Soundhole p/up for a Jumbo

[Iain]

Hi

What would anyone recommend as a good pickup for a jumbo guitar? I'd like something that sounds good (of course!), doesn't need an off-board pre-amp, is as non-intrusive as possible (no controls etc to be mounted on body).

Along the lines of the Fishman Rare Earth (feel free to tell me that's good p/up: I need opinions).

Thanks for any help
Iain

[aunchaki]

Originally Posted by Iain

Along the lines of the Fishman Rare Earth (feel free to tell me that's good p/up: I need opinions).

I have a Fishman Neo-D and an L.R.Baggs M1 (Passive). They're both great. The M1 is my favorite, but it's not unobtrusive. The Neo-D was cheaper (it's a budget cousin of the Rare Earth). It's very discrete: small and dark brown. It's hard to see from a few feet away. Even though it's a single-coil, I've only noticed a little hum off the Neo-D, and not all the time. Nothing like a Tele neck pickup, for example. The M1's a stacked humbucker; no hum at all.

I tried one of those wooden soundhole pickups and the string-to-string variation was HUGE. Slowly strumming a chord, some strings were overpowering and others could hardly be hard. I've never had that problem with either the M1 or the Neo-D. I like them both so much that I've permanently mounted them in my two acoustics (wired them through the endpin jacks).

If money were no object, I'd look into the Fishman Rare Earth series. I do like passive (no batteries) pickups, however. That said, both the M1 Active and the Rare Earth Series mount the batteries on the pickup itself (they use small batteries, not 9Vs), not in a bag in the guitar body. I like that.

Good luck!

[ednew]

+1 M-1 Active

[fungusyoung]

Originally Posted by aunchaki

L.R.Baggs M1 (Passive). They're both great. The M1 is my favorite, but it's not unobtrusive.

Anyone know if these would work on a 12 string? Judging by the photo on the LR Baggs site, I'm guessing maybe not.

[Iain]

Thanks for the tips.

I think I'd prefer an active pickup (based on previous experiences) so I'll look into that M-1 Active...it looks very promising