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Pickup for a small size acoustic


bassbiscuits
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Here's a thought - does anyone make a pickup suitable for small, travel-size (ie Ed Sheeran-esque) guitars?

I realise I've missed a trick in being able to use mine as backup for my one acoustic guitar.

I have a spare soundhole pickup, but the measurement of the small soundhole is smaller than pretty much every regular pickup. An under the saddle transducer would be fine, if they're any easier to find at this smaller size.

Any ideas? Not looking to spend huge bucks as the guitar was only £130...

 

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I bought a Fishman neo passive for my parlour guitar without considering the size issue. It was very slightly too big, but I got it to fit with a little bit of filing (to the pickup housing) which is not  visible once fitted.

The passive does have a low output, and is on the mellow side compared to piezoelectric type pickups, but doesn't have that nasty artificial-sounding attack that most piezo  ones have.

HTH

MBA

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On 21 December 2017 at 22:33, MoonBassAlpha said:

My guitarist had the active neo in his old Takamine. He no longer has the guitar, I wonder if he still has the pup. I preferred the sound of it to his current Baggs piezo setup. The little battery lasted ages, and plenty of juice on tap.

Cool - yes if he still has the pup that might be a good solution. I preferred my Fishman to the LR Baggs one I changed it for - the Fishman sounded more natural and clear to me.

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On 21/12/2017 at 07:40, MoonBassAlpha said:

I bought a Fishman neo passive for my parlour guitar without considering the size issue. It was very slightly too big, but I got it to fit with a little bit of filing (to the pickup housing) which is not  visible once fitted.

The passive does have a low output, and is on the mellow side compared to piezoelectric type pickups, but doesn't have that nasty artificial-sounding attack that most piezo  ones have.

HTH

MBA

i did exactly the same thing to fit a Neo D to my Gretsch Jim Dandy, didn't take much filing, it sounds pretty good to my ears.

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On 31/12/2017 at 12:11, Beer of the Bass said:

You could go with one of the systems using piezo discs on the underside of the bridge plate, like the K&K Pure or the JJB pickups which are similar but cheaper.  They're less feedback resistant than soundhole or undersaddle pickups, but do sound good. 

The K&Ks are excellent pickups full stop, I have them installed in all my acoustics. 

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saw this on eBay, piezo, Mic blend notch filter and tuner. Wonder if they are any good? Anyone tried one? Is it a knockoff at this price?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FISHMAN-presys-blend-301-Dual-Mode-Guitar-Preamp-EQ-Tuner-Piezo-Pickup-Mic-Beat/122915085720?epid=538968934&hash=item1c9e4f5d98:g:B1UAAOSwiflasLs9

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Looks like it from the pictures, but the description says:

Features:
Classic Fishman Presys Blender
Small footprint fits many guitars 
Volume Control 
Bass, Middle and Treble control knobs 
Built-in tuner with LED display 
Phase switch 
Unique pivot design for instant 9-Volt battery access 
Pre-wired Fishman Sonicore pickup for solder-free, plug and play installation 
Low profile control knobs 
Battery Life: 88 hours 
Onboard anti-feedback control 
Brilliance control for additional tone shaping 
Built-in microphone with mic blend level control 
Kit includes: Preamp with Sonicore Flexible Piezo Pickup, built-in Mic and endpin output jack, Mounting Screws, User Manual 
User Manual Langues: English
Please notice there`s no retail package for the product.
 
Specifications: 
2.20" W x 3.3" L x 1.625" D (55.8mm x 84.2mm x 41.3mm)
 
 
Package include:
1x Fishman Onboard Preamps 
1x end pin jack
4x screws
1x manual
1x tags
2x mounting brackets
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On 06/05/2018 at 13:23, MoonBassAlpha said:

saw this on eBay, piezo, Mic blend notch filter and tuner. Wonder if they are any good? Anyone tried one? Is it a knockoff at this price?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FISHMAN-presys-blend-301-Dual-Mode-Guitar-Preamp-EQ-Tuner-Piezo-Pickup-Mic-Beat/122915085720?epid=538968934&hash=item1c9e4f5d98:g:B1UAAOSwiflasLs9

@Matt P I had exactly that one, in a twelve string acoustic

 

I suspect that its a clone, but it works just fine and the tuner is good. Its quite easy to leave the tuner on, flattening the battery 

One thing I would say is that you need to be careful how much wood you remove to fit the swing battery design, but thats true of all those ilk.

I mad e a cardboard template first, then cut out to that. 

 

One thing, I did not like the rope coiled wire pickup it came with, I bought an artec 12 string "solid bar" pickup on ebay, as I prefer the saddle to have a solid base, the rope coil style was a bit squishy

Edited by Geek99
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On 06/05/2018 at 17:18, Matt P said:

I think that's just the preamp, without the piezo or the mic, looks far too cheap to me as well, I'd expect to pay far more than that for the preamp. 

the mic is built-in, and the piezo comes with it. 

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@MoonBassAlpha @Geek99 Apologies, missed the line in the description that said it came with the piezo, just skipped to the package includes bit.

as it looks like this is a clone/copy i'd consider it for a cheaper guitar but i think i'd prefer to go for a passive piezo or a soundhole mag straight out to an endpin jack and then an external preamp (behringer adi21 probably) as i'm really adverse to cutting holes in guitars if i can avoid it (even enlarging the endpin hole on my Jim dandy to fit the jack socket was nerve wracking)

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I know what you mean about drilling the end pin!

I was originally looking into the cheapest way to buy a notch filter for use with my mate's Hofner Verithin bass, and making this into a pedal. You could even build it into a low wooden box and use the internal Mic as one of those foot stompy things.

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