Best cheap pickup for nylon?

[Roccorobb]

I'm considering electrifying my old Hirade nylon string but I'm not conversant in systems for classical guitars. My criteria:
- simple. I don't need lots of onboard control.. Maybe even passive
- cheap. It's not something I will use a ton

Are the choices essentially the same as for steel strings or are there some nylon-specific choices to consider? Any forum favorites?

I played a lot of nylon in college and still pull it out occasionally to brush up on my classical repertoire, but spend most of my time flat picking these days. All my steel strings have Fishman USTs which I run through an Aura Spectrum DI. One guitar (Eastman e10d) has a K&K pure mini which I like ok.

While I wouldn't put a Lyric in a steel string because of the way it sits in a mix when strummed, it occurs to me that it might be great in a nylon string guitar.

[ceciltguitar]

The K & K has a lot of fans and good press on this website.

Somehow I ended up ordering the Fishman SBT-C Soundboard Transducer for Classical/Nylon String Guitar for $100 on Amazon a few months back to install on one of my guitars. I have not found the time to install it yet, so I cannot give you any review. I don't remember how I found it. I suppose I spent an hour or so reading reviews of various products online and then just picked one.

If you ever find yourself in the situation where you want high quality amplified sound, I HIGHLY recommend the ToneDexter!!!!!!!

In fact, the only reason that I bought the Fishman SBT-C Soundboard Transducer for Classical/Nylon String Guitar was so that I could use it to make ToneDexter wave maps using one particular guitar that I have.

[TimL]

Best and cheap is kind of an oxymoron in the same sentence.
K2 does make a classical (4)transducer and with a mic and Trinity does sound prertty good. To get to where Buscarino and McGill are going these days you are way beyond cheap.

[Roccorobb]

Originally Posted by ceciltguitar

The K & K has a lot of fans and good press on this website.

Somehow I ended up ordering the Fishman SBT-C Soundboard Transducer for Classical/Nylon String Guitar for $100 on Amazon a few months back to install on one of my guitars. I have not found the time to install it yet, so I cannot give you any review. I don't remember how I found it. I suppose I spent an hour or so reading reviews of various products online and then just picked one.

If you ever find yourself in the situation where you want high quality amplified sound, I HIGHLY recommend the ToneDexter!!!!!!!

In fact, the only reason that I bought the Fishman SBT-C Soundboard Transducer for Classical/Nylon String Guitar was so that I could use it to make ToneDexter wave maps using one particular guitar that I have.

Thanks. I've listened to the tonedexter and it is impressive. I've learned to manipulate the Aura pretty well and I'm quite satisfied with my live sound with my steel strings. It even sounds great with the k&k. It will never be as customizable as the TD.

[Roccorobb]

Originally Posted by TimL

Best and cheap is kind of an oxymoron in the same sentence.
K2 does make a classical (4)transducer and with a mic and Trinity does sound prertty good. To get to where Buscarino and McGill are going these days you are way beyond cheap.

I hear you. Consider the two factors to be in genitive correlation - "best *of* the cheap".

Or, consider that "best" might be qualified by factors beyond tonal purity. The reason I put a pure mini in the Eastman was because it is my beater/travel guitar. I wanted a passive system so I didn't have to worry about batteries ever, but I wanted to be able to plug in if I needed to at a picking circle. The pure mini was both cheap and absolutely the best option. So the two terms aren't always mutually exclusive.