Challenge For Ya’ll

[jacob]

I have a 1929 Gibson L-1, which has an amazing sound (think mini drednaught). Given I do tons of looping, would love to have some soundhole pickups on it. However, don’t want to do any altering, use any tape, or basically anything that could potentially do any harm. Any possible suggestions? Sweetwater, Elderly Instruments, and any and all others have been stumped (also agreed with no altering). Have tried Bill Lawrence A300 pickups and

 

[Nuuska]

Hi

Is the soundhole size small - thus the problem ?

I have 1957 LG2 3/4 - installed DiMarzio ? pup in it - cut the spring of the pup shorter to make it fit.

Lately I have run to same problem w my Songbirds - soundhole will not accept ie DeArmond Sound Boss - so I bought two "el cheapo" pups from Thomann and modified them to fit in. Was lucky, too. They sound decent. I use the mix of usd pup & soundhole pup.

 

[chazmo]

I presume you're talking about modern electronics, Jacob.

Well, I suppose with a trapeze tailpiece and floating bridge, UST and bridge-plate transducers are not part of the equation here.

Other than trying to fit a magnetic pickup (e.g., LR Baggs M-1), how about mounting a microphonic system PCB in the soundhole. Baggs Anthem or something like a Seymour Duncan Wavelength Duo (without the UST) have PCB-mounted microphones and might do in single source mode.

I'm just talking out my patootie though, Jacob. I have no idea what it takes to install a system on a nearly 100-year-old guitar.

 

[jacob]

Hi

Is the soundhole size small - thus the problem ?

I have 1957 LG2 3/4 - installed DiMarzio ? pup in it - cut the spring of the pup shorter to make it fit.

Lately I have run to same problem w my Songbirds - soundhole will not accept ie DeArmond Sound Boss - so I bought two "el cheapo" pups from Thomann and modified them to fit in. Was lucky, too. They sound decent. I use the mix of usd pup & soundhole pup.

You are 100% correct about the soundhole size being smaller! In addition, it appears to be a perfectly cut circle but upon measuring it isn't. Not being a perfect circle isn't an issue though, only something I noticed. A local shop by me said they could custom build something that'd work. However, I was thankfully informed building the custom pickup consists of a fair amount of time, trial and error. This is a bit of a factor in price as the tech gets paid by the hour leaving me to pay a heafty bill haha

 

[jacob]

I presume you're talking about modern electronics, Jacob.

Well, I suppose with a trapeze tailpiece and floating bridge, UST and bridge-plate transducers are not part of the equation here.

Other than trying to fit a magnetic pickup (e.g., LR Baggs M-1), how about mounting a microphonic system PCB in the soundhole. Baggs Anthem or something like a Seymour Duncan Wavelength Duo (without the UST) have PCB-mounted microphones and might do in single source mode.

I'm just talking out my patootie though, Jacob. I have no idea what it takes to install a system on a nearly 100-year-old guitar.

@chazmo you're correct, my thoughts were revolving around modern electronics. I may just have to go with the condenser mic route.

 

[Nuuska]

Besides the fitting into soundhole - which can in many cases be solved - I assume it is also about the sound - which gets trickier while we all perceive the sound in our own way - plus we each hunt for our elusive sound . . . .

How much space you have under the strings and the top at the end of fretboard? Maybe a thin fretboard-mounted "jazz-pickup" could work for you . . .

Pickup in the link is 11mm thick - half an inch is 12,52mm

Shadow AZ48

Pickup Among jazz guitarists the SHADOW - AZ48 "Atilla Zoller" has long been an insider tip. A special mounting bracket "floats" the pickup practically between body top and strings, its wide magnetic field picks up all the nuances of the play. The...

www.thomann.de

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If you're not in a loud band, you might try just miking it. Sounds better than a pickup.

A good ol' SM57 will do nicely, and you can get fancier with a supercardioid mic.

 

[Rayk]

They make a few different type of strap on condenser pickups Miniflex is one brand .
They have the End pin model which I have . Unless the model changed design you have to remove strings to replace batteries though they do last a long time . Feed back control in loud situations could be a problem .

Not overly cheap https://www.miniflexmic.online/product-page/2mic-viiper