Should I Put a Pickup in My Martin?

[howlin]

I had one installed on my long gone 000M: it was indeed invisible except for the jack socket and the annoying noise of the wire moving inside when shaking the guitar. Truth is: I hated the sound of it, and always used a mic in front of the guitar. If I ever put a pickup on a flattop again, I would go full way to this:
View attachment 816505

I like that! I'm thinking about one of there: tinyurl.com/awv6szol

 

[68tele]

Maybe install a bigsby as well

 

[imwjl]

View attachment 816478 I've owned this 00-18V for many years, I just play it live and sing, sometimes mic'd.

I was thinking of doing a built-in pickup, under saddle or ???

Recommendations? Is this blasphemy and should I leave the poor thing alone? I play the crap out of it, it's no case queen.

I had a 00-18V and requested a luthier put what I recall was a moderately priced K&K in when it had setup work done. It was plenty fine even thought some far more expensive pickups were suggested.

 

[teletimetx]

If you are playing with a band, and the arrangement is such that something that sounds like an acoustic guitar should be in the mix, then, sure, put a pickup in there.

To the high-fidelity crowd: yes, there is nothing in the amplified PA sound stage system world anywhere that sounds exactly like your guitar when you play it in the pure acoustic shangri-la you live in. I agree 100%. No microphone, no pickup, not even K&K can do that.

But if you play in bars, honky-tonks, or even your medium sized venues where people are paying 20-30 dolla to see your band, nobody cares. Nobody.

Except for maybe the one or two purists, once in a blue moon, slowly shaking their fist at the piezo clouds with which you are polluting a micro-brewery pub where you play once a month or once a week.

I got a flattop Gibson, CJ-165 that came with an LR Baggs installed and it has performed without a problem for over 15 years. Never one complaint from folks who do this for a living. On some sound boards, had to dial down the bass response.

 

[Whatizitman]

You have a Martin. You have a Telecaster. What more do you need except maybe a good Strat. I have a Simon and Patrick that I'd never install a pickup in. I accompany myself on vocals with one of my electrics. My acoustic is my front porch guitar. Your electric will sound softer and maybe more vocal friendly plugged into a PA. Or the electric tone may be great with your guitar amp. An equalizer can make an electric a lot more voice friendly. So can playing finger style. For vocal accompaniment, I like either my FCS '69 Strat or my Gretsch Anniversary through a BOSS EQ-200 into my Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 set to 5 watts. On the front porch with my S&P, I just hope the neighbors don't complain. When I think about putting a pickup into an acoustic, I think maybe put a sound hole mount pickup in the Ovation Balladeer I rarely play. And then reality strikes. I probably wouldn't play it any more often electrified. Anyway, that's my $0.02 USD. My opinion is probably worth half that but it's mine and no one can take it from me.

I see it the same way. So our combined opinion is worth at least $.02.

 

[jvin248]

...I just play it live and sing, sometimes mic'd. I was thinking of doing a built-in pickup...I play the crap out of it, it's no case queen.

This is what I did with my (non Martin):
-End-pin Jack (you drill a hole to fit, if you want to revert later you dowel the hole and its covered with the normal end-pin).
-Mounted a Strat pickup on the neck side of the sound hole with a piece of wood 'trim strip' so I could remove it if necessary. There is a risk for tan-lines of wood fading differences.
-Control volume with the pedals

If you go with a regular acoustic guitar pickup you will need a pre-amp and then a special acoustic guitar amplifier and then you are carrying two amps to the live gig. By using an electric guitar pickup you can plug directly into the same amp you use for the electric guitar. You'll need to tweak settings to get it sounding more like an acoustic guitar but that's just homework.

If you go the lick 'n stick acoustic pickup or the more intensive under-saddle pickup I'd still just install the end-pin jack and then put your pre-amp and volume/tone knobs in a pedal case you are plugged into rather than cutting a bunch of holes in the acoustic guitar body.

My end-pin might have run me $10 and the Strat pickup was a previous pull from another guitar so kinda 'free'. The lick 'n stick/under-saddle pickups only run $5-$10. Pre-amps are $5-$10, an empty pedal case $?, so it's all pretty inexpensive. Pre-packaged systems are quite a lot as you've probably seen.

.

 

[jrblue]

As far as I'm concerned, pickups and hybrid systems on acoustic guitar suck, period, and I include all the fancy-pants stuff used by even the most famous, respected players out there. I realize that we have to deal with reality, and so accepting "the best there is" is what we must do, but I would never, ever call the amplified and delivered tone "good," and certainly not "acoustic" except in some of the most superficial and obvious ways. I would never add any pickup system to an acoutstic guitar I like unless it was necessary for a venue -- as it often is for many. For me, I either get by with a live mike, switch to a real, good electric, or -- rarely -- just use a soundhole mike. I've played too many beautiful-sounding acoustics for too long to enjoy the sound of those instruments screamed out of a speaker. They're not made for that. A decent mike to me is the best ( = least worst) tool. I had a '47 Martin 00-18 and it was phenomenal. I would never put a system into such a guitar.

 

[douellette]

I recommend the K&K, too. I pulled a big hybrid Fishman system -- under saddle and mic -- and replaced it with a K&K in my Heritage HFT-450. It's better acoustically with the weight out and the saddle being unencumbered. I could rarely use the mic without feedback, too.

