Six New Pickups By Teja Gerken

The early ’90s saw a gigantic leap in the quality of acoustic pickups, with piezo-based under-saddle designs becoming the standard. Although there have always been alternatives to under-saddle piezos (magnetic pickups like the popular Sunrise and various contact pickups), during the last year a wave of new pickup designs hit the market. I tried out six of them.

Each of the products reviewed has its own strengths and each will appeal to specific players. Since they all have different designs, it’s important to keep the pickup’s intended use in mind when deciding which one is right for your guitar and your playing style. To evaluate the pickups, I installed them in a pair of Seagull S6+ Cedar guitars. In one of the guitars, I installed an L.R. Baggs iBeam, Pick-up the World #27, and Seymour Duncan Mag Mic. The other guitar became home to a B-Band AST, Schertler Bluestick, and GHS Soundhole Mic. I tested the pickups by running their signals through L.R. Baggs Para DI and Rane AP-13 preamps and an Ultrasound AG-50D amp with an AG-50E extension cabinet, and I also recorded them direct to hard disk using the Para DI and a Mackie 1202 mixer.

 

L.R. Baggs iBeam

A pioneer of under-saddle piezo technology, Lloyd Baggs surprised the industry with a new contact pickup at this year’s Winter NAMM show. The I beam–shaped pickup mounts to the guitar’s bridge plate (it’s about as long as an average saddle), weighs only about eight grams, and is available in passive ($129) and active ($189) versions. One of the biggest differences between the iBeam and other contact pickups is its foolproof installation. Baggs includes a clever jig that allows you to fit the pickup perfectly into position beneath the saddle by using the bridge-pin holes as guides (on guitars with pinless bridges, two small guide holes may have to be drilled through the saddle slot). The pickup itself is attached to the bridge plate with double-stick tape, and the active pickup’s preamp is mounted in the endpin jack. Installing the iBeam was quite easy, and most players should be able to do the job themselves (unless their endpin hole needs to be enlarged, in which case I’d recommend seeing an experienced luthier or repairperson).

The iBeam proved to be a very sensitive pickup that was highly responsive to every part of the guitar. It sounded more like its under-saddle counterparts than other contact pickups, which isn’t surprising since it’s installed in almost the same place. A heavy attack resulted in a touch of "quack" and also produced a bit of string noise, but softer picking and fingerstyle playing resulted in a sound reminiscent of good under-saddle pickup/mic combinations, but with a feedback threshold higher than what internal mics provide. It had a softer, more natural sound when I moved the pickup closer toward the bridge pins. Where some contact pickups become tubby as they’re turned up, the iBeam was very controllable at all volumes and had excellent punch and presence. There was little difference between the sound of the active iBeam and the passive version used with an external preamp, but the passive pickup lacks a built-in EQ curve and may need more tweaking.

B-Band AST

B-Band’s new AST, or Acoustic Soundboard Transducer ($149.95), represents a new direction for the Finnish company. Using the same electret film found in B-Band’s acclaimed under-saddle pickups, the AST mounts directly to the inside of the guitar’s top using sticky putty. The active pickup uses B-Band’s new endpin-mounted 2150 preamp, which can also accommodate an internal mic (which requires an external blender, such as B-Band’s Entity) or a second AST (with an equal mix of both pickups going to a mono output). The installation is simple; the battery clip is attached with Velcro, and as long as the guitar’s endpin hole is large enough for the jack, the pickup should go in easily. Placement is crucial with all soundboard transducers, but I got good results with B-Band’s recommended location under the bass side of the saddle. I was impressed with the pickup’s wide dynamic range. For both fingerpicking and strumming, it captured the guitar’s volume without compressing the tone or sounding artificial. It did have a slightly boxy edge with a bright midrange peak, and while it wasn’t prone to feedback, its sound became increasingly tubby and difficult to control at higher volumes. The B-Band would be useful for players who don’t need a lot of volume, and it will also appeal to home recordists who want to get a reasonably acoustic sound without using microphones.

GHS Soundhole Mic A 131

The GHS Soundhole Mic ($99.95) is the latest incarnation of the familiar Miniflex mic. With a battery pack/preamp that straps onto the guitar’s body and a mic that clips into the soundhole, no modifications to the instrument are necessary. I found it difficult to get the Soundhole Mic to truly represent the guitar’s sound. Although quite usable at low volumes, the mic was fairly boomy and had little punch or presence. It would work best for those who want to use the same pickup for several instruments and don’t need a huge volume boost.

