Official Luthiers Forum!

Chris,
I have gigged with a Sunrise pickup for years.
I have it doubled with a baggs ibeam that I replaced an old Frap pickup with.
It has been good to me.

Been using a Baggs M-1 for a few years basically for the occasional open mike. It has a fairly natural sound for a mag. Wasn't too pricey either.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I didn't like the Seymore-Duncan that I tried. I ended up with a Joe Mills mic inside pointed forward and to the back of the guitar. More recently I've gone to the PickUpTheWorld type things and/or Fishman Undersaddle transducer. Old school but a combo that I like. Feed it out stereo through a pocket blender or other kit and you can tweak levels. Just a thought.
Todd, thanks for the info on the Rare Earth Blend, I've been eyeing that and I may try that too.

Alan D.

The PUTW things are a bit fiddly. If they aren't in the best location then they can sound ... muddy? damped?, not sure the proper word, but like it isn't giving full volume. I like to place them with double stick cellophane tape at first and move them around till I find the sweet spot. I pretty much know where that is on the instruments I build but it still needs some amount of testing. Once I find the best spot I stick in in place and top with that 3M red gummy-bear tape to really hold it in place. It doesn't seem to harm the acoustics, not sure why that is but it seems to be true.

Alan D.

My 2 cents... I think any of the ones discussed that I have experience with sound better than a piezo.

Syrangely, I'm with Todd on this one.
Fishman Rare Earth.

Even the single coil without the mic is decent.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I don't know what he uses these days, but a bunch of years ago I heard Peter Mulvey play with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend and he sounded really good.

I'm not too fond of soundhole pickups, but some of my customers like them. The only ones I've mounted in my guitars are Fishman and Baggs, and of those most seem to like the Fishman best. Sunrise pickups are (or were) used and praised by as different top performers as Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Lye Lovett, but from the recordings I've heard they have the same basic sonic character as other soundhole picups. If that is the sound you are after, fine, but to me they all sound pretty "electric", for lack of a better word. In loud stage settings and in tight mixes that may be less important than feedback resitance and reliability, but IMO they are incapable of doing a fine acoustic instrument justice in a solo performance. Which is no wonder, the very concept of a soundhole microphone limits how much of they can catch of what's going on acoustically...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Somebody gave me an emg soundhole pup,
so, I put it in a git with a Baggs LB6,
ran the Baggs through a Baggs di box,
adjusted the LB6 for the bass,
and the emg for the treble.
Sounded awesome!
Played it once at a show.
One of my best "tone monkey" days!

K&K is easy installation, inexpensive, unobtrusive, and sounds good...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I have never used one, but a lot of older touring pros swear by the Sunrise soundhole pickup. They went out of production a few years ago, but continued demand has brought back production on a limited run basis. Anyone used one of these?

+1 for the LR Baggs M1 or M1a (active model). Just make sure it fits your sound hole.

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David Radlin
http://www.facebook.com/radlin.guitars

Chris -

Hello, my name is Jay and I'm a soundhole pickup addict. I own at least 30. Not sure how that happened. I think I just woke up one morning and there they were.

I have several that are older than I am and even they can be fun sometimes.

Of all I've owned, I'd put these at the top of the heap (ordered randomly): Sunrise, Seymour Duncan Mag Mic, Fishman Rare Earth Blend, Baggs M-80, Fishman Blackstack, and EMG ACS. All of them (and most listed are active) benefit greatly from good outboard controls.


Sometimes I'm surprised by relatively inexpensive pickups. Most recently I was surprised by a Lace California.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy to 'try before you buy' in this case, so good luck.

Jay

I used K&K with a Sunrise for years in small settings and larger( outdoor) shows. I think the Sunrise had the best "non electric" sound of all the soundhole PU's I tried. I tried cheaper PU's, you get what you pay for. Clinton

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the very old school Bill Lawrence.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Chris -

I have a couple of old Lawrence pickups and like those also. Maybe a bit more 'electric-y' sounding than I prefer but they appear to be bullet proof.

I also have 3 old DeArmond pickups, one was made in '48 which is the oldest pickup I have by a long shot. Not exactly the most acoustically transparent sound you could hope for but they are super hot and can easily produce the old boxy-bluesy sound when you want it.

Jay