Pickups... AST? UST? SBT? Soundhole? Magnetic? Piezo? Whew!

[Chitz Creek]

Okay, I know the title is a little long, but I did that to make a point.
There are soooo many acoustic guitar pickups out there, that when you begin looking for the one that suits your sound and style of playing... The options are overwhelming!
Recently I've been trying and testing different pickups along with different DI's, PA's and acoustic amps trying to find "MY SOUND" :) Some of what I encountered was junk, some was originally perceived to be junk and turned out to be surprisingly very good indeed. And also some were expensive that MAY be worth it.

I've discovered some work best in BRIGHT sounding guitars, some are best in BASS sounding guitars, some work well in all of them and some aren't worth the materials they are made out of!

Which brings me to ask this question...

What have your experiences been with Acoustic Pickups? Which ones performed well for you in which guitars?

Chime in!...

[Bob Minner]

I simply love the L.R. Baggs I-mix system with the Ibeam under the bridgeplate and the Baggs M1 in the sound hole. This gives me the real wood of the guitar with the Ibeam and then all the sweetness from the M1. Easy installation as well, meaning you can actually do it yourself. I've tried a lot, but this one nails it....

[Kerry Krishna]

I've had too many pickups to count. I will not be installing them in any of my axes again. That being said, the best one of the bunch was a Fishman Ellipse 'in guitar' blender. The "Aura" version that they sell sounds to me like a bunch of ---- ( it uses some kind of Downloadable Modeling) but to each their own. Ellipse combines a Matrix under saddle with a mic. I swapped out the mic that came with it for a High End Crown mic that they still sell. The Crown mic is just amazing!. So the controls are two sliders. and a 'phase' switch. One slider is overall volume, and the other is the blend between under saddle and Mic. It works terrific in all the live applications that I used it for. I kept it 80% on the mic most of the time. It gave a GREAT acoustic signal to 'Front Of House'.... Kerry K

[Chitz Creek]

Right now I'm experimenting with a JJB Electronics Artist series, Prestige 330.
It's a triple SBT that is a lot like the K&K Pure Western, except I'm not getting the feedback, mid heaviness or the pain in the wallet as the Prestige 330 cost's about half.

Inital results are favorable... :)

[Kerry Krishna]

Just an addendum to what I wrote before. Over on the Collings Forum Site (and we all know about them right?) the ONLY pickup anyone seems to use is the K and K Pure Western. I don't know anything about them though.

[Jerry]

I've been using the K and K Pure Western on a Larrivee OM for the past year and it really does sound good. I have put it through a variety of EQs; MRX 10 band, the LRBaggs para acoustic, tube preamps and the BOSS GE-7 seems to sound surprisingly good. I've read that having 1 meg Ohm imput to match the pick up works best, but who knows. It also sounds good straight into my princeton chorus amp. But I just like the sound of the amp so I could be biased.

[Jared Arney]

I use the L.R. Baggs M1 Active pickup in my '84 D-35. I wanted something that I could take out when I'm at home pickin' 'grass. I just purchased it 2 months ago to use when I lead worship at church or play in our worship band. I have no complaints. I usually flatpick a tune when I warm-up, and it sounds great!

[Jimmy Love]

I installed a K&K Pure Western mini in my Johnson Carolina II rosewood OM about 6 months ago. It is the guitar I play virtually every Sunday (small ensemble with organ, piano, bass and violin); I run in through the K&K XLR preamp (high,mid,low, gain, phase) and am VERY happy with it. Doesn't sound like a mic (no pickup will, BTW), but it is as good as I could've hoped for. No feedback issues, yet.