[lnkForumImage]
TotalShareware - Download Free Software
Usa Forum
 Home | Login | Register | Search 


 

Forums >

rec.music.classical.guitar

Pickups for Classical Guitars

Steve Freides

8/5/2011 6:42:00 PM

Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post what
they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.

Thanks.

-S-


15 Answers

Matt Faunce

8/10/2011 6:30:00 PM

0

Hi Steve. I have the C 391 B (AKG Blue Line) mike.
http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,230,pid,230,nodeid,2,_langua...

The power comes from the SE 300 B:
http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,231,pid,231,nodeid,2,_langua...

When I perform I put on one of the miniature capsules: CK97-C or CK97-O

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,237,pid,237,nodeid,2,_langua...

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,236,pid,236,nodeid,2,_langua...

You can only get so loud with these things.

When I'm outside, that is with no walls, I prefer the mini omni for its more natural sound. But the sound of the mini cardiod is still miles better than any piezo stick on transducer I've tried (A Dean Markley and something called a Dooley.)

I only tried playing live with a piezo once, but the crowd was fairly quiet. I hated it! I suppose in a loud atmosphere where I need to turn up the volume a lot it might be better than a mic, assuming it won't feed back.

I have a Ramsa miniature mic too. It's not as good as the AKG but it's better than the piezo.

Matt

Slogoin

8/10/2011 7:57:00 PM

0

On Aug 5, 11:42 am, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
> Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post what
> they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.

I had Kirk Sand put in a bridge pickup.

http://www.sandguitars.com...

It sounds fantastic with every amp I've tried it with. Every musician
and audio engineer who has heard it has been surprised how big an full
it sounds even with my tiny Nanyo amp. I've plugged it into PAs and
other amps and it always sounds great.

This is not the first concert guitar he has done and I'm sure he'd
be happy to answer your questions if you send him an email
(KsandCA@aol.com). He's been doing this a long time with a lot a very
fine guitarists and I think he might know a tad more about it than
RMCG posters.

JonLorPro

8/10/2011 9:13:00 PM

0

On Aug 10, 2:29 pm, Matt Faunce <mattfau...@gmail.com> wrote:

..>
>... the mini cardiod is still miles better than any piezo stick on transducer I've tried ...
> I only tried playing live with a piezo once, but the crowd was fairly quiet. I hated it! I suppose in a loud atmosphere where I need to turn up the volume a lot it might be better than a mic, assuming it won't feed back.

Glad to see that Google groups is up and running again- was it frozen
in place for everybody else for the past couple of weeks, or was that
something pertaining just to how _I_ access the newsgroup?

Anyway, I share in your lack of enthusiam for stick-on transducers,
but that disdain should not be invoked by the term "piezo" in
general. There are different types of contact mikes, some probably
use some form of piezo technology, some capacitors (mebbe even a flux
capacitor? For early music?) but I agree that contact mikes have a
boxy or canned sort of sound.

But there are also piezo crystal strips that fit under the saddle.
These can be much better. What I use is enormously out of date, and
there must be better stuff now, but when I began the best option
available for amplified classical was a Takamine guitar with Fishman
crystal pick-ups and built-in pre-amp. So, I got factory second
Takamines and took the crystals out, mounted the strips end to end
under my 11-string saddle, and took the pre-amps and housed them in
an external project box, and connect the pickups to the pre-amps with
a stereo cable. I've been pretty content for decades.

I don't, and never did. expect to fool anyone with golden ears into
thinking there was nothing going on, but when playing outdoors, I
frequently get appreciative comments about how "natural" the sound is,
often precipitated by the surprise of discovering that I am being
amplified at all. I also use them at my indoor gigs to the same
effect.

A commonly encountered term of derision in criticisms of piezo crystal
pick-ups is that they "quack". I think I've been able to discern what
is being referred to in other guitars so amplified, but one thing that
suggests itself to me about that, is that I do find it necessary to
use an extreme EQ setting in both the pre-amps and at the amplifier-
the highs rolled way down and the bass rolled up. Maybe people who
complain about "quack" are actually complaining that the pick-up
doesn't sound right through the EQ setings they are used to using- or
maybe I just happen to have a fortuitous combination of guitar,
seating of pick-ups in the saddle slot, and amps (battery-powered
amps- better than pignose amps, please! - but still fairly low end)

By now there are other makes of crystal strip pickups available, it's
worth checking out so long as you are not expecting a miracle.

Steve Freides

8/10/2011 9:34:00 PM

0

Slogoin wrote:
> On Aug 5, 11:42 am, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
>> Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post
>> what they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.
>
> I had Kirk Sand put in a bridge pickup.
>
> http://www.sandguitars.com...
>
> It sounds fantastic with every amp I've tried it with. Every musician
> and audio engineer who has heard it has been surprised how big an full
> it sounds even with my tiny Nanyo amp. I've plugged it into PAs and
> other amps and it always sounds great.
>
> This is not the first concert guitar he has done and I'm sure he'd
> be happy to answer your questions if you send him an email
> (KsandCA@aol.com). He's been doing this a long time with a lot a very
> fine guitarists and I think he might know a tad more about it than
> RMCG posters.

