Pickup/Electronics Question

[richardp69]

Bear with my ignorance please. I don't plug in all that often but when I do, I want to be able to control the volume and tone of whatever pickup may be installed.

I'm looking at an interesting guitar with a pickup but no V/T controls. Any suggestions out there about what I could buy that would give me the pickup controls I'm looking for/need??

 

[GGJaguar]

I don't know what's available now, but 30 years ago I used one of these. I'm sure there is something more high-tech and better sounding these days.

 

[fronobulax]

If you are plugging into an amp and the amp is is close proximity then you could just adjust the amp.

If you are using an acoustic guitar and don't want to go to the amp (i.e. feedback or a lot of changes) you can look at a pre-amp or direct box, presumably one that can clip to your belt.

You could also look at volume pedals.

 

[BrianGuilder]

You can’t beat the K&K pickup system that uses sensors on the bridge plate instead of a piezo under the saddle. This can be ordered with a volume control in the sound hole also. I have two of them and they sound very natural.

 

[Nuuska]

If you have someone with soldering skills - you can buy two volume pedals and convert one of them to tone pedal.

 

[twocorgis]

One thing that I've learned with active pickups is that it's best not to leave the batteries in if you don't plug it in very often. This is particularly true of pickups that use AA batteries, which tend to leak a lot worse than 9Vs. I found this out the hard way with both my F512 and F50ce. My luthier was able to save both, and I got lucky, but I'll never leave batteries in them again.

 

[plaidseason]

For me, some kind of outboard pre-amp/EQ pedal is ideal. There are a number of great options. I've mostly stuck with a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ for twenty something years. More than once I've tried something else, only to go back to the Fishman Platinum. It has just the right amount of EQ settings, built in compression, an effects loop and a tuner.

On the cheap, the Behringer ADI21 is decent. Like nearly all Behringer products, it's a reverse engineered ripoff of something more expensive. In this case it's a copy of a Tech 21 acoustic DI. I have one that I keep as both a backup and as separate setup for longer gigs when I want to run my 12 string, and/or mandolin through a separate line. These are like 30-ish bucks new, and in this case you are definitely getting more than you pay for.

 

[richardp69]

For me, some kind of outboard pre-amp/EQ pedal is ideal. There are a number of great options. I've mostly stuck with a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ for twenty something years. More than once I've tried something else, only to go back to the Fishman Platinum. It has just the right amount of EQ settings, built in compression, an effects loop and a tuner.

On the cheap, the Behringer ADI21 is decent. Like nearly all Behringer products, it's a reverse engineered ripoff of something more expensive. In this case it's a copy of a Tech 21 acoustic DI. I have one that I keep as both a backup and as separate setup for longer gigs when I want to run my 12 string, and/or mandolin through a separate line. These are like 30-ish bucks new, and in this case you are definitely getting more than you pay for.

Thank You!!!!!

 

[Rich Cohen]

Bear with my ignorance please. I don't plug in all that often but when I do, I want to be able to control the volume and tone of whatever pickup may be installed.

I'm looking at an interesting guitar with a pickup but no V/T controls. Any suggestions out there about what I could buy that would give me the pickup controls I'm looking for/need??

Rich, K&K makes a preamp. It has two ports in the back to plus in your guitar cable and your amp cable. Also it has volume and tone controls. It runs on a 9v battery. Don't leave the guitar cable plugged into the pre-amp, else it will drain the 9v battery in the pre-amp. It's not wearable on your belt, however. But you can place it somewhere near you, either on the floor or on the music stand in front of you (if there is one).

 

[SFIV1967]

Rich, K&K makes a preamp. It has two ports in the back to plus in your guitar cable and your amp cable. Also it has volume and tone controls. It runs on a 9v battery. Don't leave the guitar cable plugged into the pre-amp, else it will drain the 9v battery in the pre-amp. It's not wearable on your belt, however. But you can place it somewhere near you, either on the floor or on the music stand in front of you (if there is one).

