Comments on: Plugging In: Acoustic Guitar Pickups and Their Pros and Cons

By: Wayne Hoey

Wayne Hoey — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 22:54:54 +0000

I have an inexpensive Fender CD-8 NAT acoustic that I’ve gotten used to. I want to install an active pickup, (have a woody passive on it now), but everyone tells me the guitar’s not worth it, and I should just buy a new guitar. I don’t want to. Is there an active pickup you can recommend that would be affordable and make this guitar sound better?

By: Gabriela Sweet

Gabriela Sweet — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:21:20 +0000

For resonator guitars, I love the Krivo. You can mount it externally if you prefer something non-invasive, or you can have an expert like Michelle Beardsley at St Paul Guitar Repair install. With the Krivo, my dobros and Nationals retain their characteristic sounds – no thin tinny sound, no harshness. Would love to hear others’ thoughts on pickups for resophonic guitars.

By: MJay

MJay — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 19:45:11 +0000

Nice overview, but working years experimenting on high end luthier build Keystones and a Wingert employing suggested various Fishmans, and K&Ks, with and without a condensor mic blend, I have come to the conclusion my luthier warned at the start:
1. Fishman’s are going to fail – the thin ribbon element first, the preamps later, batteries were never a problem. LR Baggs too, essentially the same designs and similar components. At low volumes they are just ok.
2. JB and K&K transducer elements are cheap (like the ones in ‘singing’ greeting cards) with poor sound quality requiring EQ both in the guitar, preamp, and EQ on your rig. When driven loud\gain, they feedback and lack subtly. Transducers can become terrible speakers when amped, destroying the tone of a fine guitar dynamic. Blended condensor mic blends muddy sweet signals, even tinny ones.
3. The (boutique sold only by Amutet) Amulet Ultra has solved all these problems with many model options, including stereo. They even have a preamp that accepts the permantly glued K&K elements. Why this works: the transducer elements are isolated for the individual string tonal sections called lenses, high mid and low. Each can be EQed, with separate gain controls for tones on the inner sound hole control.
Call Gary at Amulet and be prepared to learn the many things you wish to be solved with the many options he can offer. Many of the best acoustic guitarists use Amulet, not the name brands mentioned.
We even successfully installed one a big acoustic 4 string bass called Svaboda after a Fishman system would only howl.

By: John Offutt III

John Offutt III — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 18:33:33 +0000

I own the Martin 000-15M guitar and two choices for that guitar because of the top bracing. LR Baggs Anthem SL or LR Baggs HiFi system. It’s hard to beat LR Baggs.

By: Mark Robinson

Mark Robinson — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 11:02:40 +0000

I have a number of acoustic guitars, with different pickup systems – some that came with the instrument, some that I chose, and all have their strengths and weaknesses.

I generally use a K&K pure mini as I know I can adjust the tone and volume with a pedal at my feet, and I feel that it provides a true representation of the guitar’s tone. I have an LR Baggs Anthem in one guitar – a Dowina GAC Padauk and Torrefied Swiss Moon Spruce – and whilst it really does sound wonderful on its own, it’s been difficult to control feedback in a stage setting and I’ve had to dial the tru-mic off and use just the piezo, which kind of defeats the point of it.
I have an LR Baggs Element VTC in my Gibson J-45 and my Furch Little Jane LJ11-SR, both of which require some digital ‘reshaping’ with a pedal to take away that piezo ‘quack’. My Brook Tamar has a Highlander IP1 installed, and that seems less quacky, but again benefits from a pedal between guitar and amp, which kind of brings me to my point.

I play live more than just for pleasure, and so I want the best tone for my audience, with less faff for me. In the past few years I’ve sold off many of my guitars and bought a few new ones as ‘tools of my trade’ – a Sinker Redwood
ans Indian Rosewood Brook Tavy (big shout out to Simon, Andy and Jake at Brook for an incredible instrument), a Furch Red Deluxe GC-SR and a Furch Blue OM-MM. The first two a seriously high end guitars and I chose the Pure Mini for all of them. Run through a Boss AD-2 and a small Mackie mixer, I have total control of my guitarss tone at hand, but only because I’m using a small pedal to shape it exactly how I like it.

I can’t do that so easily with an under saddle piezo, and whilst I love the notion of a mic in the guitar, it doesn’t work for me in a live setting. At home, the Anthem is magnificent, but on stage, I’m just your average gigging musician who wants to replicate my instruments’ individual tones as closely as possible, and – with inevitable compromises – I think I have that.

In my opinion, whilst there’s a lot of science involved, it’s a case of ‘horses for courses’ and where you play, the environment you’re in, the type of tone you personally want, and to some extent the size and construction of the guitar, need to be factored in.

In all cases I would recommend researching a pedal/preamp that gives you what works for you. The K&K Pure mini works for me, in several guitars made of different woods, in different sizes and shapes, but it only does it really well because it’s supported by a good quality preamp with a couple of nice reverb options.

By: Todd Dennison

Todd Dennison — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 13:20:17 +0000

You know I’ve probably read a hundred or more articles like this over my many, many years of playing. I’ve never read the article that actually provides the answer and there really is an answer. All you need to do is measure what the instrument sounds like acoustically, waveform patterns, whatever and then measure it through a pickup. Which pickup gives you the most natural sound? Why can’t somebody answer that question? It’s not a matter of taste. It can be done to scientifically.

By: Rafaela Pinto

Rafaela Pinto — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 20:09:33 +0000

Ah, the intricate dance of acoustic guitar pickups—a subject as nuanced as a fine Bordeaux. Each type offers its own melody: magnetic pickups provide a robust, electric timbre, yet may lack the pure resonance of the instrument; piezo systems capture the guitar’s natural brightness but can sound overly sharp; microphone pickups deliver authentic acoustics, though they’re prone to feedback. Choosing the right one is akin to selecting the perfect wine—it’s all about personal taste and the occasion.