I am contemplating something like this for one or possibly more of my
guitars - would it be possible to get more information about the kind of
pickup you have, e.g., brand, model, etc.? I will most likely have this
done by the same local luthier who's done all my guitar work of late,
Allen Watsky in Leonia, NJ. I know Allen has put pickups into nylon
string guitars before and I will most likely go with whatever he
recommends, but nonetheless I'd like to learn a bit more about what's
out there and the pro's and con's of various approaches.

I don't think a microphone will do it for me because I don't want to
worry that much about feedback and I know a pickup will be, as a general
rule, much less prone to feedback than a mic.

-S-


Slogoin

8/10/2011 9:47:00 PM

0

On Aug 10, 2:33 pm, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
>
> I am contemplating something like this
> for one or possibly more of my guitars
> - would it be possible to get more
> information about the kind of
> pickup you have, e.g., brand, model, etc.?

Don't remember and it's hard to see inside. It's probably outdated
so I'd just contact Kirk and ask him what he uses.

One thing I'll say, placement matters and we had to do some
adjusting before it was what I wanted. When he first put it in it had
a bit too much bass and too thin on top. He said a small adjustment
was all it took to change the sound quite a bit so your luthier has to
know what he's doing.

Steve Freides

8/10/2011 9:57:00 PM

0

Slogoin wrote:
> On Aug 10, 2:33 pm, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
>>
>> I am contemplating something like this
>> for one or possibly more of my guitars
>> - would it be possible to get more
>> information about the kind of
>> pickup you have, e.g., brand, model, etc.?
>
> Don't remember and it's hard to see inside. It's probably outdated
> so I'd just contact Kirk and ask him what he uses.
>
> One thing I'll say, placement matters and we had to do some
> adjusting before it was what I wanted. When he first put it in it had
> a bit too much bass and too thin on top. He said a small adjustment
> was all it took to change the sound quite a bit so your luthier has to
> know what he's doing.

I've heard Andrew say this as well - I believe he puts in his own
transducers that stick with putty (if memory serves) - Andrew?

-S-


Andrew Schulman

8/11/2011 4:10:00 AM

0

On Wednesday, August 10, 2011 5:57:22 PM UTC-4, Steve Freides wrote:
> I've heard Andrew say this as well - I believe he puts in his own
> transducers that stick with putty (if memory serves) - Andrew?
>
>
Allen Watsky and Ricardo Cobo were two of the people that first recommended McIntyre Pickups http://www.hmmcintyrepi... to me back in 1998.

There have been some upgrades to their products since then, and I like Judy McDougald, the owner. She takes care of any problems very quickly (I've had as many as 5 guitars at a time and over the years there were two or three times there was something wrong and she replaced the product right away).

I use the CT-400 (the new version). The Feather model has a slightly more "natural" sound but the CT-400 has more power.

And yes, I learned how to install them (easy once the endpin hole has been drilled, and yes, I couldn't care less that there is a 1/4" hole in the bottom end of the guitar) but getting it in the sweet spot with the right amount of adhesive takes some experience.

I've compared them to K&K, Schertler, and something else, can't remember at the moment, and liked the Mc's a little better.

Main thing is, I get a lot of positive comments on my amplified sound ( I use Acoustic Image amps, have the Contra and Coda R) so I don't feel compelled to do a lot of testing with other brands. Like most things, it's all pretty subjective and the good stuff is usually pretty good, so, good luck with figuring it out!

Andrew

David Raleigh Arnold

8/11/2011 11:56:00 AM

0

On Aug 5, 3:42 pm, "Steve Freides" <st...@kbnj.com> wrote:
> Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post what
> they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -S-
I did it for years. Don't do it. Regards, daveA

Steve Freides

8/12/2011 7:13:00 PM

0

Steve Freides wrote:
> Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post what
> they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -S-

Well, I just found out I'm supposed to play in a local restaurant on
Sunday. I took out a Korg "contact mic" I had here - they sell it as an
accessory to their tuners, and recommended clipping it to the headstock.

The thing works, and it was dirt cheap, $15 or something like that. I
don't know that it sounds particularly good, but neither does it sound
particularly bad - it sounds more or less like both the guitars on which
I tried it, but made them louder.

Not a permanent solution for me by any means but heartening nonetheless.

Further report on the gig (no idea if I'm getting paid) afterwards.

-S-


Steve Freides

8/12/2011 7:13:00 PM

0

Steve Freides wrote:
> Steve Freides wrote:
>> Would anyone who is amplifying their classical guitar kindly post
>> what they're using, likes and dislikes, others they've tried, etc.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> -S-
>
> Well, I just found out I'm supposed to play in a local restaurant on
> Sunday. I took out a Korg "contact mic" I had here - they sell it as
> an accessory to their tuners, and recommended clipping it to the
> headstock.
> The thing works, and it was dirt cheap, $15 or something like that. I
> don't know that it sounds particularly good, but neither does it sound
> particularly bad - it sounds more or less like both the guitars on
> which I tried it, but made them louder.
>
> Not a permanent solution for me by any means but heartening
> nonetheless.
> Further report on the gig (no idea if I'm getting paid) afterwards.
>
> -S-

This is it:

http://www.zzounds.com/item-...

-S-