounded really plasticky, no woodiness or acoustic qualities to it. More like a electric guitar actually.
Like this demo. I guess it sounds quite balanced and would probably be easy to work with live. But to my ears it sounds really bad.. Sorry.
But we all have different views on what we like. Hope it works out great for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0y7...annel=Mojotone

[Mojotone]

Thanks jklotz for sharing your experience and feedback here. I really appreciate the thorough and honest review! I especially took note on your comment about a removeable cable which is something I'm considering down the road. When designing it originally we planned for that, however the PCB jacks available are plastic and I felt they were susceptible to failure which is why we hardwired to the pickup. But since then I've come up with some ideas that should get around that.

For the volume, have you tried reaching through the bass side, not between the strings, but the widest opening on the soundhole (bass side above the strings) with your pointer finger? If you haven't tried that, it may be worth a shot. I have pretty fat fingers too and this works for me. I wanted to keep the volume wheel protected from sweat and dust which is one reason I located it on the bottom.

Keep me posted down the road and PM me for any questions. Thanks again!

[Stringmaster]

Thanks for the review! A non-removable cable is a deal-breaker for my application too. Even a quick install isn’t optimal in all situations. For example, if I take a nice guitar to an open mic I’d like to install the pickup before leaving home, which leaves the cable flopping around in the case. If I install it at the venue it means waiting until right before my set, which isn’t really practical, so I’m still left with the cable dangling in the case as I wait for my turn.

[Mojotone]

I forgot to mention that several artists who are using this pickup are just storing the endpin jack in their accessory compartment of the guitar case to keep it from banging around in the case. The cable is plenty long to do that while keeping the pickup installed in the soundhole. Just a suggestion if anyone is concerned about not being able to remove the endpin cable from the pickup.

[geewhiz]

Want to try one of these but they seem to be out of stock everywhere

[Mojotone]

Originally Posted by geewhiz

Want to try one of these but they seem to be out of stock everywhere

I'm really sorry for the wait. We'll be shipping a few hundred next week to fill backorders and get stock for the dealers again. We never anticipated this kind of demand so early on but I'm thankful for it! Please check back in a week or so.

[geewhiz]

Originally Posted by Mojotone

I'm really sorry for the wait. We'll be shipping a few hundred next week to fill backorders and get stock for the dealers again. We never anticipated this kind of demand so early on but I'm thankful for it! Please check back in a week or so.

Good to know, thanks!

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Mojotone

I'm really sorry for the wait. We'll be shipping a few hundred next week to fill backorders and get stock for the dealers again. We never anticipated this kind of demand so early on but I'm thankful for it! Please check back in a week or so.

Glad Mojotone has another successful product. Can't wait to try one!

[meb]

I have been testing out an NC-1 for a few days now. Let me start by saying
this is my favorite Active Soundhole pickup. It has a very open,
natural midrange character that is very easy to dial in. I am using
the Sunrise and BlackStack in my gigging guitars and would put the NC-1 is
in the Top Tier with those two. Of course, the BlackStack and Sunrise are
passive, and with a great preamp you may find very slightly more nuanced
sound at soft levels. But I am really splitting hairs; all 3 sound great!

The NC-1 has the advantage of being Active and a very small footprint.
Subjectively, the NC-1 has less impact on the unplugged sound than
the heavier BS....at least to my ear.

A note of caution is that the pickup is very sensitive. The M80 is the same
way. You may need to adjust your playing style so it doesn't get hit
by stray fingers or a pick. If yuo hit it; you will hear it.
The sensitivity may also come into play if you
hit a string hard you may hear it buzz/chatter if it hits the pickup itself
The M80 has the same issue. MojoTone/David has a workaround to
lower the pickup should you have this issue. BTW, a shout out to
David; has been super responsive, informative, and helpful !

I also installed the NC-1 in my Martin OMCPA5. The was no buzz/chatter in
that guitar. I would not expect many people to have that issue.

I have not removed the Sunrise from my MdRSC since it is such a pita,
but I feel certain the NC-1 would sound fine in that guitar, also.

All in all, Sound, Price, footprint...imho, this is a great product.

