Do you hate the looks of a soundhole pickup?

[Wag]

Y'all need to dig a little deeper and think this through.....

It's not the soundhole pickup that you need to eliminate. It's the soundhole!

















Problem solved!

 

[Crowder]

I don't mind a soundhole pickup if the cable is inside the guitar. If it is outside the guitar it is distracting to me.

 

[rschultz13]

Have to admit as good as the Baggs M1a/M80 sound, I’ve never liked how they look. Recently been using the Fishman Rare Earth humbucker, it looks much better, smaller, easier to change batteries with the strings on. It sounds great too, if you like mags.

 

[Losov]

Have to admit as good as the Baggs M1a/M80 sound, I’ve never liked how they look. Recently been using the Fishman Rare Earth humbucker, it looks much better, smaller, easier to change batteries with the strings on. It sounds great too, if you like mags.

I don't really mind the look or even the sound. Yes, it is different from "my guitar only louder," but is very useful in a loud sonic environment and can be EQd into a very utilitarian tone.

However . . .

. . . . when I'm using one I have to ask myself, why do I have this thing in a $3000 guitar? I'm not getting (or even need in all situations) all the tone the instrument was built to produce. So why do I need such an instrument in most of my gigging situations? Answer - I don't. So I use other tools for those gigs.

 

[zombywoof]

You are asking the wrong guy. I have bee slapping Dearmonds across the soundholes of my acoustics since the 1960s. I have managed to accumulate a couple more plus a Kent knockoff which I found NOS. Not the most acoustic sounding pickup ever made but if you like that Elmore James/Lightnin' Hopkins vibe they are just what the doctor ordered. And the day I run across a Dimarzio DP 139 I will not hesitate to make it mine. I also always seem to be pondering a Sunrise but somehow never manage to pull the trigger. .

 

[Glitch Magnet]

M1 on a sunburst J45 with matching white binding, pegs, and pins looks smart as hell to me.

 

[Gane Kurnhart]

Depends on the guitar. I have a 42 Gibson flat top. There is no way I'm going to have a pickup drilled into it!
I have a Fishman that you can screw on the outside sound hole with cork to protect the spruce top.
I can take it off any time. That works for me.

 

[Ogre]

The looks are fine. I have yet to hear one that sounds half as good as the natural sound of a acoustic guitar.

 

[gibson3798]

Yes, they distract from the look of the guitar, don’t sound that great, and unless properly installed can be dangerous to your instrument. Running the cable out the sound hole to be able to take it in and out is usually the reason this is done.

 

[zombywoof]

I am still using the same Dearmond RHC-B soundhole pickups I used in the 1960s. While the cables gave up the ghost once replaced they were all good to go.

Other than those, my favorite soundhole pickup was the Dimarzio DP-139. For whatever reason they were discontinued but I have found nothing that can replace them. I am also a fan of the Sunrise pickups somebody has already mentioned.

Bottom line is I would take these soundhole pickups over any under-saddle pickup system out there. These are one of those time where Old School works out real well.

 

[Mister Natural]

another happy user of the Baggs M1active - permanently installed
dunno why people harsh on the "tone", my sounds fantastic

. . . just realized this is a necro thread from last JAN, it's now JAN 2021
peace

 

[Gig Young]

Most soundhole pups sound better to me than under the saddle piezo, and it's transient harshness.

yecch!

 

[Jimbo99]

Was fortunate to find a 2011 Applause AE128 with the plastic Rosette glued in place. I have thought of putting a sound hole pickup in there and replacing the strap button with one that has the instrument cord output. I may get a sound hole cover to control feedback better.

 

[Random1643]

+1 don't care much how it looks as long as it does the job - altho to the OP do what makes you happy. Also, my take, understanding that generally any notion of acoustic purity is lost once we amplify*, I'm more interested in a practical gigging solution that gives me a clean, clear "acoustic" sound, balance across the strings, that captures some of the character of the instrument, that doesn't feedback in a range of venues/situations. Right now I've got Fishman Rare Earth active humbuckers installed in a parlor and a mini-jumbo. My other ac-el guitars have built-in systems.

*I've seen/heard exceptions to this rule over the years. My fav was watching Pierre Bensusan many years ago, the festival headliner and one hell of a guitar player, work with the sound team and a couple of pricey mics at length pre-show to get his sound exactly the way he wanted it. He succeeded & did sound pretty amazing but after a >3 hour soundcheck< the guy running the board was ready to kill himself or Bensusan.

 

[gmajor7th]

I don't mind the look...I do really like my Baggs M1A, so that's what I go with...

 

[SupremeDalek]

I do not hate it. If that's the tool you need then do be it. While I do prefer built in pickups, I have no issues adding a sound hole pickup when it's required.

 

[Parlorman]

I don’t particularly like the look or sound of them. I prefer a good microphone setup if I need amplification and nothing at all is even better

 

[freshmattyp]

I have Sunrise pickups in my J45, Lowden O32 and am about to get one installed in my Collings D2H. I have the passive Baggs M1's installed on a couple other guitars. I run them all through a Sunrise SB-2 box, then into a Baggs Venue DI. It works for me.

 

[fjblair]

I've never owned one, but whatever it takes to get your sound is fine with me.

 

[spence]

Baggs makes (or made) a black M1 for Takamine. I know this because I had one. Look around.