I just put another K&K in my 2020 D-18, and I love it. I have one in my 1938 KG-14 (pictured).

It's so simple, it sounds good, it's affordable, and (apart from the endpin) it's reversible.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

View attachment 816478 I've owned this 00-18V for many years, I just play it live and sing, sometimes mic'd.

I was thinking of doing a built-in pickup, under saddle or ???

Recommendations? Is this blasphemy and should I leave the poor thing alone? I play the crap out of it, it's no case queen.

nah , nah , nah , put a Bigsby wang bar on it and a sustainiac system,

no but seriously, maybe a nice mic would suffice

 

[telleutelleme]

I put a Martin thin line under saddle into my J-200 years ago. Works fine with an acoustic amp that has good EQ. Now I would put in a LR Baggs Lyric with mic.

 

[EsquireBoy]

tinyurl.com/awv6szol

Nice, and less invasive too!
BTW, I like the Frisell's quote you chose for your signature!

 

[nojazzhere]

View attachment 816478 I've owned this 00-18V for many years, I just play it live and sing, sometimes mic'd.

I was thinking of doing a built-in pickup, under saddle or ???

Recommendations? Is this blasphemy and should I leave the poor thing alone? I play the crap out of it, it's no case queen.

I started a thread a few days ago, asking for acoustic guitar pickup recommendations, and got a LOT of great suggestions. I'm "thinking" of, when things get back to normal, that I may try gigging in solo or duo situations. I have a Washburn AG30S Grand Auditorium six string, not an expensive guitar at all, but I like the sound and, especially, the "feel". I'm not looking for a "purist" acoustic sound, so I'm open to almost any type of p/up. @schmee recommended a Bill Lawrence sound-hole model, and I liked the look, and decided to try one. I ordered from Amazon, and received it in two days. It "almost" wouldn't fit, the volume knob was almost a switch, (and was hard to adjust) and, worst of all, didn't sound very good. I remembered I had an old Shadow brand sound-hole, with integrated volume control, so I dug through a ton of old stuff and found it. Went in easily, and sounds GREAT. It's an old one I bought in the early 1970's, made in West Germany. I think I'm gonna try the Shadow for a while, and then decide further. I tried to get a pic here.

The only drawback is, it blocks so much of the soundhole, that "acoustically" it lowers the volume. Amplified, it doesn't matter.

 

[Telekarster]

I have one of these that I use in my 000-28 and D-18 and I find it to be the best sounding for the $ out there IMO. I never could bring myself to drilling holes in my Martin's so... is what it is. Besides, most in the audience ain't gonna hear any diff anyway

(link removed)

 

[RowdyHoo]

Similar to Colt W. Knight, I put a LR Baggs Anthem in my D-18.

It’s an awesome pickup. It obviously doesn’t sound as good as a ribbon mic in a studio setting but it’s a damned good sound for live gigs.

 

[haggardfan1]

First thing we did when we got the MMV was put a Fishman pickup in it. (2009) You do have to drill out the strap pin at the back to install one for the cable out. Later on we bought a Martin Marquis that had a pickup in it. Oddly enough, the MMV sounded better with the pickup than the Marquis did. Why, I don't know. The Marquis is long gone, but the MMV is still here. There's a lot of talk about the different pickups available for acoustic guitars, but I wouldn't change the one we have because I myself think it's just fine the way it is. I play it through a Rolland AC-90, and can easily adjust the amp to where it sounds acceptable to most people in fact it usually garners compliments.

My dad had a mid-70's D18 in which he'd had a pickup installed when he bought it; a Martin Thinline pickup IIRC. That guitar sounded fabulous, with no preamp necessary and just a little EQ tweaking.

I had the same pickup installed in a '74 Gibson SJ Deluxe, and it never sounded good at all. To this day, I have no idea why.

 

[John E]

I put a Lr Baggs Anthem in mine. Great pickup system.

My old Martin is too boomy to mic in a lot of situations. The Anthem blends an undersaddle and microphone to give a believable sound. I can dial up the undersaddle to get more funky, or dial it back to get a more acoustic sound. Blending in the undersaddle really let's me bring out the highs and kids without the bass overpowering the setup.

For sure anthem is amazing, also another favorite is the K&K pure mini. Both are the best most acoustic sounding pickups (IMO). K&K is easier install though.

 

[Octorfunk]

LR Baggs Active Element made mine sound incredible through the PA, and completely invisible.

 

[Twang Deluxe]

I own a Martin D1-R and a Martin D12X1 and I installed the K&K Pure Mini on both guitars. They sound really great. To control the Volume and EQ I use a Boss GE 7, which is also useful for loud gigs to avoid Feedback

 

[Toto'sDad]

My dad had a mid-70's D18 in which he'd had a pickup installed when he bought it; a Martin Thinline pickup IIRC. That guitar sounded fabulous, with no preamp necessary and just a little EQ tweaking.

I had the same pickup installed in a '74 Gibson SJ Deluxe, and it never sounded good at all. To this day, I have no idea why.

Odd isn't it? The Marquis sounded fabulous unplugged, as good as it gets without spending a whole lot more to gain another 2 percent of improvement.

 

[Rocky058]

Should I Put a Pickup in My Martin?

Yes, and a Floyed.