Pick-up the World #27

Pick-up the World (PUTW) is the newest of the six companies represented in this review, and it offers a large variety of contact pickups for just about any imaginable instrument. I checked out the Model #27 pickup ($120), which is recommended for steel-string guitars, paired with the company’s endpin-jack preamp/volume control Power Plug ($130). All PUTW pickups share a similar design, which includes a piece of thin foil (about 2¼-inches long and a quarter-inch wide on the #27) attached to a small brass connector that holds the pickup’s lead wire. The pickup attaches to the top of the guitar with double-stick tape and can either be installed on the outside of the top, which requires no modifications to the instrument, or inside on the bridge plate. I first tried the external method and found that it was difficult to mount the pickup’s brass connector (which is crucial for optimum sound) securely with the supplied tape. I had better luck attaching the wire with some sticky putty and masking tape, but I would strongly recommend internal installation. Next, I installed the pickup in the recommended position on the bridge plate along the bass-side X-brace. To secure the brass connector, I used the recommended silicone glue, which was messy to apply blind to a small area inside the guitar.

Once installed, the PUTW created an amplified sound that closely resembled the acoustic voice of the guitar. Its wide dynamic range allowed it to respond well to soft picking and still sound good when the guitar was strummed forcefully. The pickup also did well at higher volumes, and its low mass resulted in a relatively high feedback threshold. Unfortunately, the great basic sound was spoiled by a very noticeable ground hum (PUTW supplied me with a second pickup, which had a less pronounced but still audible hum). The hum may not be a problem for those playing at low volumes, but it will certainly be an issue for many players, particularly if they’re planning to use the pickup in a recording studio or quiet venue.

Schertler Bluestick

Schertler was previously known for its high-end soundboard transducer. The new Bluestick ($195) is an under-saddle pickup built around a miniature microphone that is placed at the center of a hermetically sealed sound chamber (there are a variety of available saddle widths, as well as a split-saddle version). The Bluestick’s class-A preamp is powered by two three-volt CR2450 batteries, rather than a nine-volt, and an unobtrusive volume control is attached to the edge of the soundhole. Installing the Bluestick is simple, but it requires one unusual modification to the guitar: due to the location of the miniature mic and lead wire, a relatively large hole (about the width of the slot and 13/64 inch in length) must be drilled in the center of the saddle slot. The remaining components are installed with double-stick tape, and there is no soldering required.

The first thing I noticed when I started playing was that the Bluestick’s output was easily twice as hot as other active pickups; I had to back off the on-board volume control to keep from overdriving the preamp in my setup. The basic Bluestick sound was midrange-heavy and compressed, with little dynamics and color, but with some drastic EQ I shaped the sound into a more natural voice. The Bluestick’s attack was quite natural and very un-piezo sounding, and I achieved perfect string balance on the first installation attempt.

Seymour Duncan Mag Mic

As the world’s largest manufacturer of electric guitar pickups, it was only a matter of time before Seymour Duncan introduced a high-end magnetic pickup for acoustic guitars. The Mag Mic ($410) looks a lot like the venerable Sunrise magnetic pickup, but a peek under the hood reveals some more original design ideas. For starters, the Duncan features an active design with an internal preamp. It comes with a nine-volt battery clip to be mounted inside the guitar, but the company also offers an optional kit that allows a smaller "N" style battery to be mounted directly to the pickup. This option could allow you to use the Duncan on several guitars. As its name implies, the Mag Mic includes a microphone on the back of the pickup (pointing at the back of the guitar) as well as blend and volume controls. Finally, the pickup has two adjustable pole-pieces per string. Installing the Mag Mic is a snap, and if you don’t want to add an endpin jack to your guitar, you can leave the cable hanging out of the soundhole.

The Mag Mic had a fat low end and very natural treble tone that combined to create a larger-than-life sound. Although I was skeptical of the microphone’s position at the back of the pickup, it did add a bit of "naturalness" to the overall sound. The Duncan was also dead quiet, and its 12 pole-pieces made it perfect for a 12-string guitar I tried it on in addition to the test guitars. The Mag Mic is a great magnetic pickup. It won’t sound as "acoustic" as some other designs, but its own sonic quality and hassle-free operation make it well worth checking out.

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine September 2001, No. 105.

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