Money's no object - best pickup?

[elambo]

Price aside, what is the best sounding pickup?

If you haven't been able to audition many yourself then what do you hear about from other people as being the best sounding pickup?

If not a specific pickup then what company makes the best pickups?

[RL]

Hello Elambo,

What kind of sound are you looking for?

Transducer(under the saddle) = louder/less feedback/less acoustic sounding.

Internal mike = more acoustic sounding/more feedback.

Blender systems(using both transducer and internal mike) = a compromise of both.

External microphone(no pickup) = most accurate sound of the guitar.

RL

[Pikashoe]

this might be a dumb question but...

are there pickup systems that work better for recording? and others for performing?

or is it all a matter of taste again?

[JW]

While onboard blenders seem to be the best for mobility I dont think much of anything can get the real sound as well as a well placed quaility external Microphone. I like playing sitting down anyway. My days of jumping around the stage are over. At 49 my mind is 12 but the body is 86 hehe!JW

[JW]

Misread the question just a bit but the baggs system in the DDSM is probobly the best I know of. JW

[Noflatpick]

Best pickup? Dodge Ram.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

You should look at Highlander pickups. Sort of a well-kept secret.

Click on the highlighted word "musicians" in the second paragraph of the homepage for a list of world-class players who use these pickups.http://www.highlanderpickups.com/

[Noflatpick]

Now why the hell didn't that link light-up?

Must be equipment failure.

[LarryH in Texas]

NFP --

Try putting a space in front of the "http".

I usually put a link on a line all by itself.

LHiT

[Noflatpick]

Thanks Bro.

[JBright44]

L.R. Baggs Dual Source. Has combination mic and undersaddle pickup and can be run in mono mode where you can send the combined mic/pickup signal and e.q. it after or you can run it in stereo mode (with y-cable) were you can e.q. the mic and pickup seperately. I've heard the ribbon transducer is way better than the fishman matrix and the great thing is that this system does not require a big fat hole in the guitar side. It's great. check it out at the L.R. Baggs Homepage

[AcousticFire]

What about soundhole mag pick ups?

[elambo]

I went to the Highlander website (thanks noflatpick) and looked at their list of musicians that supposedly use their pickups. Very impressive list of players. I'll have to see if I can find a bit more info about this company, but it's putting a very good impression in my mind so far. I'd like to hear some recording made with a Highlander. That would help...

[KyCabnetMkr]

i too have searched long and hard for a good plugged in acoustic sound. anybody wanna hear the story i have to tell e-mail me at [email protected] Basically tho i like the baggs system. I have a Baggs Dual Source just waiting to go into a taylor cutaway without a fishman prefix system in it. i like the blender system in my 310 but other than that i would've preferred to have my 310c instead of a ce without waiting. and it was a special guitar to start with, but that's a whole other story But for good pickup systems there are Baggs, B-Band, Highlander, and you can customize. I know of Fishman's Rare Earth blend system with an internal mic and stereo out that supposedly provides a cleaner sound than a bridge pickup. i might try it out one day For soundhole pickups there are Markleys, Duncans, and Sunrise. Of the acoustic guitars i've seen with soundhole pickups i've found them to have a very percussive sound instead of a clear shimmer and body to them like mic/saddle transducer systems do. Chris Proctor has a special taylor (CPSM) with a Rare Earth and a prefix preamp, but i'm not sure what all it is setup for. Phil Keaggy runs an Olson SJ with a Sunrise soundhole pickup (for percussive sound), a Baggs RT for the bridge saddle (body) and a fender m1 mic last i checked (for clarity). All into a Pendulum preamp. I'm toying with the idea of putting a highlander system into my big baby, but that's a lot of pickup for that guitar. i know the Markley Humbucking soundhole pickup sounds great. tried it out monday on my Big Baby through a California blonde. great sound. it's amzing what $1300 can get ya. if only i'd purchased the blonde and the markley. the idea i'm considering is using a GHS mic (gooseneck) and splicing the markley into it. kind of a stereo output setup that i can split into my rane preamp in my acoustic amp rig. anyway, that's my $0.25

Ira Duncan