This one seems to have a belt clip:

Pure Preamp — K&K Sound

www.kksound.com

https://www.kksound.com/s/purepreamp-2019.pdf

Ralf

 

[Rich Cohen]

This one seems to have a belt clip:

Pure Preamp — K&K Sound

www.kksound.com

https://www.kksound.com/s/purepreamp-2019.pdf

Ralf

Yes, Ralf. My oversight. I have the slightly larger K&K XLR Pre-amp with extra features which doesn't have a belt clip. I went with the larger one because it has a gain and phase control.

 

[crank]

There are a ton of preamps out there. I have a Fishman. You don't need one that clips on a belt. You don't need an onboard one. But you do need one.

 

[twocorgis]

There are a ton of preamps out there. I have a Fishman. You don't need one that clips on a belt. You don't need an onboard one. But you do need one.

On the recommendation of a few friends that I trust, I recently bought the LR Baggs Para DI. I haven't had a chance to play around with it much yet, but it seemed like the best choice. I have a Baggs M1 in the Bourgeois, a M80 in the Orpheum Slope Shoulder, and an Anthem SL in the Martin 000-17SM, so getting the Baggs DI seemed to make the most sense.

 

[Rocky]

I purchased one of the K&K preamps for a friend in Germany. I can't speak to how it sounds, but I thought the construction was kind of cheesy, with a plastic housing.

The Baggs PADI sounded pretty good, but I had an issue with using it with a K&K pure mini. It would crap out on transients. It also doesn't mount on a guitar or strap.

Currently I use a Boss GE-7. I think it works great for what I need it to do. But again, doesn't mount on a guitar or strap.

 

[West R Lee]

I went this route on my new guitar. These are what Guild installs at the factory (I think). They give you tone and volume control at your fingertip. You get two pickups, an undersaddle and an internal mic, though I will say that I like the internal mic sound much better than I do the undersaddle. But you have the ability to mix the two, so I leave my internal mic pretty prominent, and cut way back on the undersaddle. They are a breeze to install as well. It took about 30 minutes. Not sure how the double picture got in there.

 

[West R Lee]

And to qualify my above post, that was 30 minutes after watching countless install videos, reading everything I could get my hands on, and above all, spending the time and money to be absolutely sure I had all the proper tools before starting. The tools and knowing precisely what you're getting ready to do is key. 40 years of working with my hands may have helped too.

From Guild's website.



Body

Body Shape	F - Jumbo
Body Top	Solid Sitka Spruce
Top Bracing Pattern	Scalloped X
Soundhole Diameter	4" (102mm)
Rosette	Abalone and ABS Ring
Top Purfling Inlay	N / A
Body Sides	Flamed Maple
Body Back	Arched Flamed Maple
Body Binding	White and Black ABS

Neck

Neck Material	Mahogany with a Walnut Center Strip
Scale Length	25 5/8" (651mm)
Neck Shape	C Shape
Nut Width	1 7/8" (48mm)
Neck Thickness 1st Fret	23mm
Neck Thickness 9th Fret	25mm
Truss Rod	Dual Action
Truss Rod Wrench	8mm Socket Wrench
Fingerboard Material	Ebony
Fingerboard Radius	12" (305mm)
Fingerboard Inlays	V-Blocks - Mother-Of-Pearl and Abalone
Frets Total	20

Finish

Color	Antique Burst (ATB)
Finish	Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer

Hardware

Bridge Material	Indian Rosewood
Bridge String Spacing	2 3/8" (60mm)
Bridge Pins	Bone
Saddle Material	Compensated Bone
Hardware Finish / Plating	Gold
Nut Material	Bone
Tuning Machines	Gotoh SE701 Open Gear in Gold
Endpin	Endpin Jack
Pickguard	Nitrocellulose

Electronics

Electronics

LR Baggs Anthem with Volume, Mix, and Phase Controls

West