NGD- Martin D21 Special- Questions

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So I just bought my dream guitar. (First photo is my cell phone, second photo is from willies american guitar were I got this.)

I really would like to add some sort of pick up system to it. Any clue what I should throw in it? Price is not to big of an issue I just dont want to drill to many holes in it.

K&K Western mini. Very natural acoustic sound and not all that expensive either.

I'll second the k&k for its unobtrusiveness and good sound. You will have to drill the endpin hole to accept a jack (unless you use one of those conversion jacks). Very nice guitar btw

That's purty! Congrats

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Back shot just to add to the photos. Yeah it is pretty the blemish on the top is where I fell in love.

I will take your advise for sure and check out the K&K. In my own shopping around I was thinking a Fishman Matrix Infinity but I still need to do some shopping and thinking.

Yeah, that bearclaw on the top is purty!

Does the fishman require a piezo under saddle pickup? This is just my opinion but I'd stay away from that type of pickup on the martin. You have to put a soft pickup between the saddle and the bridge which has a negative affect on tone (and you have to drill a hole in your guitar) and the under saddle pickups never really sound that great to me. The K&k is just as feedback resistant, doesn't require a hole or saddle adjustment and transmits a sound very much like the sound of the instrument. I'd also check out LR Baggs, they have been making some very impressive acoustic pickups in recent years.

I really did not want to put a battery into the guitar anyway so I am sure thankful to all of you for pointing me the way of the K&K. And yes the fishman does include under saddle and I really didn't want to sand down a bone saddle.

Now what do you all know about the vintage end pin thing? And also does this need any preamp or are you all running it DI?

You can get away with running the k&k direct sometimes but they do sell a small external preamp (and one that you can attach to your belt/strap) that you can use on a wider variety of gigs. K&K also has an onboard preamp system with volume adjustment etc. but that would require a battery too. The lr baggs M1 active is another option, it has the battery built in and is a soundhole pickup that also has a nice sound.

As far as the endpin jack I would probably just drill it out but I can totally understand if you don't want to do that, it is a very fine guitar after all. Here is the type of jack I mentioned above: http://www.tapastring.com/vintagejack.htm

That is the first one that came up when searching google but I believe there are other manufacturers making these now. It allows you to have a permanent jack without doing irreversible mods to your instrument.

Another vote for the K&K. I've got one in a 1974 D18.

It is a passive pickup and as Stuco points out, you may need a preamp. We use the really cheap ART Tube MP's for pre's. They're incredibly clean and cost $30!

K&K just got ordered guys. Thanks for all the great tips.