add on acoustic pickups

[birdmove]

Maybe some of you could shed some light on add on acoustic guitar pickups plus and minus. Considering either an inexpensive sound hole pickup, or a stick on transducer or piezo type. Generally, some pros and cons?

[BT55]

Go to the Acoustic Amplification heading and you’ll see enough topics to make your head spin!

[L20A]

The kind of pickup that you are asking about will usually have an electric sound to them. These pickups work off the strings and not the vibration from the guitar.
This is more like electric guitar pickups.

They will work. I have a Dean Markley from the 80's that I use with my acoustic 12 string once in a while.
It does the job but lacks in real acoustic sound.

Something like a K and K pickup will be a much better choice and is cheap.

[Willie_D]

Undersaddle piezo pickups tend to have a quacky sound to them, but preamps (either onboard or a pedal) can go a long way toward fixing that. Pros: reliable, invisible, can be made to sound good, don't pick up ambient noise. Cons: require professional (or skilled) installation, some say the piezo strip affects the acoustic tone of your guitar.

Piezos that stick to the bridge plate inside the guitar can also sound quacky - less so than undersaddle pickups, but quack is kind of the nature of the piezo beast. Preamps help. Some pros: invisible, good sound, easier to install than undersaddle. Some cons: prone to feedback, can pick up friction against the guitar (like your arm, your clothes, etc. But this can be a pro if you do percussive things on the guitar.)

Magnetic soundhole pickups have a unique sound, kind of like an electric guitar that sounds sort of acoustic. Some sound better than others. Back in the day, the string balance was awful on some models (the high B and E strings dominated the sound, DEAN MARKLEY!) but these days they're much, much better. A lot of players are really happy with the sound of these.

The only real pro to a reusable putty stick-on style piezo is that it's a temporary installation that can be used on multiple instruments. To my mind, it's the least good-sounding option.

[jgmaute]

I have found I like the sound of the Baggs M1 Actives in my guitars I use for performance. To my ears, they give a very natural acoustic sound. I have one in my 1953 Martin 00-18 and another in my 1998 Martin 00-16DBR. When I was still performing with my Guild D55 I had one in it too. There are many options available now so you'll just have to decide what works best for you. I only plug in when I'm playing out. In the studio my guitars are always miked.

[Misifus]

I have installed K&K minis on two of my guitars with excellent results. These are piezo elements that install under the bridge plate. And, no, they don’t sound quacky.

Ps, if you go this route, Stew Mac sells an excellent ream to open up the endpin hole to accept the end jack that comes with the K&K.

[BeardedWeirdo]

I have thought about gluing a SM57 to the inside back of a Buck Owens Fender I used to have but didn't want to ruin the Mic>>>
Let me know how it turns out

[Dr. Martin]

In my dim and distant school days, I performed on stage with a mic dropped inside my nylon string guitar. Well, it did work. My Martin has an undersaddle Fishman that I quite like, and I'm considering a K and K type JJB bridge plate pickup for my cheap and cheerful Yamaha.