[geewhiz]

Originally Posted by meb

I have been testing out an NC-1 for a few days now. Let me start by saying
this is my favorite Active Soundhole pickup. It has a very open,
natural midrange character that is very easy to dial in. I am using
the Sunrise and BlackStack in my gigging guitars and would put the NC-1 is
in the Top Tier with those two. Of course, the BlackStack and Sunrise are
passive, and with a great preamp you may find very slightly more nuanced
sound at soft levels. But I am really splitting hairs; all 3 sound great!

The NC-1 has the advantage of being Active and a very small footprint.
Subjectively, the NC-1 has less impact on the unplugged sound than
the heavier BS....at least to my ear.

A note of caution is that the pickup is very sensitive. The M80 is the same
way. You may need to adjust your playing style so it doesn't get hit
by stray fingers or a pick. If yuo hit it; you will hear it.
The sensitivity may also come into play if you
hit a string hard you may hear it buzz/chatter if it hits the pickup itself
The M80 has the same issue. MojoTone/David has a workaround to
lower the pickup should you have this issue. BTW, a shout out to
David; has been super responsive, informative, and helpful !

I also installed the NC-1 in my Martin OMCPA5. The was no buzz/chatter in
that guitar. I would not expect many people to have that issue.

I have not removed the Sunrise from my MdRSC since it is such a pita,
but I feel certain the NC-1 would sound fine in that guitar, also.

All in all, Sound, Price, footprint...imho, this is a great product.

I appreciate that update - sounds like a really nice pickup. I'm actually hoping the NC-1 has some degree of sensitivity to pick up some "desirable" noise from the top. I had an M80 a few years back but I just didn't care for the it - to electric/magnetic sounding for what I was after.

At this point I'm just waiting to find an NC-1 in stock somewhere. Can't even find a used one for sale! Hopefully stock will be replenished soon.

[geewhiz]

Got one of these yesterday and installed it in my Martin SC-13e.

Mine is exhibiting a slight distortion when I dig in hard. I’m not absolutely flogging the strings, just playing with normal dynamic range, and the pickup seems to not have much headroom in its internal preamp. It just sounds a bit hot and a little midrangey overall.

This isn’t a gain staging issue with my rig. At first I ran it through my live pedalboard but then I plugged it directly into my mixer. I’m not even close to overdriving the channel's preamp and the gain is set properly. It’s also not an EQ issue - I’m running it flat and I’m using a 100hz high pass.

I can hear that this pickup has a lot of promise, and even with this undesirable distortion I can tell that its signature sound is superior to any other soundhole pickup I’ve tried in the past.

I’m hoping Mojotone can help me resolve the issue. It just sounds to me like the pickup's internal preamp is too hot. I don’t know if it is user adjustable (or even adjustable at all).

Has anyone else noticed this with their NC-1? I’m not a newbie with this stuff and I’m quite certain it isn’t user error.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by geewhiz

Got one of these yesterday and installed it in my Martin SC-13e.

Mine is exhibiting a slight distortion when I dig in hard. I’m not absolutely flogging the strings, just playing with normal dynamic range, and the pickup seems to not have much headroom in its internal preamp. It just sounds a bit hot and a little midrangey overall.

This isn’t a gain staging issue with my rig. At first I ran it through my live pedalboard but then I plugged it directly into my mixer. I’m not even close to overdriving the channel's preamp and the gain is set properly. It’s also not an EQ issue - I’m running it flat and I’m using a 100hz high pass.

I can hear that this pickup has a lot of promise, and even with this undesirable distortion I can tell that its signature sound is superior to any other soundhole pickup I’ve tried in the past.

I’m hoping Mojotone can help me resolve the issue. It just sounds to me like the pickup's internal preamp is too hot. I don’t know if it is user adjustable (or even adjustable at all).

Has anyone else noticed this with their NC-1? I’m not a newbie with this stuff and I’m quite certain it isn’t user error.

Hmmm. Mine is nothing like that. I'd say check the batteries and make sure they are new/fresh. Also, you are on the right track - reach out to mojotone. Perhaps you got a defective unit? Don't worry though, I'm sure they will take care of you.

[geewhiz]

I’m already working with Mojotone, who are being very helpful. Will report back as things progress.

[geewhiz]

Hey all, just wanted to circle back here and give some accolades to Mojotone's customer service and specifically David, who has posted in this thread.

Some of the best service and communication I’ve experienced in recent memory, for any product. Two thumbs up!