Acoustic Guitar Pickup Recommendations

[OrganicZed]

I haven’t tried the pickup on it’s own to the Axe-Fx without the preamp. I can try this later and report back, as it was something you were considering.

Thanks, that would be awesome!

 

[Rellstar]

K&K in my Guild D25M is great! They are simple and are durable as I have ever seen

 

[Purplestrats]

Honestly, after trying several after market pickups, the best solution for me was to buy a reasonably priced Yamaha with a decent piezo and inbuilt preamp, then run that through an acoustic IR in my FM3. Guitar plays easy and sounds great through the PA. I leave my higher end guitars at home now.

 

[Wired]

Thanks, that would be awesome!

I plugged my acoustic with the K&K into the Axe-Fx without the preamp this evening. It easily puts out enough level without the preamp. I have my Input 1 A/D Sensitivity set to 84% and the meter on the front panel was in the yellow, and I wasn't strumming hard. I plugged in headphones and gave it a listen. There are lots of options in the Axe-Fx for shaping the tone to sound less like a pickup and more like the guitar. A few seconds with the PEQ and it is good to go. I would easily use it live like this without the preamp. It sounds great.
https://www.kksound.com/pure-pickup

 

[alertedsnake]

I've got a K&K Mini Western in my Martin 000-15S - don't plug it in often, but when I do it sounds fantastic, way better than the Piezos in our other acoustics. Definitely my #1 pick.

 

[Rex]

It does seem that magnetic sound hole mounted pickups offer a lot of positives, but I am really turned off by the fact that they alter the aesthetic of the instrument. The DiMarzio Black Angel piezo pickup does look interesting though and I will do some additional research on that.

Magnetic sound-hole pickups have advantages, but one disadvantage is that they will always have some of that electric-guitar sound. You can never dial out the comb filtering that you get when you mount the pickup down the length of the string instead of at a string attachment point.

 

[Kerni]

I’ve never been able to bond with a single Gibson acoustic. I find the necks are baseball bats and the sound is too mid focused for my liking. They are pretty tough. I prefer Taylors. I'm thinking about buying a second guitar from this manufacturer. I even decided to click site and take additional projects at work to earn extra money. In my humble experience, Taylors guitars are the most consistent manufacturer out there these days. From low end to high end, they all seem to come out of the box with good intonation and setup.

 

[Tonedeaf]

I use the Bartlett Guitar Mic 3. It's a small mic like the ones that clip on your shirt, EQed for guitar, so it's very natural sounding. Clips on your soundhole and goes to a battery box you clip on your belt/pants. If you play naked, duck tape is needed.

 

[OrganicZed]

I really appreciate all of the informative replies that have been offered.
The guitar in need of a pickup was a new purchase that had not yet arrived. I received it 06/09/2022. Unfortunately, I ended up deciding to return it after spending a few minutes playing it and inspecting it. While it sounded nice and had a great setup, the guitar had manufacturing flaws that were complete deal breakers including a gap in the neck / body dovetail joint and an area at the junction of the sound hole / fingerboard that somehow did not get covered with finish. If this were a $500 guitar for playing around the campfire that would be one thing, but this was a $4,000+ MSRP instrument.







Thankfully, the dealer (Muddy River Guitars) was understanding and was very easy to work with for a full refund including shipping.

 

[Wired]

Sorry to hear. Best of luck finding a good one.