Query: D-40 Hagstrom factory pickup

[Ncrews]

I have a 1967 D-40e. The guitar was factory-equipped with one of those Hagstrom pickups they came with. I actually rather like the rather funky plugged in sound, but the pickup displays uneven outputs across the strings; for instance the B string sounds noticeably louder than the rest, and all the strings vary slightly in volume. Is there any way to adjust the pickup to get some more uniformity out of it? The action, saddle set-up and playability of the guitar is perfect, so I don't want to mess with that. All the strings lie roughly the same distance from the pickup poles, with the bass strings rising a bit higher.

If I'm going to consistently play it plugged in would I do better to try some electric strings?

I figure this is something that probably just comes with using a 57 year-old pickup, but I thought I'd ask the experts anyhow.

Any ideas? Thanks...

 

[twocorgis]

I figure this is something that probably just comes with using a 57 year-old pickup, but I thought I'd ask the experts anyhow.

I think you just answered your own question there. These pickups have been discussed at some length here, and they're not generally well regarded. Think of how far acoustic guitar pickups have come since the bad old days of Barcus Berry hot dots.

If it were my guitar, and I needed to plug it in, I would just install something else. Quick and dirty, you could just install a LR Baggs or Fishman soundhole pickup, and just let the wire hang.

 

[curbucci]

Is the Hagstrom pickup a mag pickup? If so have you tried nickel strings? GHS white bronze acoustic/electric have always worked out for me with older style mags.

 

[SFIV1967]

Is the Hagström pickup a mag pickup?

Yes, here are a few pictures of that setup on a F-212E:



Slightly different looking versions were used, removing them leaves a big hole in the top:



And on the D-40E:



Ralf

 

[Ncrews]

Just to circle back on this: I tried the GHS white bronze acoustic/electric strings that curbucci suggested above and they addressed all my issues and greatly improved the plugged-in tone of my D-40E. That was very helpful, curbucci, so thanks a lot.