D-Tar...Yes or No?

[dane]

Hi all,

I’m getting closer and closer to having the scratch saved up to buy a new F-512. I’ve been GAS-ing for this guitar for years! Anyway I would like the opinions of you my fellow Guild fans regarding the D-Tar system. Do you think it is better to get a Guild with a D-Tar or just add a pickup later on? I don’t plan to gig with this guitar…but who am I kidding…you know I will! It’s a GUILD! 8)

Dane

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I can't help you with the D-Tar question but some say it is heavy.
An F-512 is already a heavy guitar so you may want to play one and see how it feels to you.

If it were me, I would probably just a K&K to the guitar.

 

[jazzmang]

While some people dock the aesthetics of it, I like the DTAR in my F-50R.

It does add a little bit of weight on the tail side, but its not too much and kind of offsets the heavy weight of the headstock a bit... to me, at least.

DTAR is one of the best UST pickup systems out there and IIRC, you can add a 2nd source to it.
One day, I'd like to add a magnetic pickup system and blend the two to get a nice blended sound.

 

[gilded]

Search under D-Tar and you will find a lot of info.

I liked the D55 with D-Tar that I had a lot and used it for about 20 gigs with a Baggs paracoustic into a small PA. It's a great undersaddle pickup; lots of headroom, not much quacking.

The factory installed (at least in Tacoma) Lock'n Load D-Tar systems are a bit heavy. Some people don't care, some do.

Personally, I think it all boils down to what you are used to, as well as the instrumentation on the gigs you play. If you are trying to cut through even a small/quiet band, undersaddle pickups work great. Other pickups that I have used, like the I-Beam or some of the Fishman or Baggs soundhole 'magnet' pickups might sound better in a solo/duo guitar or a singer/songwriter setting, but will often feed back quickly in a band setting.

On the other hand, if you are playing a mostly electric guitar gig and just have a need for an acoustic on a few songs a gig, a magnetic sound-hole pickup like a Sunrise can come in handy, if only because you can plug it into the the same amp that you are playing electric through. For example, I did about 12 gigs in '09 with a four or five piece band. We had four vocals, drums, bass, keys, banjo, and two guitars competing for the 8 XLR mic inputs on the '12 channel' Mackie board we were using. There literally wasn't an extra input available for the acoustic, so I had to plug into my Fender electric guitar amp to get into the PA. The D-Tar with a preamp sounded good, but a magnetic pickup (like a Sunrise) sounded better. Why? Well, the amp was designed to amplify magnetic pickups like on a Strat, Tele or Les Paul and believe it or not, that's exactly what a 'magnetic sound hole pickup' is!!

Anyway, good luck on the Great Search for the Right Pickup. The only certainty is that, no matter what brand or type of pickup you buy or use this year, in three years you will have been through two or three other pickups.

 

[alpep]

my d 40 has a d tar
I like it

 

[6L6]

I had a Highlander iP-2 pup installed in my '06 F-412 and like it alot.

6

 

[Scratch]

I have DTar systems on the F-40 and the CV-1. The F-40 and CV-1 (F40 base) are light anyway, so the DTar doesn't seem to affect the weight. It is a nice option and as Guild stated, very good at controlling quack.

In my opinion, it is a significant weight factor on a jumbo. I prefer the K&K Pure Westerns installed on the other Guilds, but as stated; it's just a personal preference...

 

[kostask]

If the weight of a factory DTAR is what the issue is (due to the use of the Lock 'n Load), you could always get the guitar without the pickup, and have a DTAR (standard model, without the Lock 'n Load option) added later. The newer DTAR pickups also have the option of an internal mic, which may be desired. If it is, I don't think the factory DTAR has that option, but I could be wrong about that. The regular (non Lock 'n Load) DTAR pickup doesn't weigh any more than other UST style pickups. I personally think the DTAR is a good pickup for louder situations, and may have even been significantly improved for quieter situations with the use of the internal mic, but I haven't heard the dual source DTAR setup yet, so can't be certain of that.

Kostas

 

[gilded]

Kostas, Daddy-O,

Good to see you weigh in on the D-Tar issue!!

 

[Tony Burns]

This like most other things it needs to be tried in person - do a search and try to find one locally or make a small road trip and play one .Other peoples opinions can vary and you may feel different once youve tried on in another Guild ( by the way it doesnt have to be the same guitar -maybe a F-50 for size and weight )

 

[Firebird]

The one thing that I have never been totally comfortable with UST pickups is that by design, the placement of the pickup sits between the bridge and the saddle creating an interference or resistance to the guitars natural transmission of string vibrations. For this reason, I went with the K & K pickup which attaches to the bridge plate and does not interfere with the string vibrations. I sold my Guild F47 because the after-market Fishman UST sounded like crap.

Choosing a pickup is certainly a personal prefererence but this was my logic. I LOVE the K & K.

 

[Aerie]

D-Tar...YES! I am usually skeptical to a fault. When I took delivery of my Tacoma Guild F-50R, it had a factory installed 'Lock-n-Load' D-Tar. Fully expecting to be disappointed, and prepared to replace the pick-up, I was shocked - SHOCKED, I tell you - at just how good the D-Tar sounds. It sounds great and has tons of gain before feedback. They are a tad unsightly at the end pin. If they are heavier than others, I can't notice. That's almost certainly due to the fact that all my guitars weigh in differently and I am used to the feeling of having different weights around my neck.

With the F-512, I would imagine the extra weight at the tail end would be a good thing. The neck (with double-truss) and large headstock make that 12er top heavy. If you perform standing, the neck and headstock like to slide down and I feel like I'm always holding up the neck while I'm playing.