Help in finding an acoustic pickup

[Brewdude]

Haven't been around these parts much lately. Hope to remedy that in the near term.

I'm interested in finding out more about an acoustic pickup that I saw Ryan Bingham use on a recent broadcast of Austin City Limits. Let me say that while I'm not necessarily a fan of his I do usually watch the show and found the tone of his acoustic to be as natural a tone as could be. In fact it sounded to me (through my low tech TV speakers anyways) to be as natural as using a good mic.

Never quite seen a design such as this one. It was a sound hole unit, and it just about filled the sound hole. It was black, and had two pole pieces per string.

I'm normally not a sound hole pickup guy. I've got a Fishman on both my acoustics but they do have a brittle sound that doesn't do it for me despite radical EQ curves. So I've been looking for a more natural sound and don't want to be confined to a mic when on stage.

I've looked at Ryans' website and related links but haven't found any info. Plus I've looked at several guitar websites and haven't come up with this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Cheers,

RR

[mellecaster]

These are what many Pros use...but they are very Limited Production and expensive http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...ckup--SRS2.htm

LR Baggs makes something similar also, but much lower in price, and I think theirs is only done in an Ivory color ?

[Brewdude]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

These are what many Pros use...but they are very Limited Production and expensive http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...ckup--SRS2.htm

LR Baggs makes something similar also, but much lower in price, and I think theirs is only done in an Ivory color ?

Thanks for the info mell, but the one I'm searching for had 2 pole pieces per string and the unit seemed to almost fill the sound hole.

[Steinar G]

Can it have been a Seymour Duncan MagMic?



In addition to the magnetic poles it has a mic on the underside that can be blended in.
I had one of these pickups in a weissenborn several years ago, it's quite nice but I couldn't blend much of the acoustic mic before it started to feed.

Musician's Friend are offering them for $229..

[Brewdude]

Nope. The one I saw seemed to almost fill the sound hole and have 2 pole pieces per string. The pole pieces were spaced a couple inches apart too, in the fashion of an electric treble and bass pickup if you see what I mean.

I've been calling around to variuos music stores in my area and no one has heard of these either. Looked all through the GC website and didn't see it listed there either.

I also googled Ryan Bingham and there were a lot of links, including his website. No joy anywhere. In fact his website was a bit frustrating - there seemed to be two links on his websites' front page. One for the store and the other for the rest of the site, but only the store link works.

Perhaps I can look for a link to his booking office and try and ask there. I just have to find out what pickup this is!

Originally Posted by Steinar G

Can it have been a Seymour Duncan MagMic?



In addition to the magnetic poles it has a mic on the underside that can be blended in.
I had one of these pickups in a weissenborn several years ago, it's quite nice but I couldn't blend much of the acoustic mic before it started to feed.

Musician's Friend are offering them for $229..

[Stuco]

Look at the
LR Baggs M1 and M1 Active.
Fishman soundhole pickups
K&k pure western mini
Sunrise

[bug music]

Hmm... something like this maybe ?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/DiMarzio...92-i1395652.gc

- Jay

[Steinar G]

Hm...... The MagMic is the only one I can think of that has two polepieces per string..
I've seen some very old ones, Armstrong or DeArmond or something else, that might fit your description, but I doubt they would give the natural acoustic tone you say Bingham had..

Edit - Oops, didn't see bug music's post, that looks like it may be it (?)

[RodeoTex]

why not contact the firm that manages Ryan Bingham and ask. I've gotten in touch with several artists this way when I had questions. Kevin Fowler actually called me back once.

[Brewdude]

Tex, that's what I'm trying to do actually but so far cannot seem to locate them. I've looked at a bunch of links that I saw after I googled Ryan Bingman but have so far come up empty handed.

Admittedly, I'm not very computer savvy so if you or anyone could assist me in finding out who his booking agent is I'd be very grateful.

bug - that pic does come closest to what I saw, but I do seem to remember the pole pieces being oblong shaped, rather like a pill capsule rather than round.

Anyone who can help me find the pickup I'm looking for will receive a copy of my latest CD gratis.

TIA


Cheers,

RR

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

why not contact the firm that manages Ryan Bingham and ask. I've gotten in touch with several artists this way when I had questions. Kevin Fowler actually called me back once.

[Steinar G]

Originally Posted by Brewdude

Tex, that's what I'm trying to do actually but so far cannot seem to locate them. I've looked at a bunch of links that I saw after I googled Ryan Bingman but have so far come up empty handed.

Admittedly, I'm not very computer savvy so if you or anyone could assist me in finding out who his booking agent is I'd be very grateful.

Contact info on his website:



Here he is on MySpace, you can try sending a message through that site:

http://www.myspace.com/ryanbingham

[Brewdude]

Well now we're getting somewhere!

Thanks Steinar, can't quite grasp how you found that info as I've looked and looked. But it seems like this may pan out. That is if they will indulge me in my quest.

In any case I'm very grateful for your effort. Please pm me with your snailer.

This is not closed by any means. Anyone else that can help will be rewarded, albeit in my own small way.

TIA

Cheers,

RR

Originally Posted by Steinar G

Contact info on his website:



Here he is on MySpace, you can try sending a message through that site:

http://www.myspace.com/ryanbingham

[weiner71]

I love Ryan Bingham and I can't wait for the new album to come out. little off topic

[Brewdude]

Well I emailed Ryans' booking agent about the pickup and they responded today! They said it was a Martix 2, so now I guess I'll need to google this name to find out more about it.

Anyone here at TDPRI familiar with these?

[timmer]

Looks like that thingy is made more for taming feedback:

[Brewdude]

That pic doesn't seem to show the pickup I saw him use on the Austin City Limits show timmer. I'm also going to try and contact Ryan through his MySpace site and confirm the info I got from his agent.

Originally Posted by timmer

Looks like that thingy is made more for taming feedback:

[Steinar G]

Can't find anything about a Martix 2 pickup, but Fishman has an undersaddle pickup called Matrix Infinity - http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=97 - and a Matrix NT1 - http://accessories.musiciansfriend.c...kup?sku=303102

[Brewdude]

Thanks Steinar. Don't know if I'm doing something wrong in my google search of the Martix 2, but what I've come up with doesn't resemble what I saw. Not even a little. I'm starting to think Ryans' agent somehow got the wrong info even though I was pretty clear about what I saw him use.

I've tried sending a message through Ryans' MySpace , so lets hope that he reads it occasionally and responds.

The plot thickens........

[Brewdude]

Update-

Austin City Limits re-broadcast the Ryan Bingham segment last night and I paid very close attention this time. After a bit of looking at the GC website this AM it turns out that what I mistook for a sound hole pickup is actually an acoustic soundhole supressor cover, made by Dean Markley. So the info I received from Ryans' agent about him using a Martix 2 was correct, and must be an under the saddle piezo. Looks like he uses the soundhole supressor to cut down on feedback while onstage.

He was playing a Jumbo Guild on the show, and boy howdy did it ever sound sweet and natural.

Anyhoo, mystery solved.

[ac15]

You're having a hard time finding info because the pickup name is spelled incorrectly: It's "Matrix" not "Martix."