Official Luthiers Forum!

If these are the sound board transducers, I've gotten good results by placing them on along the x braces on the bridge plate.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I've got the system with two SBT and an UST. The way the X brace is in my guitar, the hole for the UST comes out right by the X brace, so there is not enough room for one of the SBT to fit on the bridge plate along the X brace. I moved it (bass side) to the outside of the X brace and the treble side is along the X brace on the bridge plate. It sounds fantastic. I tried the bass SBT element under and parallel to the saddle and it lost a lot of the bass response. If you can fit both SBT elements on the bridge plate running along the X brace, that is the most ideal set up. Also, I smeared a very thin layer of wood glue on the bridge plate and let it dry completely prior to installation and it has really worked great.

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Dan

What is the brand name of these pickups? To include UST & SBT.

Mike

Wow! That is some neat stuff. Please, someone explain the virtues of this system compared to, say, any other commercial system? These do appear to be more expensive at the "system" level.

Mike

I have a PUTW pickup and preamp on my upright bass and it is terrific, miles ahead of the Fishman it replaced.

Those #54 pickups (dual transducers) used to be really popular with players on the RMMGA newsgroup (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic), and the owner, David Enke, used to be a pretty active contributor there. I haven't looked at a Usenet newsgroup in a couple years. He really really knows his stuff with the pickups and preamps. I talked to him on the phone once and he was very friendly and helpful. Builders used to get wholesale prices regardless of quantity ordered, though I'm not sure if he still offers that, it was a few years ago when I did that. He makes pickups for just about anything, and can do custom sizes on the transducers. http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/products.htm

(Just to be on the safe side, a disclaimer to say that I have no personal or business relationship with PUTW beyond having been a customer)

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I've put in 6 or 7 #54's and they are a great pickup and yes David is great to work with. If you use the brass tapered endpin jack with a 3.5mm connector you can install and remove the pickup with absolutely no alteration of the guitar. (The mini plug is fragile though) Only drawback for me is that it puts out an extremely weak signal and requires an external preamp. They sell their own or you can use something like a Baggs which is what I do. That's one nice thing about the K&K mini. You can go straight into your amp. I use the #54 in my own guitars and like the sound a lot.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.