Played the new all sapele Martin SC-10e

[SalFromChatham]

Hey Joe, I gigged it today. Love the guitar. I think I need to replace the pickup; my Element in my other Martin sounds so much better.

How did you do yours? Did you make use of the battery box contraption?

[jricc]

Originally Posted by SalFromChatham

Hey Joe, I gigged it today. Love the guitar. I think I need to replace the pickup; my Element in my other Martin sounds so much better.

How did you do yours? Did you make use of the battery box contraption?

Sal, I think the Element is head & shoulders above the Sonitone. I just replied to Gr81dorn about this.

First I took a pick and put it between the v/t control assembly of the Fishman and loosened the dbl stick tape, then did the same for the tuner. They'll just kinda pop off. Then I threaded the pickup down into the guitar. Next I disconnected a white plug from the preamp/endpin jack and tied the wire up & left in guitar. I didn't reuse the battery box because I am not good with wiring/soldering. I have read others have reused the box.

So I left the battery box in place. I threaded the endpin jack thru the hole in the battery box. I put the Baggs battery bag in the upper right bout because you can't put on neck block because of the shims and that's the next easiest place to reach. I'm not very good with fixing things and this took me about 20 mins.
Hope this helps and glad you are digging the guitar.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by jricc

Sal, I think the Element is head & shoulders above the Sonitone. I just replied to Gr81dorn about this.

First I took a pick and put it between the v/t control assembly of the Fishman and loosened the dbl stick tape, then did the same for the tuner. They'll just kinda pop off. Then I threaded the pickup down into the guitar. Next I disconnected a white plug from the preamp/endpin jack and tied the wire up & left in guitar. I didn't reuse the battery box because I am not good with wiring/soldering. I have read others have reused the box.

So I left the battery box in place. I threaded the endpin jack thru the hole in the battery box. I put the Baggs battery bag in the upper right bout because you can't put on neck block because of the shims and that's the next easiest place to reach. I'm not very good with fixing things and this took me about 20 mins.
Hope this helps and glad you are digging the guitar.

Just a note...you don't NEED to solder the wires. You can just cut/splice them and reattach the wires by twisting them together and tape with electrical tape. I've done this many times and it's never failed yet. Yes, solder is a more permanent connection, but as long as the two wires are touching, it will work just fine. Also, unless you are gigging 5 nights a week, the battery will last a looong time, so the pouch isn't really an issue. Just check your battery every few string changes and your'e good.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by jricc

Sal, it's by far the easiest playing guitar I own. The neck is perfect for me, the body is real comfortable sitting and standing, it feels like a smaller guitar then it is. The scale is 25.4, but it feels like a short scale, (because of the 13 frets to the body) and it's easy on the shoulder.

I'm a newcomer to sapele/mahogany topped guitars, the Taylor AD22 was the first one I owned, and I really like the tone of mahogany, especially with Martin Retros strings. It's a great gig guitar, but it gets most of my home playing time too.

I like it so much, I'd like to get a spruce topped SC at some point.

The only downside to it, the Sonitone, which I replaced with a Baggs Element.

How does the Element sound in that guitar?

[jricc]

Originally Posted by JackB1

How does the Element sound in that guitar?

I like it, It works for my gigging purposes. I leave the onboard vol a little under full volume and it sounds good through my Tech 21 Acoustic Flyrig.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by jricc

I like it, It works for my gigging purposes. I leave the onboard vol a little under full volume and it sounds good through my Tech 21 Acoustic Flyrig.

Hey where did you get that black pickguard from? Did you have any trouble getting it to stick to the sapele finish?