New Hartford D55

[Russman]

Hi, any insight into the quality of the New Hartford D55s say around 2012? Also is it easy to remove a passive in body pickup from a guitar? Thanks.

 

[Stuball48]

I give the New Hartford D55 an A+. I had one (2013) and sold it to help fund a DV72.
Can't help with pick-up question but others will be a long.

 

[SFIV1967]

New Hartford quality in general was excellent.

Ralf

 

[Guildedagain]

Also is it easy to remove a passive in body pickup from a guitar?

Easy peasy ;[]

 

[GGJaguar]

Every NH guitar I've come across has been great in terms of quality.

 

[Westerly Wood]

New Hartford in general is one of Guild’s best eras. Regardless of guitar model.

 

[fronobulax]

Also is it easy to remove a passive in body pickup from a guitar?

Why? Are you looking to replace it or exploring the anecdotes that claim something in the pure acoustic performance gets better if it is gone? If the latter then there are also anecdotes, not specific to NH Guilds, the the removal process made things worse and much work was needed to "restore" tone.

 

[Russman]

Why? Are you looking to replace it or exploring the anecdotes that claim something in the pure acoustic performance gets better if it is gone? If the latter then there are also anecdotes, not specific to NH Guilds, the the removal process made things worse and much work was needed to "restore" tone.

Can the guitar be played acoustically if the passive pickup is in there or will it be amplified ?

 

[fronobulax]

Can the guitar be played acoustically if the passive pickup is in there or will it be amplified ?

My non specific experience is that an acoustic guitar with an installed pickup still performs acoustically. If you don't plug it in to anything then it won be amplified and doesn't need to be.

There are some acoustic guitar pickups that do some modeling - when you use the amplified pickup you can choose, for example, between the sound of a 1943 Martin or a 1963 Gibson (I'm just making this up - I don't know what historic instruments have tone that modern players think is iconic) but Guild was not doing this. But if you want the modeled sound then you have to amplify the guitar.

But for a a NH D55 just don't plug it in and you are fine.

 

[Russman]

Thanksss

 

[Default]

Moved to acoustic forum

 

[SFIV1967]

Can the guitar be played acoustically if the passive pickup is in there or will it be amplified ?

Absolutely. An undersaddle pickup should not change the acousic properties when not connected to an amp. Unless it was installed by somebody who didn't pay attention to have it done correctly and hence the saddle would not sit perfectly flat in the bridge slot anymore. But a factory pickup should not make any problems for purely acoustic playing. In case it has batteries however make sure to not have batteries inside when not using the pickup as they could leak. But you talked about a passive pickup, so it depends when and how it was installed.

Ralf

 

[Russman]

Thanks

 

[jeffcoop]

I think my sig suggests a certain satisfaction with the quality of New Hartford Guilds. And a number of my guitars have pickups; I regularly play them without plugging in, and they sound great unplugged. Don't worry, unless the pickup was badly installed.

 

[wileypickett]

Years ago, my tech recommended removing the under=saddle pickup, since I never plug in. He felt that direct saddle-to-bridge contact was best for acoustic sound. (For that same reason he recommended alternatives to under-saddle pickups whenever someone brought him a guitar to have a pcikup installed.)

I've been yanking them out of every acoustic / electric guitar that's darkened my doorway ever since. Some i can hear a difference and some not so much.

 

[SFIV1967]

I've been yanking them out of every acoustic / electric guitar that's darkened my doorway ever since. Some i can hear a difference and some not so much.

So you install a new taller saddle instead?

Ralf

 

[plaidseason]

Years ago, my tech recommended removing the under=saddle pickup, since I never plug in. He felt that direct saddle-to-bridge contact was best for acoustic sound. (For that same reason he recommended alternatives to under-saddle pickups whenever someone brought him a guitar to have a pcikup installed.)

I've been yanking them out of every acoustic / electric guitar that's darkened my doorway ever since. Some i can hear a difference and some not so much.

I think it's most (and maybe only) noticeable with the Baggs Element and Fishman Sonitone type. Most flat undersaddle pickups shouldn't be apparent at all, if installed correctly. I removed an old Fishman from my DCE1 and replaced it with a soundhole pick, but just left the undersaddle piezo in place, until I'm ambitious enough to deal with a new saddle.

 

[Guildedagain]

I'm still lusting for a Fishman Rare Earth soundhole pickup for my D35.

 

[plaidseason]

I'm still lusting for a Fishman Rare Earth soundhole pickup for my D35.

It's my favorite pickup. I mean, if I had the cash I might try a Sunrise, with a Sunrise buffer box. But other than that, my favorite pickup is easily the Rare Earth, particularly the humbucker, with the single coil being a close second. I run it into my Fishman Platinum with EQ and quite a bit of compression, and nearly always some amount of reverb or tape echo. I far prefer it to any "trying to sound natural" setup.

 

[gibsonjunkie]

My 2013 New Hartford D55 was purchased at the Let's Meet Guild event where they sold some "seconds" to attendees. The DTAR Multisource pickup that came with that guitar is exceptional - so good that I had one installed in my Gibson J-200, as well. Like others have said, I wouldn't mess with the pickup leave it alone -it does no harm - and who knows, if you do decide to plug in, you already have a great pickup. I compare this guitar favorably to my other high-end acoustics... it's stellar!

Another thought. The DTAR used to have a different pickup assembly (Lock and Load?) that left a bigger hole than more traditional end pin jacks. Another raason to leave it alone.